Individuals who identify as Black, Indigenous, or a person of color (BIPOC) are much more likely to discuss their cultural identity with therapists than White individuals are, reports a study appearing today in Psychiatric Services. Overall, two out of three counseling sessions with a BIPOC client included a cultural conversation, the study showed.
“The frequency with which cultural conversations occurred in our study, particularly for BIPOC clients, highlights the need to tailor clinical services to augment opportunities for clinicians to engage in cultural dialogue,” wrote Patty B. Kuo, Ph.D., of the University of Pennsylvania, and colleagues.
Kuo and colleagues examined data from more than 10,000 counseling sessions from 1,997 individuals (39% who identified as BIPOC) seeking therapy at a university counseling center from one of 72 therapists. At the start of each session, the individuals were asked whether any aspect of their cultural background—such as race, nationality, gender, religion, etc.—was discussed in the previous session (the specific cultural identity/identities did not have to be disclosed).
In total, therapy-seeking individuals reported having cultural conversations in 48.4% of sessions, which included 66.2% of sessions with BIPOC individuals and 39.8% of sessions with White individuals. Most BIPOC individuals who had cultural conversations with a therapist did so at every single session.
Kuo and colleagues calculated that BIPOC individuals were 3.56 times as likely as White individuals to have a cultural discussion at some point during counseling.
“Our results may stem from the intertwined nature of racial-ethnic identity and lived experiences,” they wrote. “Therapists may have been more intentional about initiating cultural conversations with BIPOC clients because of the visibility of racial-ethnic identity…. Therapists may have [also] assumed that racial-ethnic identity was not as salient to the lived experiences of White clients, resulting in less engagement in cultural dialogue.”
For related information, see the American Journal of Psychotherapy article “Patients’ Perceptions of Their Therapist: Effects of Race, Culture, and Cultural Competency on the Working Alliance.”
(Image: Getty Images/iStock/Javi Sanz)
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