Hearing individuals seeking trauma treatment have many options for treatment supported by evidence based practice.

The deaf population has not validated any evidence-based behavioral health treatments.

The National Association for State Mental Health Program Directors has emphasized the current lack of resources for research and treatment. They are pushing for more research and prioritizing empirical development and evaluation of trauma treatment approaches for the deaf community

Lack of access to efficacious treatment

There are obstacles that impede help for deaf individuals seeking treatment such as: language barriers in the behavioral health system, limited health literacy, small community dynamics, and stigma

There is a lack of ASL-Fluent clinicians and ASL interpreters who are trained in behavioral health or trauma informed care.

Barriers to deaf treatment

Deaf individuals seeking mental health services face confidentiality concerns for their private information. The deaf community is relatively small and ASL interpreters and Deaf-specialized clinicians may exist within the same social circles as their clients. This increases the probability of private information being spread amongst other members of the community against the clients will.

Confidentiality Concerns

Early literature regarding deaf individuals described them as emotionally and cognitively deficient compared to hearing people. Many of these beliefs were drawn from research that used psychological measures unfit to access deaf individuals. There was and continues to be a lack of adequate cognitive and emotional assessment measures developed or standardized for the deaf population.

Historical Misinformation and Mistreatment of Deaf Individuals

- Lack of access to efficacious treatment
- Barriers to Treatment
- Confidentiality Concerns
- Historical Misinformation

State University of New York at Buffalo

Deaf people are twice as like likely to have mental health problems when compared to the general population. Conditions such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and social behaviors are especially apparent in the deaf population. 

This can be partially attributed to the services available to the deaf population and the fact that most interventions cater to the general population and not deaf individuals.

Mental health evaluations designed for hearing people have been proved unreliable when used for deaf people.

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