Member-only story
The Difficulty Finding a Therapist as an Interracial Couple
An interracial couple’s journey to find a competent, unbiased, baggage-free therapist only highlights how much harder it is for Black people to find mental health help
My mother had a theory about therapists. She surmised they go into the profession chasing solutions to their own psychological demons. When she first told me this, it seemed confusing and contradictory given that therapists are the ones tasked with helping the rest of us to solve our mental health problems. Based on my recent experiences, my mom’s theory wasn’t completely off base.
Let’s be clear, I am open-minded about therapy. But my mother’s words resonated more than ever when I started marital counseling. I knew going in that our situation was “complicated.” We are a biracial couple, we live in the South, my husband is divorced, and there is an age difference. My husband suggested going to couples therapy from the onset of our marriage to keep our marriage solid. But the construct of who we were, in whole or in parts, consistently conjured up emotional ghosts and biases in the therapists who treated us. I quickly learned that it’s difficult for us to find a qualified, competent, unbiased, and baggage-free therapist. Unearthing the person…
