Antiracist training programs for mental health professionals: A scoping review

Jude Mary Cénat; Cathy Broussard; Grace Jacob; Cary Kogan; Kim Corace; Gloria Ukwu; Olivia Onesi; Sarah Elisabeth Furyk; Farid Mansoub Bekarkhanechi; Monnica Williams; Marie-Hélène Chomienne; Jean Grenier; Patrick R Labelle

doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2023.102373

Antiracist training programs for mental health professionals: A scoping review

Clin Psychol Rev. 2024 Mar:108:102373. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2023.102373. Epub 2024 Jan 5.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Interdisciplinary Centre for Black Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; University of Ottawa Research Chair on Black Health, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Electronic address: jcenat@uottawa.ca.
² School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
³ School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Interdisciplinary Centre for Black Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; University of Ottawa Institute for Mental Health at The Royal, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
⁴ The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; University of Ottawa Institute for Mental Health at The Royal, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
⁵ Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁶ Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
⁷ School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Interdisciplinary Centre for Black Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Canada Research Chair on Mental Health Disparities, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
⁸ Interdisciplinary Centre for Black Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; University of Ottawa Research Chair on the Health Status of Black Immigrant Francophones, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Institut du Savoir Montfort, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
⁹ Montfort Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
¹⁰ Library, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

PMID: 38232574
DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2023.102373

Abstract

Racism has been shown to be directly deleterious to the mental health care received by minoritized peoples. In response, some mental health institutions have pledged to provide antiracist mental health care, which includes training mental health care professionals in this approach. This scoping review aimed to synthesize the existing published material on antiracist training programs among mental health care professionals. To identify studies, a comprehensive search strategy was developed and executed by a research librarian in October 2022 across seven databases (APA PsycInfo, Education Source, Embase, ERIC, MEDLINE, CINAHL, and Web of Science). Subject headings and keywords relating to antiracist training as well as to mental health professionals were used and combined. There were 7186 studies generated by the initial search and 377 by the update search, 30 were retained and included. Findings revealed four main antiracist competencies to develop in mental health professionals: importance of understanding the cultural, social, and historical context at the root of the mental health problems; developing awareness of individual biases, self-identity and privilege; recognizing oppressive and racism-sustaining behaviors in mental health care settings; and, employing antiracist competencies in therapy. Professionals who have taken trainings having the main components have developed skills on the interconnectedness between racialized groups' mental health and the cultural, religious, social, historical, economic, and political issues surrounding race, necessary for successful clinical practice and for providing anti-racist mental health care. This scoping review presents a summary of the essential antiracist competencies drawn from the literature which must be applied in a mental health care setting, to improve help seeking behaviors, and reduce distrust in mental health care professionals and settings.

Keywords: Antiracist competences; Antiracist training; Mental health care; Mental health professionals.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Health Personnel / education
Humans
Mental Disorders* / therapy
Mental Health*