What We're About

Which communities does BAATN serve?

The communities that BAATN serves are people with an African, South Asian and Caribbean heritage. The 'Middle East and North Africa' would not fall under the remit of the network.

What is the vision for the Black and Asian Therapist Network.

The aim of the network was to create something that did not already exist in the way that I thought it should. A community of people that understood me; understood the effect of oppression on me, understood the political landscape in which I lived, understood the generational history of my life and understood the reasons for the problems the community of people that I was living with have to solve.
 
As well as this I wanted the 'Network' to be a secure base from which to explore and mobilise our creative selves in areas of theory, practice and enterprise focused around the mental health needs of our communities.
 
At the moment this community of people is like a small plant that has just sprouted shoots into the soil. It has not grown the roots that it needs to weather the inevitable heavy winds as yet but it is getting there. This small plant needs space away from other competing plants that might want to grow near it until it is robust enough to stand side by side with other plans.

For this reason BAATN will remain focused on the core communities that it serves until such time as it grows into a self sustaining enterprise.

What are the particular aims of the network?

• To be the place for the Black and Asian public to connect with ideas and people that support their psychological health and mental fitness
• To change the perception of psychological services in the Black and Asian community
• Promote and develop effective ways of engaging therapeutically with Black and Asian people
• Influence the training curriculum of trainee therapists
• Provide the latest thinking in working with Black and Asian people
• To be the centre of great ideas that engage Black and Asian people to gain increased mental fitness

The three area of interest are:

• For the public - We are here to help you gain easy access to information and people to help you gain peak mental fitness for yourself, family, and the good of the community.

• For therapists - We are here to help you share your passion and expertise with the public and bring you together with other therapists for mutual support and inspiration.

• For the community - We believe that if the traumas, not just on a personal level but on a community and cultural level can be addressed, healed, benefited and learned from then our whole community can benefit and change and the place of our community can progress. Therefore we are committed to providing all the services needed, raising public awareness and gathering the momentum of all those who are interested.

Why do you use the term black?

BAATN has, as an underlying principle, the ideas of 'ease of access' and engagement. There were many alternatives to what the network could be called but it was finally decided on that the term 'black' would be used as it is the most used term to describe a group of peoples from the African continent and the Caribbean. Even if you do not identify with the term you understand it's meaning in an instant. There is no particular attachment to the term 'black' beyond it's ease of understanding.

The term ‘black’ for the BAAT Network is a political and sociological term, identifying a group of people who have been most vulnerable to the oppression of white racism owing to differences in skin colour.

Whatever the term used for the network, be it black or African or DoEAs (dependence of Enslaved Africans), they all either represent a constructive liberation of power and motive force from within the group for the benefit of the group or as a target for destructive use of power upon the group and the development of a victim mentality. The meaning for the BAAT network in this context is the former.


Why do Black and Asian therapist gatherings exist and how does one decide if they can be part of them?

However one defines the parameters of a group there will always be the edges of that definition that are grey and uncertain. Around the edges of a group definition there are those who feel unsure about where they fit. Hopefully the following will clarify who these groups are for and the reasons for having these groups to the exclusion of other groups.  

Many, but not all, of the gatherings at BAATN are for people who have an African, South Asian or Caribbean heritage and who personally feel exclusion, isolation and being targeted through the influence of racism.

There is a strong element of self definition when deciding to come to be part of one of these gatherings and it is important to know that those facilitating any one of these gatherings will have the above parameters as a primary focus.

So why have these gatherings been set up?

There are many differences between the African, Caribbean and Asian cultures but what for me unites them is the over representation of these groups in the psychiatric end of the mental health system and the misunderstanding and misdiagnosis by the psychiatric establishment in general. One could argue that there are many other groups that are misunderstood by psychiatry but studies have shown that it is black and Asian people that find themselves over-represented in the most restrictive parts of the Mental Health Service, including secure services. They generally also have an overwhelmingly negative experience of mental health services which prevent them accessing the primary care and specialist community services which might prevent or lessen their mental health problems.

In our current era of multiculturalism it does appear, when you first think about it, to go against the multicultural ideal of tolerance and non discrimination to have discriminating groups. Multiculturalism has many benefits and has changed the landscape of many parts of society but like any ideology it has its limitations. In the fields of psychology and psychiatry multiculturalism has made little impact.

