The influence of intersectionality on the counseling experiences of women survivors of child sexual abuse from minoritized racial and ethnic groups.

Child sexual abuse (CSA) poses pervasive challenges to the well-being of children and youth worldwide, with profound and sometimes lifelong consequences. Counseling is one of the most recommended treatments for CSA survivors. However, there is a paucity of research on the counseling experiences of CSA survivors from minoritized racial and ethnic groups. This qualitative study filled an important research gap by exploring the counseling experiences of 10 cisgender women survivors of CSA residing in Canada who identified with a minoritized racial and/or ethnic group. This study was guided by intersectionality theory and employed an interpretative phenomenological analysis design. Participants completed semistructured interviews (lasting an average of 90 min) that directly explored their experiences with counseling and how an intersectionality lens might help us further understand these experiences. Analysis of interview transcripts produced three Group Experiential Themes: (1) shared social identities between survivors and counselors facilitated connection through shared struggles, (2) racism and White privilege had disparate impacts in counseling for survivors, and (3) counselor cultural competence and humility were perceived as priorities. The findings demonstrated how the social location of CSA survivors, and particularly the nexus of race, ethnicity, and gender and the concomitant systems of oppression, influenced their counseling experiences. Clinical implications underscore the critical role of counseling psychologists in addressing systemic inequities by fostering clinical practices that are informed by intersectionality and the voices of CSA survivors from marginalized groups. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).