MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Meet Therapists Who Understand You
Althea Therapy
Therapy for BIPOC
When Micheline Khan began digging into the problem of why racialized communities face many barriers to mental-health care, she found that one key issue was: it’s often difficult to find therapists from similar backgrounds who can understand their unique cultural identities and how those identities impact their mental health.
Khan, a scientist by day who works on climate policy, started a side project. She began to take courses about app development and talk to psychologist and psychotherapist friends about the supports that were needed.
“I wanted people to know that there is going to be a therapist out there who is going to understand you, who is going to be able to help you,” she says.
Today, her app Althea Therapy is a full-fledged mental-health hub for people across the country to find BIPOC therapists, access free resources, and engage in therapist-led programs rooted in culturally responsive care.
The Importance of Culturally Responsive Care
Finding a therapist who shares a similar background or who is committed to understanding your cultural perspective can not only encourage an individual to take that first step of accessing help, but also create a better patient-therapist connection. Khan has received positive feedback from many people who are using Althea Therapy—including those who’ve had negative experiences with mental-health care in the past.
“To open up and be vulnerable like that and to not feel seen and heard is really difficult,” she says. “People really put themselves out there, so when it does not go well the first time, it’s very difficult to get them back into therapy.”
I wanted people to know that there is going to be a therapist out there who is going to understand you.
—Micheline Khan, founder of Althea Therapy
To provide care that takes into account a patient’s cultural context, all the mental-health professionals in Althea Therapy must sign an agreement that they will “work from anti-oppressive values,” “practise cultural humility,” and “provide culturally responsive care.”
“I think it’s really about: How do we cultivate these critical conversations and create an intentional space to ensure that people from marginalized communities feel safe and are not othered?” says Khan.
Making Therapy More Approachable
Currently, there are about 60 Althea Therapy mental-health professionals, with more joining all the time. And Khan is growing the app in other ways. She quickly saw that it wasn’t enough just to provide access to therapy; Althea Therapy needed to address the stigma and other barriers that might be keeping people from seeking therapy in the first place.
That’s why she developed the Reclaim Program. The five-week learning experience, made up of video lessons, worksheets, and group therapy sessions, looks at how culture can impact your mental health and walks you through tools and techniques for managing stress and anxiety. It’s a low-commitment way to get a taste of what culturally responsive therapy is all about.
“The feedback that I’ve been getting so far has been exceptional, in terms of having access to these types of resources, and feeling seen and heard and applying what they’re learning in their lives,” says Khan. “It’s such a beautiful thing to see that you’re having that kind of impact.”
Althea Therapy has many other resources to explore, whether or not you’re ready to sign up for therapy—from a workbook on generational trauma to a checklist for interviewing potential therapists. The app offers unlimited messaging with therapists, so you can chat with a few to ensure you find the right fit.
For Khan, it’s all about empowering individuals to get whatever type of help they need.
“I get to use my platform to support and uplift others to get back in the driver’s seat of their mental health, and remind them that they deserve equitable, culturally responsive support—and that it’s OK to ask for help.”