The American Psychiatric Association reports that of the 41,000 psychiatrists in this country, African Americans make up only 2% of that population. In addition, only 4% of psychologists are African American. With such low numbers, African Americans seeking mental health therapy are having trouble getting matched up with providers who look like them.
Cherish Harris is a grad student clinician in the psychology department at Eastern Kentucky University. She says the number of Black patients seeking mental health far outweighs the number of Black mental health providers. EKU’s psychology department has 58 students. Three of them are African American, two women and one man.
When Harris graduates, she wants to go back home to Louisville and help the underserved population.
“Being able to have somebody that looks like you, I think that’s immediately a reassurance that I’m with somebody that looks like me, knows what it’s like, and also have the care and concern in that regard,” Harris said.
Dr. Theresa Botts is the director of the EKU Psychology Clinic. She says throughout history, the field has had a negative stigma within the African American community.
“We have a somewhat slight increase in the number of folks seeking degrees in clinical and counseling psychology,” Dr. Botts said.
Read more at WKYT.com.
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