“When I saw that you were Mexican-American, I just knew that you’d understand a lot of things without needing it explained.” 

Hearing the gratitude and appreciation from clients about providing a safe space for POC is rewarding. Still, it can also feel overwhelming to navigate that reality within this field, where 72.6% of clinicians are white, and only 7.9% are Latino/Hispanic (Schiller, 2022).

The benefits can start as early as childhood; what could happen if circumstances allowed more children to form a positive therapeutic alliance with a therapist? It can be such an empowering experience for a child to work with someone who understands their language, their culture, where they come from, their experiences with racism, and countless other things that cannot be taught in graduate school. If more BIPOC children have positive experiences in therapy, that may encourage more BIPOC to pursue this career path. 

Another benefit is creating a safer work environment for POC, allowing clinicians to thrive, feel supported, and provide higher quality care for longer without experiencing burnout. Workplace racism is insidious and also subtle to all except the recipient, which can be both therapists and clients. 

Racism can take on many shapes. It can look like underpaying BIPOC therapists/clinicians who may not have the resources, skills, or power to challenge an employer. It can look like dismissing and criticizing someone’s clinical judgment and then praising a similar clinical judgment made by a white therapist. Racism is treating one’s cultural background as a strength or a weakness depending on the context and convenience of your white counterparts. Racism is refusing to acknowledge one’s cultural identity out of “equality” while also refusing to listen to POC when we say that you can’t ignore that part of someone’s identity. Racism is pathologizing cultural norms and labeling culturally specific behaviors as “bad” or “disordered.” Racism is prioritizing the discomfort and egos of racist benefactors, clinical leaders, and other medical professionals over the discomfort of both clients and clinicians of color over and over and over again. 

I have been scolded, reprimanded, and considered unprofessional for standing up for victims of racism because it was seen as disrespectful, rebellious, and unprofessional to “go against” my employer. A group of Latino children encountering racism in a hospital setting is okay; however, challenging the very insinuation that allowed that to happen without consequence is “unacceptable.” 

People deserve more accessible, culturally competent, safe, and affordable care. If their advocates are being bogged down by those systems, it feels pointless. This work is NOT pointless; it’s life-saving. 

BIPOC therapists save lives and provide a voice for those who are constantly told no one is listening. Where were you when you felt heard for the first time? For many of our clients, but especially our non-white clients, it is therapy.  Being treated as a human is not a privilege but a right, so why are we treating it like a luxury? 

As long as both mental health care and academia are rooted in racism, the safety of your “safe space” is 100% conditional. It’s important to increase access to and for culturally competent therapists; our clients and the country would greatly benefit. 

Beka is a 31-year-old Mexican-American child/adolescent licensed professional counselor in the state of IL. She currently is a therapist at a BIPOC-owned private practice in the suburbs of Chicago, geared towards serving marginalized and underserved populations.