The basic problem is a lack of understanding of Black and Asian People's hurt as Black or Asian people. Multiculturalism promotes tolerance but what it does not promote is empathy which of course is difficult to measure but very easy to feel or not feel. Racism plays a big part here of course especially as it tends to shut down the thinking processes of people who, ordinarily, are very accomplished in other areas.

The Black and Asian therapist gatherings were created as a path to affect change in these areas. There are no fixed and defined pathways for change but it is hoped that over time significant positive, motive and inspirational force will develop within a 'secure vessel'. From this position the wider therapeutic and psychiatric profession might more easily engage with conversation and literature that embodies what Isha McKenzie-Mavinga calls a 'black empathic approach' (Mavinga 2009) for the ultimate benefit of the Black and Asian communities that we are all a part of.

What issues is the network is aiming to address?

Access to, and availability of, counselling and psychotherapy has improved significantly over the last five years, but people who defined themselves as
Black and other ethnic minorities still do not use this service in similar proportions to other members of our society or like say Black people in the United States.

Research done by psychotherapist Vernon De Maynard draws out some of the themes and quotes as spoken by Asian and Black counsellors and psychotherapists in the UK. His research, in effect, looks at the obstacles to engaging with therapeutic services and is outlined below. BAATN aims to remove these obstacles and get Black and Asian people engaged with the many who are committed, passionate and actively engaged in addressing, the psychological needs of Black and Asian people in Britain.

Negative experiences of mental health system

• The real and negative experiences that people from this background have in the current medical system (mental health and otherwise) in terms of treatment and attitude
• The lack of resources to fully explore and understand the 'problem' or illness these clients present with

Distrust

• Lack of trust in a process that is seen as ‘white middle class’
• Disbelief that White middle class counsellor will understand'
• I need someone who has experienced racism, understands the politics of racism and to whom I don’t have to explain the issues'
• 'You want to be able to talk to someone who knows where you are coming from'
• 'When help is sought the therapist may not understand the cultural / family connections and therefore the help is not felt as helpful'
• 'A large majority of therapists are white who neither understand Asian culture nor (in case of Asians) their language. For any form of psychological therapy it is very important for a rapport to be established between the therapist and the client. How can this happen when the client knows that he/she will not be understood? Some of my clients travel long distances to see me because I am one of the rare Asian counsellors. Many of them narrate their unsatisfactory experiences with white counsellors'

Isolation and alienation

• 'going to see a counsellor who in most cases is Caucasian; fear of stereotyping and a deep seated belief that the counsellor would not be able to empathize or understand the problem'
• 'large part of it may be that minority groups do not feel part of the mainstream and would shun many aspects of mainstream culture'

Shame/Guilt hidden behind culture

• 'The cultural (Caribbean at least) norm of not 'chatting your business' to anyone outside the family'
• 'Brought up with a belief that one doesn't take personal problems outside the family - hence people often talk to a family member and if there is lack of these then suffer in silence'
• 'Often people from the Asian community believe that suffering is part of their life and they have to live with it. ''In case of couple disharmony, BME people fear that advice will be given to break the relationships instead of mending it'

Stigma

• 'Practitioners all to quick to shout ’mentally ill'
• 'Mental health illness is a taboo issue anyway and not enough is known about symptoms of depression, etc which can be cured with help'
• 'In some cultures it is a stigma about involving a total outsider in their personal or family problems'

Criticism of training

• 'People in the counselling world make out that they are bothered whilst doing very little to change the training which is euro-centric and does not challenge any ‘isms’ within its own trainees/trainers in a formal way.'
  'If more BME people are to enter counselling then we need measures to ensure that access is not for the lucky few who can afford it, and that the training is inclusive for the whole of the training period i.e. that EO / Diversity are not an ‘add on’ to the main training programme. To spend four years in training where ‘YOU’ is not recognised is difficult'

Vernon De Maynard concludes, 'where all ‘isms’ are not challenged as part of the programme then who is to say that the counsellors produced at the end of the training are qualified to work within a diverse culture' It is clearly a summary of the reason why therapists think that Black and Asian people don't use counselling and psychotherapy. Vernon De Maynard adds another dimension, and that is that many Black people actually blame 'the system' for their mental state, therefore see no reason to evaluation their own contributions to the persistent of that mental state. Its not them that's at fault its every body else, and until Black people start to consider the possibility that their negativity rubs off on their kids and that they too need to do some work on themselves will there be any change in the perception of themselves in the world.

Eugene Ellis
MA, Dip, IATE. UKCP registered Integrative Arts Psychotherapist