black lives matter and so does your mental health
According to our strategic plan, the You Aren’t Alone Alone Project aims to target resources to people from all backgrounds experiencing issues with mental health or who are at risk of developing mental illness. We aim to not only support individuals, but communities; and to challenge the economical and societal norms in order to make mental health and wellness for everyone. In year one, we planned to expand programming and resources as needs were assessed/identified. As 2020 is not what any of us expected, we've been doing just that. We shifted our messaging for Covid and now we believe it's time to shift to supporting the black community's safety and mental well-being.
Racism is the oppression that is killing the Black community mentally and physically by Lara Ashley
"An organization called the ADAA has done studies on how racism affects mental health. In ADAA’s racism studies, they have found that Black people suffer from anxiety, depression, psychological distress, and trauma distress from seeing and experiencing racism. Because of this racial trauma, people of the Black community struggle with fear, hypervigilance, confusion, shame, or guilt following the experience, blaming themselves for the person projecting racism towards them."
“This is more than we should ask people to shoulder. We all mourn the death of George Floyd and feel rage against the circumstances that led to it. But it is a mistake to think that we all experience the reality of his death in the same way. And for too many of our brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, and sons and daughters, that mistake has proven to be a fatal one. It is no surprise that people are reacting as they are to this event. And we should not have to say that when we condone and normalize racism and bigotry, we do violence to our mental health.” read more from IDONTMIND.COM
If images of Black suffering have left you feeling sad and angry and overwhelmed, here are some things you might do to get a tiny bit of relief. Self-Care Tips for Black People Who Are Struggling With This Very Painful Week by Rachel Miller
44 Mental Health Resources for Black People Trying to Survive in This Country
Because we need and deserve support. By Zahra Barnes
Referral Networks + Resources from TWLOHA
Therapy For Black Girls
Therapy for Black Girls is an online space dedicated to encouraging the mental wellness of Black women and girls. They also offer a referral tool to find a therapist in your local community.
Inclusive Therapists
Inclusive Therapists offers a safer, simpler way to find a culturally responsive, social justice-oriented therapist. We center the needs of marginalized populations, including Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, the LGBTQ+ community, neurodivergent folx, and people with disabilities.
Loveland Foundation
Loveland Therapy Fund provides financial assistance to Black women and girls seeking therapy.
Black Emotional and Mental Health (BEAM) Virtual Therapist Network
BEAM is now offering an online directory of licensed Black therapists who are certified to provide telemental health services.
Therapy for Black Men
Therapy For Black Men is a directory to help men of color in their search for a therapist. Using the directory, men can search by therapist location and specialization. Searching by location, the results will include the therapists near you and will display their credentials, location, and the issues they treat.
Black Female Therapists
Black Female Therapists (BFT) is a lifestyle and empowerment platform for women of color. This platform was created to promote, inspire, and elevate other black female therapists and create a safe space for black mental health. Not only is it a place to connect but also a safe place for black women to discuss their mental health and wellness journey and learn new strategies to live a better life.
Association of Black Psychologists
This listing comprises Psychologists who are members of The Association of Black Psychologists who own and operate their own private practice business or are employed as therapists, and have elected to participate in this directory.
Open Path Psychotherapy Collective
Open Path Psychotherapy Collective is a non-profit nationwide network of mental health professionals dedicated to providing in-office mental health care—at a steeply reduced rate—to individuals, couples, children, and families in need. When using the Find a Therapist tool, you can find Black therapists by updating the Ethnic Speciality filter. Open Path therapists provide affordable, in-office and online psychotherapy sessions between $30 and $60.
Ayana Therapy
The Ayana Therapy app strives to address the strong lack of engagement between minorities and the mental health care industry which arises as a result of cost, stigma, and lack of cultural competency. We help match users with licensed professionals that share their unique traits, values, and sensibilities.
Melanin & Mental Health
Melanin & Mental Health was born out of a desire to connect individuals with culturally competent clinicians committed to serving the mental health needs of Black & Latinx/Hispanic communities. They are committed to promoting the growth and healing of our communities through our website, online directory, and monthly events.
Black Therapists Rock
Black Therapists Rock’s mission is to increase awareness of social and psychological issues impacting vulnerable communities and reduce stigma related to mental health. They offer a directory to find Black therapists and mental health providers.
Black Emotional And Mental Health Collective
BEAM is a training, movement building and grant making organization dedicated to the healing, wellness and liberation of Black and marginalized communities.
Psychology Today
If you need help finding an African American therapist, Psychology Today offers a search tool matched on zip code or city.
Additional Resources
Ethel’s Club
Digital membership club focused empowering people of color in wellness, culture, and creativity.
The Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation
The vision is to eradicate the stigma around mental health issues in the African American community. Through their partnerships, the foundation will ensure cultural competency in caring for African Americans who struggle with mental illness by providing scholarships to African-American students who seek a career in the mental health field; offer mental health services and programs to young people in urban schools; and combat recidivism within the prison system.
