COVENANT HEALTH
January 2022
Through cultural humility, Covenant hopes to breach barriers to BIPOC
mental health
That’s why Salisbury, Dr. Johnson, and their colleagues at Covenant work to reach out to these communities throughout Texas and Eastern New Mexico, not only in their own language, but also in a culturally sensitive way to get help to the people most in need.
By employing a diverse staff and encouraging everyone to confront the issues that surround discrimination and bias, Covenant hopes to build cultural humility and eliminate the cultural miscommunication that often hinders BIPOC in receiving behavioral health treatment. And by being aware of and evaluating society’s biases, accepting cultural differences, and getting at the heart of each individual’s mental health, Covenant hopes to provide the best in treatment to all people of the region.
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It's called cultural humility... It’s more than just under-
standing another culture; it’s really about self-awareness.
Cynthia Salisbury, Executive Director of Clinical Excellence and Chief Quality Officer at Covenant Health, grew up in a predominantly Hispanic culture. She enjoyed the affection, love, and support of a large, tight-knit family. But, as with many BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) populations, there was also a strong cultural stigma around behavioral health and mental illness.
Those cultural perceptions persist to this day. Additionally, many BIPOC communities also carry a negative perception of therapy and healthcare, in general. For instance, overall about 30% of people who come to psychotherapy drop out early — but that statistic jumps to 50% when looking at just minorities.
In other parts of the world you don't have to ask for help; it's built into the way things are. Here, you have to humble yourself.
This is particularly vital when you consider that just by being a minority in some areas of Texas and Eastern New Mexico can be a source of tremendous emotional
anxiety and distress.
“It’s called cultural humility,” says Salisbury. “It’s more than just understanding another culture; it’s really about self-awareness. It’s really looking and trying to understand your own feelings, going through the sometimes uncomfortable, but really important exercise of honest self-reflection in order to allow true growth.”
Cynthia Salisbury,
Executive Director of Clinical Excellence and Chief Quality Officer at
Covenant Health
Dr. Valerie Johnson,
Clinical Psychologist at
Covenant Health
- Cynthia Salisbury
Executive Director of Clinical Excellence and Chief Quality Officer at Covenant Health
“It was essentially ignored,” says Salisbury. “If someone did talk about mental illness, it was viewed as a weakness, particularly for men. People are expected to just get over it, toughen up, stop crying, and stop acting out.”
“As a person of color, sometimes there are enough visible things that make you feel vulnerable,” says Dr. Valerie Johnson, Clinical Psychologist at Covenant, who is biracial and grew up in a Hispanic culture. “Your skin color or even your hair is just a little bit different.”
