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Cultural barriers can make it difficult for some people of color who are struggling with addiction to get help. Internal barriers may be shame from their cultural or ethnic communities in addressing their needs and stigma against asking for help in a public or private way, such as therapy. But another aspect that is often neglected is an external factor that could inhibit getting help—not having an ethnic therapist or other ethnic spaces that allow clients to feel connected, understood, and safe to discuss the intersection of race and ethnicity on mental health.
In my own journey prior to being a therapist, the only therapists I could find more than 20 years ago were all white. While that didn’t impede therapeutic progress or help in my healing, there were certain areas that I struggled to discuss, such as the impact of growing up in an Asian immigrant home with far different values than American society. In addition, racism in the form of taunts, bullying, and workplace marginalization by white peers were not topics I felt comfortable discussing until I started seeing an Asian American therapist who understood the journey of acculturation and the racial challenges that came along with that identity.
Fast forward to the present day, and the landscape of counseling has changed significantly in terms of diversity. In any major city, you’re likely to find multiple options for ethnic therapists. One area that is also growing are free, public 12-step groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). While there are many traditional meetings for AA or other 12-step issues, a growing number of them are offering 12-step meetings geared towards people of color.
Part of the growth coincided with the Black Lives Movement and the pandemic, which also led to ethnic cyber-bullying with people “Zoombombing” virtual meetings. This refers to users of videoconferencing platforms like Zoom who reported their meetings were taken over by outside actors who often projected racist or otherwise hateful imagery onscreen or spewed abuse to users in the video chat. These hijackers targeted communities like schools and universities, religious organizations, social activist groups, and 12-step online meetings like Alcoholics Anonymous.
Maya Richard-Craven is an African American writer based in Los Angeles. She also is a recovering alcoholic who attended AA meetings regularly. But she reached a tipping point last summer after being targeted in virtual AA meetings which she documented in an August 2021 article in USA Today: “My exposure to blatant racism on Zoom makes me question my place in Alcoholics Anonymous as a Black woman. It was a Tuesday night when I logged onto a meeting and was bombarded with images of dead Black men lying on the ground. A troll in the chat addressed me directly and told me I would end up like George Floyd.”
Subsequently, she continued attending but made sure to keep her camera off as she didn’t want to be subjected to more racism. Yet, the space was no longer safe to her. Beyond racist Zoom bombs, the meetings also discouraged her to talk about the impact of racism, racialized trauma, and its impact on her addiction:
“Keep politics out of this, this is an AA meeting, is a common response when I speak openly about how drinking relates to my racial identity. For years, the fear of being shot by law enforcement, or the feeling of wondering whether my dad or brother would return home safely, drove me to rely on alcohol. Despite the diversity of the meetings, I repeatedly have to explain how the pressure to assimilate to the white gaze causes African Americans to drink. I am criticized for speaking about reasons for drinking that aren’t in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. Many older members desperately attempt to silence me when I discuss the pressures that come with being a Black woman. I feel a pressure to divorce my ethnicity when I am taking part in online AA meetings.”
In response to these concerns, resources are available to meet the ethnic needs of people in recovery. There is approved literature within Alcoholics Anonymous for the Black and African American Alcoholic so others can hear stories of those where addiction was partially cited due to racism and racial identity issues. BIPOC groups are also part of SAA (Sex Addicts Anonymous), love addicts (SLAA), and those suffering from eating disorders.
This is a step in the right direction as I can also attest to the need for ethnic identification and safe spaces where ethnic minorities can process issues related to their cultural background, especially when it plays a role in addictive behaviors. I’ve been involved in group therapy in the past but the group was made up of predominantly, white, upper-class men discussing their issues, which were oftentimes much different from my own. I wanted to explore the dynamics of my Asian background, my immigrant parents, the painful experiences of racism (both past and present), and the impact on my current relationships. And while there was some time devoted to these topics, because of the make-up of the group, much of the time went back to discussing “their” issues.
I can see why it’s even more of a necessity to have BIPOC groups when addressing issues as debilitating and devastating as addictions. But for more traditional groups to embrace people of color, the structure of 12-step groups needs to be clarified so issues of race can be discussed instead of being viewed as a “political” or “outside” issue that needs to stay out of 12-step meetings.
12-step groups are not absolved of real-world issues, and if people can discuss other forms of trauma such as physical or sexual abuse why can’t racial abuse also be discussed in these meetings? May the 12-step groups currently geared towards people of color be the first wave in addressing this change.
To find a therapist or support group, please visit the Psychology Today Therapy Directory.
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