Sad Girls Club
An online platform and in real life community created to bring girls together who are battling mental illnesses. There are three goals that stand at the forefront of their work—Remove the negative stigma integrated in mental health conversations. Provide mental health services to girls who do not have access to therapy and treatment. Create in real-life safe spaces that build a community for young women to know—they are not alone.
Thank You For Breathing
Bridging the gap between personal + community responsibility: comment section to IRL. The Breathing Space is now home to an audience made up of individuals, like-minded and un-like minded, invested in each other’s lived experiences, partaking in candid discourse; safely, openly, and freely.
American Counseling Association Mental Health Resources Against Racism
STATEMENTS
- AMCD Statement on Racialized Violence and Discrimination May 31, 2020
- ACA Statement on Undue Police Violence May 18, 2020
Brooks, M., & Phipps, G. (Eds.). (2019). Counseling African American clients in the era of Black Lives Matter, police brutality, and media stereotypes [Special issue]. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 47(3).
The Journal of Counseling & Development investigates the extent to which perceived everyday discrimination (PED) is associated with depressive symptoms and suggests treatment strategies for individuals who experience PED.
Hayes, L., Pössel, P., & Roane, S. J. (2019). Perceived everyday discrimination and depressive symptoms: Does cognitive style mediate? Journal of Counseling & Development, 97(4), 427–436.
https://doi.org/10.1002/jcad.12291
Investigation of 106 counselors’ experiences with identifying and treating race‐based trauma among individuals of color and the relationship between training and treatment. Findings indicate the disparities between health care and the provision of related services.
Hemmings, C., & Evans, A. M. (2018). Identifying and treating race‐based trauma in counseling. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 46(1), 20–39. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmcd.12090
Addressing forms of stress associated with racial discrimination and explore racism from a biopsychosocial model.
Lau, M. Y., & Jenkins, K. (Eds.). (2020). [Collection of articles on stress associated with racism and racial discrimination]. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 48(2).
Examination of the Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies, including the history of the multicultural and social justice counseling competency movement, counselors of color’s experiences of microaggressions in counseling, multicultural competence in counselor education, and the impact of multicultural counseling competence and social justice counseling research on the counseling field.
Singh, A. A., & Nassar, S. C. (Eds.). (2020). Integrating the Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies into practice, research, and advocacy [Special issue]. Journal of Counseling & Development, 98(3). Available online June 15, 2020.
COUNSELING TODAY ARTICLESCounseling individuals of African descent: To work effectively with these clients, counselors must acknowledge the institutionalized racism and race-based oppression that influence clients’ trauma experiences and trauma responses.
The historical roots of racial disparities in the mental health system: Racial concerns, including overt racism at times, were written into the mental health system in ways that are invisible to us now.
Facing the realities of racism: As the United States grapples with the ugly truth of race-related fears, tensions and biases, counselors are being called on to reexamine their roles and responsibilities in addressing the issues.
Five points of discussion for conversations about racial injustice: Counselors can tap into their interpersonal skills to facilitate meaningful dialogue that invites others to engage rather than become defensive.
Race talk and facilitating difficult racial dialogues: The inability to talk about race and racial issues can be a major hindrance to multicultural counseling.
Addressing clients’ prejudices in counseling: Counselors are taught to value the tenets of multicultural awareness and social justice, so how do they respond therapeutically when clients who hold power and privilege in society express biases and prejudices in session?
Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies: Practical applications in counseling: These competencies provide a framework for addressing the constellation of identities that clients and counselors bring to the therapeutic relationship.
Bridging the divide between police and the public: A program involving counselors focuses on strengthening the interpersonal skills of police personnel to foster better relationships within the community.
Addressing learners’ emotional reactions to race-based trainings: To establish a sense of safety and remove impediments to learning, instructors of race-based trainings must anticipate and address reactions ranging from shock and anger to guilt and fear.
COUNSELOR EDUCATION
- Counseling for Social Justice by Courtland Lee
- Multicultural Issues in Counseling: New Approaches to Diversity by Courtland Lee
Books
NOTE: Amazon is out of stock of many of these – consider ordering online from from Black-owned bookstores.
- White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo, PhD
- Race Against Time: A Reporter Reopens the Unsolved Murder Cases of the Civil Rights Era by Jerry Mitchell
- Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
- The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
by Michelle Alexander - Born A Crime by Trevor Noah
- Waking Up White and Finding Myself in the Story of Race by Debby Irving
- How To Be An Antiracist by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi
- Dear White America by Tim Wise
- The Racial Healing Handbook by Anneliese A. Singh, PhD
- Race Talk and the Conspiracy of Silence by Derald Wing Sue
- The 1619 Project is a New York Times Magazine initiative whose aim is to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and black Americans at the very center for our national narrative.
- Understanding the work, the trust required, and ability to take action to work at dismantling systemic racism as a white person.
- Curriculum for White Americans to Educate Themselves on Race and Racism – from Ferguson to Charleston.
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Let's talk about it. We are always looking for guest bloggers to write about their experiences with mental health, and right now we’d like to focus on members of the black community who are open to sharing about the mental effects of being black in America. We can’t promise it will change anything, but we can promise that your voices will be heard. Email us if you're interested.
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