Trauma-informed Treatment Practices with Bronx-residing LGBTQIA+ BIPOC: An Initial Study

Abstract

Dignity and worth, service, social justice, competence, integrity, and using guidance in promoting human relationships are all components of ethical and effective treatment for any person being treated by mental health professionals. When treating trauma, nonetheless, these ethical components can be more effective when mental health practitioners add trauma-informed treatment modalities. This quantitative exploratory study, supported by Queer and Intersectional Feminist Theories, examined the reported choices of 41 convenience-sampled mental health providers employed by NYC-based social service agencies to apply (or choose not to apply) the uses of trauma-informed treatment modalities while having had serviced Bronx-residing BIPOC (Black and/or Indigenous People of Colour) sexual minorities. The treatment modalities measured and analyzed to treat this population are: Trauma-focused Cognitive-behavioural Therapy (Tf-CbT), the Narrative Therapeutic approach, the Person-in-Environment Therapeutic approach, and the Strengths-based Perspective approach. The investigation discusses whether mental health providers used these approaches by opting to apply a trauma-informed treatment lens to treat anxiety and depression for the population of focus. An anonymous survey was disseminated to NYC-based MHPs. The collected data was analyzed with bi-variate and multi-variate regression, which revealed statistical significance in substantiating the study’s presented hypotheses and study questions.