PsycPORT.com | Culture Gaps Could Inhibit Counseling Of Katrina Victims

PsycPORT.com | Culture Gaps Could Inhibit Counseling Of Katrina Victims: "Armies of mental health professionals are trying to counsel the thousands of evacuees who have been displaced and disoriented by Hurricane Katrina, but some say cultural, social, and racial barriers could hinder the effort.

'These are people who come from different racial backgrounds and different social classes. They are going to have to work really hard to bridge that gap,' says Denver psychologist Robert Atwell, president of the Association of Black Psychologists.

Most who fled hurricane-ravaged hometowns are black, including almost 70% of New Orleans' population. But most mental health workers are white; blacks make up less than 5% in most mental health fields, says the federal Center for Mental Health Statistics.

One concern is counselors might misinterpret unfamiliar responses as indicators of mental illness, says psychologist Raymond Crowel of the National Mental Health Association, a non-profit advocacy group. Someone who says he talks to spirits might be thought to be hallucinating, he says, when he is talking to ancestors, a religious practice common among some blacks."