Materials for Clinicians Working with Youth of Color

Dr. Natalie Cort, assistant professor in the Clinical Psychology Department, associate director for diversity in the Center for Faculty Development, director of the William James College Black Mental Health Graduate Academy, and a member of the American Psychological Association (APA) Working Group for Addressing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Youth Mental Health, recently circulated a list of recommended materials for clinicians working with youth of color.

"The crisis of disparate care provided to youth of color requires that mental health providers and professionals respond with a sense of urgency,” said Cort. “Our youth seek support during times of personal strife and pain, therefore we must be prepared to provide the quality of care that they deserve. To do so, we must develop cultural humility by courageously challenging our implicit negative racial/ethnic biases that profoundly impact the care we provide."

These materials are as follows:

• Addressing the Mental Health Needs of Racial and Ethnic Minority Youth: A Guide for PractitionersA practitioner resource that increases the awareness of mental health disparities among children and youth and the environmental factors contributing to inequality in outcomes and service utilization.
• Promoting Positive Mental Health Among Racial/Ethnic Minority Children: Ensuring and Enhancing Services, Programs and ResourcesA policy resource that reviews strategies to promote access and implementation of services that can promote the positive mental health of youth so that they can function well in many different areas of their lives.
• Webinar: Addressing Mental Health Disparities Among Racial and Ethnic Minority Youth Presenters: Omar Gudino, PhD, Ana Maria Ros, PhD, and Catherine Santiago, PhD
• Mechanisms Underlying Disparities in the Mental Health
• Ways to Engage the Client
• Mechanisms Underlying Positive Outcomes in the Mental Health of Youth

Dr. Cort and her colleagues on the APA working group released an article earlier this year entitled Translating Research to Support Practitioners in Addressing Disparities in Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Services in the United States. A link to the article, which describes the development of the 2017 resource noted above, "Addressing the Mental Health Needs of Racial and Ethnic Minority Youth: A Guide for Practitioners," can be found on Dr. Cort’s faculty profile.

• Tags:
• Research & Advocacy