Jeff Baker is a Black, genderqueer activist, educator, therapist, and writer. Jeff received a M.Phil.Ed. in Professional Counseling from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education and an Ed.M. in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard Graduate School of Education. web

This #WorldMentalHealthDay, I posted a social media status about how imperative it is for folks from minoritized communities to support therapists from underrepresented backgrounds – counselors and psychologists who identify as people of color; queer, trans or non-Christian folks; and/or as individuals who have mental illness or other disabilities. Suddenly, I received 12 inbox messages from Facebook friends, all of them inquiring about how to find a therapist. If this doesn’t speak to underrepresentation in the field, I don’t know what does.

Unfortunately, little has changed during the 40 or 50 years since the mental health field first opened its doors and ivory towers to folks besides white men – starting with middle and upper-class white women. Today, more than any other demographic, white women still dominate the field, constituting upward of 75 percent of therapists and social workers. Correspondingly, a 2013 study found that White Americans comprised 83.6 percent of psychologists, while the representation of Black Americans stood at 5.3 percent, Latinx at 5 percent, and Asian Americans, a mere 4.3 percent. Native Americans were not even accounted for. Read more via Into