Future Directions for the Advancement of Person-Centered Culturally Responsive Treatment to Support Youth Mental Healthcare Equity

Youth from minoritized backgrounds face significant inequities in accessing and benefiting from evidence-based mental healthcare. Although decades of research highlight the central role of sociocultural context in shaping mental health needs and treatment outcomes, current evidence-based interventions (EBIs) rarely provide explicit guidance for addressing the intersecting sociocultural experiences of minoritized youth. In this article, we synthesize approaches to culturally responsive care and argue for a shift toward person-centered culturally responsive (PCCR) treatment. PCCR treatment is an individualized, practice-oriented approach that flexibly integrates youth and family cultural identities, contextual stressors, and strengths. Using the development of the Revamping Evidence-based Supports to Promote Effective Culturally Responsive Treatment (RESPECT) toolkit as an illustrative example, we outline a systematic, community-engaged, practice-based process for supporting PCCR treatment within exposure-based CBT. We then identify key gaps in the current evidence base, including limited operationalization of PCCR strategies, insufficient research on their effectiveness and mechanisms, and the lack of implementation strategies to support clinician training, decision-making, and sustainment. Finally, we propose future directions to support a path toward advancing PCCR treatment that prioritizes practice-based community-engaged methods.