Orienting psychotherapists to better serve low income and minority patients

As a part of a larger NIMH study, 29 psychotherapists who were beginning training at a large urban psychiatric outpatient clinic participated in a special orientation program. The orientation program had the following objectives: First, to increase the therapists' knowledge about low income and minority patients; second, to increase the therapists' sensitivity to minority patients' requests and problems; and, third, to increase the effectiveness of the therapeutic encounter. The majority of therapists acted as their own controls; they saw patients before and then after participating in the orientation program. Data indicated that therapists improved significantly in knowledge, sensitivity, and effectiveness as a result of the special therapist orientation program.