Your Directory of Therapists Who Identify as Disabled, LGBTQIA+, People of Color or Religious Minorities

Unfortunately, little has changed during the 40 or 50 years since the mental health field first opened its doors and ivory towers to folks besides White men, starting with middle and upper-class White women. Today, more than any other demographic, White women still predominate the field, constituting upward of 75 percent of therapists and social workers. Correspondingly, a 2013 study found that White Americans comprised 83.6 percent of psychologists, while the representation of Black Americans stood at 5.3 percent, Latinx at 5 percent, and Asian-Americans a mere 4.3 percent. Native Americans were not even accounted for.

I’ve also found no estimates, to date, of the number of LGBTQIA+ therapists, which means that queer, Black therapists like me are essentially erased and invisible. This poses a huge risk for the millions of queer people of color out there, who desperately want and/or need to know if therapists like me even exist.

A number of professionals in the mental health field, much like many educators in the field, believe that clients from minoritized communities gain no exceptional benefits from working with therapists who share with them a certain identity and community. Yet, research on race matching suggests that for some clients, sharing a minoritized identity with a therapist may reduce guardedness, mistrust and self-consciousness. The converse idea — that representation is only surface-deep — isn’t backed with any evidence, and is quite frankly rooted in greed.

People deserve to have their needs met. Simple as that. So, my professional ethics and integrity mean I never let clients settle for a therapist who isn’t a good fit, possibly including myself.

Still, I felt compelled to raise awareness about the overlooked issue of minority therapists needing support. Institutionalized bias often drives us into private practice, but we also experience discrimination in the competitive rate race of the Psychology Today job market. Oftentimes, without any reciprocity from the communities we aim to serve and advocate for, we can’t get our businesses off the ground or claim our stake in the field. Moreover, when our communities don’t know how and where to find us, the potentially mutual benefit that could happen, can’t happen.

Enter: this directory of directories.

Please feel free to share this resource guide with others who may need it. I hope it answers the many questions I’ve received. For more culturally relevant information on how to navigate the mental health system and tips on how to find a therapist, you can check out “Therapists for Women of Color and Queer People: How to Find One,” follow me on Twitter @Fight4TheYouth or visit my website, jeffbaker.org.

Sending light and love,

Jeff Baker, M.Phil.Ed.

A version of this article, containing the directory of therapists, was originally published on the author’s blog.