Black Therapists
290 Black therapists listed nationwide, 11 offering telehealth. Every listing self-identified; 290 license-checked.
A therapist treats what is happening in your thinking, your mood and your body at the same time: low mood, worry that will not switch off, panic, grief, trauma, anger, and the strain that comes from work, money, family or racism. Most are licensed counselors, clinical social workers, marriage and family therapists, or psychologists. They talk, teach and set homework. They do not prescribe medicine, which is a psychiatrist's job.
Book when something has lasted more than two weeks and is costing you sleep, work or people. Book earlier than that if you want to. You do not have to be in crisis to start, and you do not have to arrive with the words already sorted.
Bring three things. A plain list of what changed and roughly when it started. The name and dose of anything you take, including anything a relative handed you. And one question for the therapist rather than for yourself: how many Black clients they see, what they know about racial stress, and what they would do if you raised it in session three.
The evidence for concordant care
Four percent of psychologists in the United States are Black and two percent of psychiatrists, while Black people are about 14.4 percent of the population [1]. Social work is the exception, at 22 percent [1]. So whether a Black therapist is available to you depends heavily on which letters follow the name.
The gap in who gets care has been counted. In 2024, Black adults were 36 percent less likely than US adults overall to have received mental health treatment in the past year, even though the share reporting any mental illness was close, 20.9 percent against 23.4 percent [2]. The same 2025 review in the Journal of Patient Experience cites national survey data showing 39 percent of Black Americans with mental health concerns received care, against 52 percent of non-Hispanic white Americans [1].
Two findings say something about why the first appointment matters more than the tenth. When researchers interviewed Black caregivers about mental health care, 33 of 39, or 83 percent, said having a clinician of the same race and ethnicity was important, and they explained it in terms of empathy rather than sympathy and of not having to establish that racism is real before getting to the problem [3]. Separately, a study across several health systems found that 47.6 percent of adults who began psychotherapy for depression returned for a second visit within 45 days, and that Black patients were less likely to return than white patients after adjustment [4]. The same authors found that which clinician and which system a person landed in predicted return more strongly than race did [4].
Put those together and the picture is not mysterious. Leaving after one session is common, it is more common for Black patients, and who is sitting opposite you changes whether there is a second session at all.
Sources, checked 21 Aug 2026
- Journal of Patient Experience (Ajluni and Michalopoulou, 2025). Addressing the Underrepresentation of African American Mental Health Professionals: A Call to Action. Fetched 21 Aug 2026.
- HHS Office of Minority Health. Mental Health and Black/African Americans. Fetched 21 Aug 2026.
- Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities (Moore and colleagues, 2022). "It's Important to Work with People that Look Like Me": Black Patients' Preferences for Patient-Provider Race Concordance. Fetched 21 Aug 2026.
- Depression and Anxiety (Zeber and colleagues, 2017). The Impact of Race and Ethnicity on Rates of Return to Psychotherapy for Depression. Fetched 21 Aug 2026.
Conditions therapists treat
Anxiety
Nearly one in five US adults had an anxiety disorder in the past year, treatment works, and Black adults are far less likely to receive any of it.
Depression
Depression is treatable, and Black adults are markedly less likely to receive treatment for it than US adults overall, even though the two report mental illness at close to the same rate.
Postpartum Depression
About one in eight new mothers reports postpartum depression symptoms, and research shows Black patients who screen positive are less likely to be given the diagnosis.
PTSD and Racial Trauma
PTSD can follow any life-threatening event, and repeated exposure to racism produces trauma-like symptoms that research now describes as racial trauma.