What Happens After They Do: How Black Men Experience and Make Meaning of Therapy

Black men continue to experience significant mental health disparities while remaining among the least likely to utilize psychotherapy. Existing scholarship has provided important insights into barriers to treatment and help-seeking among Black men. However, less attention has been given to understanding how Black men experience therapy once they engage in it. The purpose of this study was to explore how Black men experience and make meaning of engaging in therapy. Guided by Black Critical Theory (BlackCrit), Black masculinity, and critical phenomenology, we conducted a secondary qualitative analysis of interview data from 14 Black men with previous psychotherapy experience. The analysis resulted in three themes: Conditional Vulnerability, Visibility and Therapeutic Safety, and Therapy as Survival and Becoming. The findings extend existing literature beyond barriers to help-seeking to Black men’s experiences in therapy. Implications for therapy practice, training and research are provided.