A poor brain is as worthy as a rich brain: psychotherapy faces a privilege problem

A study showing psychotherapists are less likely to offer appointments to working-class people comes as researchers say poor communities and communities of colour grapple with inordinate levels of trauma

When Terrell Jermaine Starr, a high-profile 35-year-old political reporter, entered therapy for the first time in 2013 after having faced months of suicidal ideation and depression, he says he quickly realised that his mental ordeal came in part from unresolved childhood trauma.

Starr grew up in Detroit, at a time when the city was already topping national charts for unemployment, infant mortality and crime. His working mother was absent, and he had not yet met his father.