Part 2 of our Minority Mental Health Awareness Month series

In the first post of this series, we talked about the silence, the reasons so many of us are taught to carry mental health struggles quietly. But deciding to seek help is only half the battle. The next question is just as hard: where do you actually go, and will the person on the other side understand you?

If you've ever sat across from a provider who didn't get your family, your faith, your food, or the weight of what you were carrying, you know that "just find a therapist" is easier said than done. For communities of color, the path to good care is lined with real barriers. Naming them is the first step to getting around them.

Barrier one: the provider gap

Culturally competent care starts with providers who reflect and understand the communities they serve, and there simply aren't enough of them. The mental health workforce in the U.S. remains overwhelmingly white; one widely cited figure found that around 86% of psychologists were white, while only a small fraction were Black. That imbalance means many people of color either can't find a provider who shares their background or spend the first several sessions explaining cultural context before any real work begins.

This matters because misunderstanding has consequences. People of color are more likely to be misdiagnosed and less likely to receive appropriate treatment, in part because symptoms can be read differently across cultures. A provider who understands your world is better equipped to hear what you're actually saying.

Barrier two: cost and insurance

Therapy is expensive, and the burden isn't shared equally. Cost, lack of insurance, and hidden expenses like time off work, transportation, and childcare keep many people from ever booking a first appointment.

But "I can't afford it" no longer has to end the conversation. The most direct path is often insurance, and many people don't realize their coverage already includes mental health care. At Lartey Wellness, our clinicians accept plans including Maryland Medicaid, Medicare, Aetna, Cigna, BlueCross BlueShield, and UMR, so therapy can be as covered as any other doctor's visit. If you're unsure whether your plan qualifies, it's worth asking; the answer surprises people more often than you'd think.

Even without insurance, cost shouldn't be a barrier, which is why we offer sliding-scale pricing based on what you can afford. Others help too: The Loveland Foundation funds therapy for Black women and girls, The National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network supports QTBIPOC clients, and Open Path Collective connects people to reduced-rate sessions. There are more paths to affordable care than most people assume, so ask before you decide the answer is no.

Barrier three: language

For many families, care in the wrong language isn't really care at all. Nuance, emotion, and cultural meaning get lost in translation, and being handed a random interpreter for something as personal as your mental health can feel more exposing than helpful.

Language-specific resources are growing. The Asian LifeNet Hotline (1-877-990-8585) offers crisis support in Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, and Fujianese. The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline offers support in English and Spanish by call, text, or chat. When searching directories, you can often filter by the languages a provider speaks, a small step that makes a big difference.

This is also why, at Lartey Wellness, we offer therapy in Arabic, Amharic, Yoruba, Igbo, Haitian Creole, and Spanish. We want care to be something you can receive in the language you think, feel, and pray in. If one of these is your first language, or simply the language you're most comfortable being honest in, you can work with someone who understands you from the first word.

How to search for care that fits

When you're ready to look, culturally specific directories are the fastest way to find providers who already understand where you're coming from:

• Therapy for Black Girls and the BEAM (Black Emotional and Mental Health) network for Black communities

• Asian Mental Health Collective for Asian, Pacific Islander, and South Asian American communities

• InnoPsych and Clinicians of Color for BIPOC therapists broadly

• The National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network for QTBIPOC-affirming care

A few questions can help you find the right fit once you have candidates. Consider asking: Have you worked with clients from my background? How do you approach faith or family when it comes up? Do you offer a sliding scale or take my insurance? What languages do you offer sessions in? You're allowed to interview a provider before committing, and a good one will welcome the questions.

Fit is not a luxury

It's easy to feel like you should just take whatever help you can get. But feeling understood isn't a bonus. It's part of what makes care work. If the first provider isn't right, that doesn't mean therapy isn't for you. It means that person wasn't your person. Keep looking.

The barriers are real, but so are the growing number of people and organizations built specifically to help you get past them. You deserve care that gets you, not care you have to translate yourself into.

Next in the series: what happens when the hardest conversation isn't with a therapist, but with your own family? We'll talk about bringing up mental health with parents and elders who see it differently, and how to care for yourself in the meantime.