Why Black Women Need Therapy Too

Iknew I was exactly where I needed to be. I wished I had done it earlier. I was so happy that I came. But I was also mad. I was mad at the black people who had told me my entire life that therapy was for “crazy white people.” I was mad at the stigma. And I wanted it to change.

The only reason I was there was because of my husband. He was the one with the anger management issues and who needed the help. My agreeing to accompany him was more of a manipulation. It would get him the help he needed, and I would be able to go on about my business.

But in that therapist’s office, as I cried and released emotions I didn’t know were there, I knew it was exactly where I needed to be. My soul was cleansed in a way I hadn’t experienced before. I wished I had done it earlier. I was so happy that I came. But I was also mad. I was mad at the black people who had told me my entire life that therapy was for “crazy white people.” I was mad at the stigma.

According to the US HHS Office of Minority Health, “Adult Black/African-Americans are 20 percent more likely to report serious psychological distress than adult whites.”

I am a Black woman who is a wife, mother, new grandma, daughter, and so much more to so many people. But I am also human. At times, I can be strong and fearless. At other times, I feel weak, afraid, overwhelmed, and even stuck. I forge through life, often barely taking time to breathe. Some days, I want to run away and be by myself, but then I remember I have a family who loves…