Top Rated Black Therapists NYC
Therapy shouldn’t feel like another place where you have to edit yourself. For many Black New Yorkers, finding Black therapists in NYC is about more than locating someone who understands mental health. It’s also about finding someone who understands the realities of racial stress, microaggressions, code-switching, cultural pressure, or the exhaustion of always having to explain.
At Madison Square Psychotherapy, our Black therapists in New York City recognize and honor those realities. With culturally responsive, clinically grounded care, we can help you find a strong therapeutic fit in person or online.
Mental Health: What's Different for Black New Yorkers
Supporting Black mental health means recognizing the unique pressures many of us face. Racism, discrimination, historical trauma, systemic inequities, and limited access to culturally competent providers can all affect how we seek support.
The data reflect these barriers. According to the Office of Minority Health, in 2024, Black/African American adults were 36% less likely to receive mental health treatment than U.S. adults overall. NAMI also reports that Black adults are less likely to receive standard mental health care and more likely to rely on emergency rooms or primary care instead of mental health specialists.
Representation remains part of the access gap. There is no one simple public count of Black therapists across every license type in NYC. However, national workforce data continue to show that Black clinicians are underrepresented across all mental health fields. This can make it harder to find Black/African American therapists in New York who also match your goals, needs, schedule, and preferred therapy style.
At Madison Square Psychotherapy, our Black therapists in NYC are committed to exceptional therapy services that meet your unique needs and reflect your lived experiences.
Why Black Therapists in New York City Matter
Black therapists in New York City matter because having access to culturally responsive representation recognizes your lived experiences. Working with a Black mental health therapist in NYC who shares your cultural background gives you the space to talk about sensitive topics. For instance, like cultural stressors, racial trauma, intergenerational patterns, and the parts of life that may not feel easy to explain elsewhere.
In our experience, many clients feel a sense of relief when their therapist “gets it.” That sense of understanding can help build trust earlier in the therapy process, making it easier to explore what hurts, what feels stuck, and what healing might look like.
Reach out to Madison Square Psychotherapy to find Black therapists in NYC who provide evidence-informed, trauma-informed care rooted in cultural humility, anti-racist values, and lived understanding.
Meet Our Top-Rated Black Therapists in NYC
2. Janel Coleman, LMSW
Good fit for reproductive health and mind-body healing
As a therapist of color, I understand how identity, relationships, stress, trauma, and life transitions can shape mental health in deeply personal ways. I help clients navigate anxiety, depression, relationship stress, trauma, life transitions, and perinatal mental health with care that feels holistic and grounded. My background as a full-spectrum doula and comprehensive health educator gives me a unique lens on sexuality, reproductive health, body awareness, and the mind-body connection.
My approach is warm, holistic, and person-centered, blending psychodynamic therapy, CBT, mindfulness, and EMDR to help clients build self-awareness and process painful experiences. I may be a strong fit for clients looking for a Black therapist who can hold both individual healing and the larger context of community, identity, embodiment, and care.
Credentials: Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW)
License number: 119164-01/New York
Education: Washington University in St. Louis
Hybrid availability: In-person and virtual
Specialty areas: Anxiety, trauma, BIPOC mental health, postpartum & perinatal mental health
1. Akilia Fadhel, LMSW
Good fit for trauma, chronic stress, and identity-related pressure
As one of the top Black female therapists in New York, I understand how anxiety, trauma, chronic stress, racism, family expectations, and the emotional toll of staying guarded can shape the way you move through the world. Many of my clients come to therapy feeling on edge, disconnected from themselves, or unsure whether what they’ve experienced “counts” as trauma.
My approach is trauma-informed and relational, drawing from psychodynamic therapy and CBT. Together, we slow things down, explore how your nervous system has adapted to past experiences, and build tools for feeling more grounded and present. I'm a strong fit for clients looking for a Black therapist who offers space to be honest without explaining, minimizing, or proving the weight of what they’ve been carrying.
Credentials: Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW)
License number: 124094/New York
Education: Columbia University, Master's in Social Work
Hybrid availability: In-person and virtual
Specialty areas: Anxiety, trauma, and BIPOC mental health
What Makes Sets Madison Square Psychotherapy Apart
Finding a Black therapist in NYC is important, but finding the one who fits your needs matters just as much. Here’s what sets our practice apart:
Culturally competent, intersectional care: We consider how race, culture, gender, sexuality, family history, work, relationships, and lived experience can shape mental health and healing.
Black therapists with strong clinical training: Our therapists support anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, burnout, relationship stress, identity exploration, and major life transitions.
A focus on holistic wellness: We look beyond symptoms to explore emotional patterns, relationships, stress, self-care, values, identity, and the mind-body connection.
An emphasis on empowerment and liberation: Therapy can help you strengthen your voice, challenge old survival patterns, build self-trust, and move toward greater emotional freedom.
Flexible therapy options: We offer in-person therapy in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan and online therapy throughout New York State, with evening and weekend hours available.
Support for individuals and couples: Whether you’re looking for individual therapy or a Black couples therapist in New York, we offer space to explore communication, intimacy, conflict, family dynamics, identity, and relationship patterns.
A free consultation before starting: You can ask questions, share what you’re looking for, and get a better sense of whether Madison Square Psychotherapy feels like the right fit.
