Perceptions of psychotherapy among African Caribbean and Black Identifying (ABCI) young adults in Southwestern Ontario: Towards an exploration of best practices in psychotherapy

Research indicates that African, Caribbean and Black Identifying (ABCI) young people face barriers when accessing mental health services (Cénat, et al, 2025; Okusanya & Meyer, 2025; Finnigan, et al, 2022; Fante-Coleman & Jackson-Best, 2019; Galimore et al, 2023) including systemic, practitioner related, mental health literacy and discrimination. The current body of academic scholarship highlights a gap in empirical research focused solely on the perceptions of psychotherapy among this population. This community-based participatory action research study involves a partnership with African Caribbean Wellness Initiatives (ACWIs) in southwestern Ontario Canada and seeks to address this gap by including voices of young people who have engaged in psychotherapy. Transition from adolescence to young adulthood comes with expected as well as unexpected changes (Jankowiak, et al, 2025; Arnett, 2024, 2004; Mandarino, 2014; Steinbeck & Khon, 2013; Havighurst, 1972) including physical, psychological, and sexual changes through the transition into early adulthood. These changes, coupled with usual stressors of life transitions, can compound their emotional distress and even cause health crisis. Young people raised in households of new immigrant parents are more likely to experience intense emotional and psychological challenges that may require the assistance of health professionals like counsellors and psychotherapists. However, experience indicates that their perceptions of psychotherapy determine the effectiveness of the intervention. The study will include the participation of young people of ages between 18 and 29 years, who either migrated to Ontario, Canada as children or were born to newer immigrant parents and have lived/still live in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The central aim of this community-based participatory action research is to explore perceptions of this distinct demography and advance best practices including considerations for an Afrocentric approach to psychotherapy which may lead to greater access to psychotherapeutic services.