THERAPISTS’ RESPONSE TO PROSPECTIVE CLIENTS: THE ROLE OF PERCEIVED GENDERED, RELIGIOUS IDENTITY ON THERAPISTS’ ELECTRONIC RESPONSE TO NEW CLIENTS

Abstract

Muslim American adults experience significant discrimination (approx. 60%) in personal and institutional settings in part due to disproportionately negative media portrayals that racialize Muslim Americans in gendered ways (Joshi, 2006; Karim & Eid, 2012; Mogahed & Ikramullah, 2022; Shaheen, 2003; Zaal, 2012). Despite this, no comprehensive data exists on the extent to which Muslim Americans can access mental health care (Outadi & Bedi, 2024). This is concerning in light of recent findings that biases based on religion, gender, socioeconomic class, and sexual orientation influence the way mental health clinicians respond to individuals seeking counseling or psychotherapy (Kugelmass, 2016, 2019; Moscovitz et al., 2023; Outadi & Bedi, 2024; Shin et al., 2016, 2021). The current study investigated whether prospective clients are likely to experience differential treatment when seeking mental health services based on their gendered, religious identities. A sample of clinicians (N=981) received help-seeking emails from one of four fictitious clients (Muslim woman, Muslim man, Christian woman, Christian man). Findings provide potential evidence for gendered, religious bias as well as overall gender bias among mental health care providers across the United States. Results demonstrated that across all primary measures (responsiveness, receptiveness, time to respond), one of the two Muslim American confederates received significantly less access to mental healthcare services compared to a Christian American confederate, with the Christian woman emerging as the most likely to be favored and the Muslim man emerging as the least likely to be favored. Furthermore, women confederates, regardless of religion, received more access to services than men. Recommendations for future clinical practice, training, and research are provided.