There is a lot of evidence suggesting CBT is completely ineffective for a lot of people, and even harmful for a significant amount. Most disturbing, people who identify with marginalized groups are more likely to feel as if it harmed them in some way. For a lot of minorities, CBT is nothing more than gaslighting that you pay a lot of money for.

The biggest problem with the assumption that cognitive distortion and negative thought patterns are the cause of depression is that it ignores the very real structural discrimination many people live with every day. Being neurodivergent or disabled in any way makes you subject to minority stress, just like people of color and LGBTQ individuals. To hear a therapist, especially a privileged one that can’t relate to minority stress, insist that a person’s very real experiences of being marginalized by society are all in their head, is a form of emotional abuse. It’s also wrong to put the onus on marginalized people to take responsibility for their systemic discrimination by “changing their thoughts or perceptions”, rather than validating that sometimes the problem is absolutely outside of their control and that they deserve to be treated better by society.