specialty care

BIPOC Therapy in Colorado

BIPOC therapy

Finding strength in your cultural identity

The experiences of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) are diverse and are shaped by different social expectations, environments, and systemic barriers. While some experiences living as a BIPOC individual can be a source of community building, pride, and fulfillment, we may also encounter environments that misunderstand, threaten, or minimize who we are. BIPOC therapy aims to validate and explore the impact of these experiences, how you see yourself, and how you move through the world.

What it looks like

When BIPOC individuals repeatedly experience the chronic stress of institutional and systemic racism, it can present itself in many ways. Below is a summary of common experiences BIPOC individuals will report
  • In your body
  • Exhaustion from constantly explaining yourself or justifying your views
  • In your emotions
  • Feeling like you don’t fully belong in any one community
  • Feeling stuck between different cultural expectations
  • Feeling angry with an unjust system, misrepresentation, or mistreatment
  • Shame around parts of your identity
  • Feeling pressured to represent your culture perfectly or risk the entire group looking bad
  • Feeling misunderstood or stereotyped
  • Feeling disconnected from your cultural identity or feeling conflicted about reconnecting with it
  • Guilt around setting boundaries with family or community, or wanting to embrace ideas outside of your culture
  • Feeling selfish for wanting to take care of yourself
  • In your thoughts
  • Questioning which parts are genuinely you vs what you’ve been taught you should be
  • In your behaviors and relationships
  • Code switching, or changing how you present yourself depending on who you’re with (ex. Changing your appearance, tone, or mannerisms around different groups to blend in)
  • Feeling like you have to choose between different parts of yourself
  • Struggling with belonging, self-worth, confidence, or self-image

Common Causes

the experiences that shape how you see yourself

Maybe some of those thoughts or behaviors above seem familiar, but where do those feelings come from? It’s often shaped by our caregivers, the communities we we’re part of, the messages we received about what’s expected of us, and the ways the world treats us based on who we are. The tension between those parts can make us question what we believe in or where we belong. Below are examples of what experiences can lead to this questioning
  • Family and Cultural Expectations
  • Traditional or conflicting expectations around family roles
  • Pressure to prioritize family over individual needs
  • Expectations around relationships, marriage, parenting, career, or success Generational differences
  • Confict between personal values and family values
  • Living between cultures
  • Immigration or acculturation stress
  • Growing up between cultures
  • Being first or second generation
  • Feeling disconnected from your heritage
  • Difference between home and outside environments
  • Language barriers or loss of cultural/language connection
  • Discrimination and Marginalization
  • Racism or racial discrimination
  • Microaggressions
  • Stereotyping
  • Cultural invalidation
  • Experiences of exclusion or othering
  • Workplace, school, healthcare, or institutional discrimination
  • Identity and Belonging
  • Living with multiple marginalized identities, such as ethnic, racial, gender, sexuality, religion, disability, class, or other identities (intersectionality)
  • Feeling accepted in one community but not another
  • Internalized stereotypes or shame
  • Pressure to fit into expectations associated with an identity

How therapy can help

building an empowered you

You may be seeking therapy because you’re exhausted from carrying these experiences alone, struggling to reconcile different parts of your identity, or simply wanting a space where you don’t have to explain the struggle or minimize how it feels. Therapy can offer space to

Explore your identity without having to choose one or the other

Explore what feels authentic vs what feels expected of you
Make room for complexity and contradictions
Trust your experiences and reactions to an unjust system
Challenge internalized shame or self-doubt
Set boundaries without viewing yourself as selfish, disloyal, or mean
Navigate family conflict while staying connected to yourself
Explore the impact of racism, stereotypes, exclusion, or cultural invalidation

Recognize the difference between an internal struggle and a healthy or justifiable response to environments that haven’t treated you fairly

Build relationships that feel real

Create a life guided by your values

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to be struggling with my cultural or racial identity to benefit from BIPOC therapy?

No, therapy can also be helpful if you just want a therapist who is BIPOC and/or who understands that culture can influence your experiences and relationships.

I want to normalize that cultural connection isn’t always so straightforward and neat. It can change throughout someone’s life, and I want to make room for you to show up as you are.

Yes! Identity is complex and I won’t assume I understand your culture, family, or experiences because of a particular identity. Instead, you are the expert on your cultural experiences and therapy should leave room for you to share what that means to you.

Yes, and you don’t have to convince me that it was “serious enough” or justify how it affected you. We make room for the hard spaces in therapy.

LET’S CONNECT

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Whatever the obstacles you face, let’s face them together.

Click the schedule button or call 970-823-0040 to get started today!

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