Multicultural Therapy

Through The Forest Counseling of Boston

100 Cambridge St, Boston, MA 02114
+1 (857) 299-1123

Through The Forest Counseling of Quincy

859 Willard St Ste 400b, Quincy, MA 02169
+1 (617) 845-0990

Through The Forest Counseling of New Haven

157 Church St 19th FL, Connecticut Financial Center, New Haven, CT 06510

Multicultural therapy tackles the concerns of persons who are not in the majority because of their color, ethnicity, religion, gender identity, income, disability, or other social characteristic. Minority-related issues, such as oppression, racism, and marginalization, are significant and acknowledged. The therapist is more culturally informed, and the emphasis is more on individualism than in other traditional therapy settings that take a more universal approach. Multicultural therapy is a type of talk therapy, but it may be paired with therapies that involve other activities, like as art or music, if these interventions might help clients communicate more effectively.

Initially, time may be spent creating trust and mutual respect as you learn about the therapeutic process and the therapist learns about your issues, needs, and expectations. Your therapist may then stem to help you understand which components of your problem are likely to be founded in the relationship between your culture and the majority, prevailing culture, and which are likely to be caused by something else. You work to discover appropriate answers.

A multicultural therapist is a licensed mental health professional, social worker, or therapist who has received further training in cultural competency and multicultural counseling, typically through graduate work or continuing education. Because developing cultural sensitivity and competency is an ongoing process, it is important to look out a therapist with experience in multicultural therapy. In addition to training and experience, it is important to choose a therapist who expresses an understanding of your specific culture, values, and traditions, whose treatment goals and expectations align with yours, and with whom you feel comfortable sharing personal issues.

Members of minority groups, such as immigrants and refugees, as well as individuals who feel marginalized by members of society’s majority, can benefit from multicultural therapy. As long as the therapist understands the psychosocial issues that affect the development of marginalized clients and the unique problems they face, multicultural therapy can be applied to cognitive behavior therapy, couples counseling, family therapy, and other types of therapy appropriate for children, adults, individuals, or families. When therapy is eclectic, the client’s culture must be weighed in all aspects of the therapeutic process.

Multicultural therapy acknowledges that people of diverse cultures and backgrounds do not necessarily develop in the same way, and that minority groups are underrepresented in the mental health professions. As a result, it is critical that counselors and therapists who work with diverse populations are aware of, sensitive to, and comfortable with cultural differences. Otherwise, establishing the trust required to work with clients of all races, faiths, sexual orientations, geographic areas, ages, socioeconomic backgrounds, and family types is impossible. Multicultural therapists must examine their own prejudices, lack of awareness, and lack of understanding of issues impacting certain groups of people. At times, the therapist may need to send the client to another therapist who shares the same culture. The strength of the relationship built between the therapist and the client is critical to the effectiveness of multicultural therapy.

What is the next step?

If you or someone you love is considering individual therapy or counseling, please contact Through The Forest Counseling. We are a team of professionals who have the expertise to help.

Call us at our office to schedule an appointment with one of our highly skilled clinicians at Through The Forest Counseling.

Call 1 (866) 540-1290