How Therapy Works at Madison Square Psychotherapy
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Find Your Therapist
Know who you want to work with? Instantly book a complimentary consult here. If you’re not sure who is right for you, take our matching questionnaire to tell us about your needs, preferences, and schedule, and you’ll be hand matched by our Clinical Director.
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Assess the Fit
During your initial consultation call, your therapist will find out a little more about you and what brings you into therapy. At the same time, you can share what you’re looking for, ask questions, and talk through what kind of support feels most helpful for you to see if it feels like a match.
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Do the Work
Once you begin, we personalize the therapy to you. We take a client-centered and holistic approach, and believe that therapy shouldn’t be a cookie-cutter commodity. You’ll work with your therapist to focus on your goals and process whatever comes up in sessions.
How We Support BIPOC Healing
At Madison Square Psychotherapy, our Black women therapists offer culturally responsive care for the emotional weight of moving through the world as a BIPOC person. We support healing through:
Trauma Therapy & EMDR
Trauma can live in the nervous system, showing up as hypervigilance, emotional reactivity, shutdown, or feeling constantly on guard. Our approach to trauma therapy, including EMDR, helps clients process interpersonal harm, complex PTSD, systemic stress, and generational wounds.
Anxiety & Depression
As a Black New Yorker, you might experience anxiety or depression relating to the pressure to stay guarded in high-stakes environments where identity, performance, and belonging may feel scrutinized. Using approaches such as CBT and psychodynamic therapy, we help you understand how systemic stress, family expectations, workplace pressure, and personal history may be affecting your mood and sense of self.
Perinatal & Postpartum Mental Health
We support clients through trying to conceive, fertility challenges, pregnancy, pregnancy loss, postpartum adjustment, and parenthood. As Black therapists and culturally responsive clinicians, we recognize the impact of Black maternal health disparities, medical bias, and unequal access to compassionate care.
Dating & Relationships
Dating and relationships in New York City can be complicated. For BIPOC clients, relationship stress may also involve racial bias, family expectations, cultural pressure, attachment wounds, or uncertainty about what safety and intimacy should feel like.
In-Person and Online Therapy in the Heart of NYC
Madison Square Psychotherapy offers in-person therapy at 303 5th Ave, Suite 906, New York, NY 10016, a short walk from Madison Square Park and the Empire State Building. We work with New Yorkers across the city, whether you’re nearby, commuting from surrounding zip codes like 10011, 10003, 10017, or 10022, or joining from Brooklyn, Queens, or the Bronx.
And if commuting does not work for your schedule, or you would rather attend therapy from the comfort of home, we also offer virtual therapy throughout New York State.
Support Beyond the Therapy Room
We know that mental health needs don’t just stay in the therapy room. Here are some helpful NYC-based resources for crisis care, housing, substance use support, and childcare:
While therapy can provide a more consistent space to process what you’re carrying, these resources offer extra support for immediate needs.
A Therapeutic Space Where You Don't Have to Translate
Therapy can feel different when you are not using half the session to explain the context behind your experiences. At Madison Square Psychotherapy, our Black therapists and clinicians of color offer a space where your story feels understood right from the start.
That does not mean every session has to focus on race or identity. It means your therapist can hold those realities when they matter, while also helping you work through anxiety, depression, trauma, relationships, grief, burnout, or whatever brought you to therapy in the first place.
If you’re ready for therapy that feels culturally aware and personally attuned, schedule a free consultation.
faqs
Answers to Common Questions About Finding a Black Therapist in NYC
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There is no one clear public number for how many Black therapists practice in NYC across all licenses. Nationally, however, Black clinicians remain underrepresented in the mental health field. This may make it harder to find a Black therapist in New York who also matches your schedule, goals, specialty needs, and therapy style.
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Seeing a Black therapist as a Black person can be important if it feels supportive to you. You may feel safer and more connected with a Black therapist, with whom you can talk about racial trauma and identity without the pressure to code-switch or worry about microaggression. But there are also plenty of therapists of various races and ethnicities who provide culturally responsive care and are open to understanding your lived experience. What matters most is your comfort.
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You can start with a search for “Black therapists NYC,” “African American therapist,” or “therapist of color.” You can also look at directories like Therapy for Black Girls and Melanin and Mental Health, which can connect you with culturally responsive therapists. Then, using websites like Psychology Today and Zencare allows you to filter by race, ethnicity, location, specialty, and type of therapy.
But consider looking beyond identity alone. You’ll find the best fit for you if you also look at the therapist's experience with the concerns bringing you to therapy, as well as the methods and approaches used.
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Yes, if you’re looking for a Black couples therapist in New York, our therapists can help you and your partner. They can assist you with navigating communication, intimacy, trust, conflict, family expectations, parenting stress, cultural differences, and recurring patterns.
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As an out-of-network provider, we do not work directly with or bill insurance companies. However, we can provide you with superbills to submit to your insurance company. If your plan includes out-of-network benefits, you may get reimbursed for part or all of your session fee. We recommend checking your benefits before starting therapy.
Ready to Find the Right Black Therapist in NYC?
Regardless of the concerns bringing you to therapy, our main goals are to help you embrace who you truly are, heal from past traumas, and develop self compassion. If you're ready to seek passionate and personalized mental health services and know you'd like to work with a Black therapist NYC, we're here to support you. Let's collaborate to overcome challenges and make positive changes in your life together. We're looking forward to walking alongside you in your next steps.
Ready to get started?