Therapist Cultural Humility, Black LGB Identity Centrality, and Therapeutic Outcomes in Black LGB Adults.

Abstract

Black lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adults experience discrimination at individual and institutional levels (Page et al., 2020) in part due to simultaneous experiences of anti-Black racism and heterosexism. Despite this, Black LGB adults continue to underutilize therapeutic services and also report high rates of premature termination from therapy (Garrett-Walker & Longmire-Avital, 2018). The current study advances the literature by investigating the association between therapist cultural humility, Black LGB centrality, and therapeutic outcomes among Black LGB adults. A sample of Black LGB adults (N = 157) participated in an online survey to respond to measures on demographic information, therapist cultural humility, centrality with their race x sexual orientation (Black LGB centrality), and therapeutic outcomes. Results showed that therapist cultural humility was a significant predictor of therapist satisfaction but not future utilization of counseling services while controlling for age and socioeconomic status among Black LGB adults. The analyses found that Black LGB centrality was not a significant moderator in the association between therapist cultural humility and therapist satisfaction, and only significant in the relation between future utilization of counseling services for participants who reported high levels of Black LGB centrality. Recommendations for future clinical practice and research efforts are provided.