Intersectionality and finding a BIPOC therapist with Tham Fuyana

What if the therapist you were seeing just got it?

What if you didn’t have to explain your cultural background, your lived experience, or the reasons you approach life the way you do?

In this episode of Inside Social Work, I sat down with Tham Fuyana, Social Worker, Family Therapist and Educator, to talk about what it’s like navigating therapy as a BIPOC client.

BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous, and people/ person of colour

While I'm not a person of colour and can’t speak from lived experience, I shared reflections from my perspective as a therapist and acknowledged the limits of my own experience, while making space for this important conversation.

Tham shares powerful insights from their lived experience as a person of colour and as a therapist, reflecting on how this shapes their work and the way they connect with clients.

Tham talks about the experience of searching for a BIPOC therapist, the invisible barriers to accessing mental health care, and why representation and understanding matter in the therapy room. They reflect on what it means to be truly seen, and the challenges many people of colour face when navigating mental health services.

Key things discussed

• What it means to seek a BIPOC therapist and why it matters
• How intersectionality shapes the therapy experience
• Barriers to accessing mental health care for people of colour
• The emotional weight of having to always explain your story
• Why some people feel safer being vulnerable with someone who "gets it"
• How representation can impact trust and connection in therapy
• The complexity of navigating multiple identities in multicultural Australia
• Practical ways to find the right therapist for you

Resources

Therapy Hub: https://www.thetherapyhub.com.au

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