Written by Danielle L. Currin, MA and Erica D. Marshall-Lee, PhD, ABPP on behalf of the Atlanta Behavioral Health Advocates

When I was completing a practicum at a college counseling center, my supervisor encouraged me to ask all my clients the following question: “What parts of your identity are most impactful for you?” Not only did this offer an opportunity for these young adults to reflect on their own identities, but it stressed for me the importance of foregrounding identity when considering interventions. This quickly became apparent with a student I worked with whose parents had immigrated from East Asia. Instead of encouraging him to pursue a value-driven major like literature instead of a parent-driven major like computer science, I explored with him the cultural values he was upholding by deferring to his parents’ wishes and in what ways he could simultaneously honor his passions. The “one-size-fits-all" therapeutic approaches I had been taught were, in fact, more like “all-fit-one-size." Rather than a single approach being accessible to most clients, most approaches seemed accessible primarily to the White majority for whom they were developed.

The field of psychology has a less-than-pristine history when it comes to the inclusion of minoritized populations in the development and dissemination of mental health services within the United States. Many of the practices, from therapeutic intervention to neuropsychological assessment, that we consider evidence-based treatments (EBTs) were developed through a Western lens, primarily by and for White adults. Whether consciously or not, psychologists often employ a “good enough” mentality when providing these treatments to individuals for whom they were not developed. The idea of adapting EBTs for people with various identities is not new (Fuertes et al., 2001; Lau 2006). However, even as these considerations have become more emphasized in training and practice, we see a continued treatment gap (Joiner et al., 2022; Lorenzo-Luaces et al., 2024). Even as our approaches to developing and delivering therapy have evolved, it is still not accessible to everyone.

Digital mental health interventions (DMHIs), from companion apps to virtual therapy sessions, are one such modern development that purports to increase the accessibility of mental health services. Research investigating the impact of DMHIs on various populations (Goodarzi et al., 2023; Jones et al., 2020) and symptom presentations (Firth et al., 2017; Forman-Hoffman et al., 2021) has supported them as an efficacious method for connecting people with psychological services, particularly individuals........

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