Black lives matter, and that means that Black mental health has to matter too. Nobody knows this more than Joy Harden Bradford, Ph.D. As the licensed psychologist behind the increasingly popular and instrumental podcast Therapy for Black Girls, Bradford is leading the charge to destigmatize mental illness in the Black community and change the face of therapy for Black women.
Bradford started Therapy for Black Girls in 2014 as an online platform dedicated to encouraging the mental wellness of Black women and girls—an idea that came to her after watching the Black Girls Rock awards show on BET. “Even watching it on TV, the energy was just incredible,” Bradford tells Glamour. “And so I thought, Is there a way I could capture some of the same energy and excitement for Black women related to mental health?” Her goal then and now was to make conversations around mental health “more approachable” and “more relevant” for Black women.
The combination of racism and sexism that Black women experience in a lifetime contributes to high stress and is associated with greater psychological distress. We routinely experience vicarious trauma due to the repeated killings of Black people, like George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, just to name a few, at the hands of police and white vigilantes. We are currently being bombarded with the replaying of traumatic video footage of police brutality against Black bodies and with scenes of antiracist protests across the nation being met with militarized police responses.
On top of all of this, we are all still in the midst of a pandemic that is disproportionately impacting Black people due to systemic inequalities in the United States. After three months of dealing with fear, isolation, sickness, and death, and with no known end in sight, we are heading into a mental health crisis. According to Bradford, we are already seeing increased anxiety in essential workers, many of whom are women, people of color, and immigrants.
Black people are also less likely to receive mental health treatment as compared with white people. When we do seek out help, we are confronted with the fact that it can be hard to find the right therapist. As Bradford puts it: “It is really, really daunting to try and find somebody who is right for you, let alone somebody who will understand your experiences.” That was certainly the case for me, when I wanted to find a Black female therapist who could help me deal with the death of my father. But I didn’t really know how to find one. I was hesitant to reach out to my network for recommendations because of the stigma associated with mental illness, especially in the Black community. The few Black friends I knew of that were in therapy were all working with white therapists.
Eventually, I gave up my search and decided to meet with a white therapist. Even though she was good, I didn't feel like I was able to open up and be my full self in my sessions. After only six months, I stopped going. It could be that I wasn’t ready to talk at the time, but I think if I had had a therapist who could better empathize with me, it would have made healing easier.
"I kept seeing that same question show up on social media, like: 'Hey, does anyone have a good Black woman therapist to recommend?'" says Bradford. "I saw it enough to where it made me think there has to be a way that we can easily find these people." So in 2017, she expanded her platform to include a nationwide directory of Black therapists. "I started it as a Google Doc. I just sent out a tweet and put it on my Facebook. Like, 'Hey, if you're a Black woman and have had a great experience with a Black therapist, share their name here, and I will kind of compile them all together,'" she says. "At the end of the month I had 90 therapists." Now the database lives on her website and includes more than 1,400 therapists across the U.S.
On top of that, Bradford also launched her weekly podcast in 2017, which covers a wide range of topics relevant to Black women today. Think everything from life after divorce to managing anxiety around COVID-19 to how to use therapy to craft your Hot Girl Summer (and, yes, if you listen, expect to hear plenty of pop culture references). She warns that the podcast is not a replacement for therapy, but it does provide sound tips and strategies for people who might not be able to go to therapy due to various barriers such as cost.
Therapy for Black Girls is exactly the space I, as a Black woman, needed but couldn’t find years ago. Now a therapist myself, I am so thankful that this platform exists to not only educate Black women about their mental health but also connect them with the help they are seeking. Bradford saw a problem in the system, and instead of shrugging it off, she chose to fix it. And now she’s providing Black women with tools to heal and, hopefully, to thrive.
Glamour caught up with Bradford in the midst of the pandemic, just before the nation erupted in antiracism protests in the wake of George Floyd’s killing. Read on for her self-care advice, and be sure to follow along on the Black Girls Therapy Instagram as she continues to share resources for preserving your mental health during this traumatic time.
Glamour: What are some of the roadblocks that hold Black women back from going to therapy?
Joy Harden Bradford: Cost is a big one. And I don't think that's specific just to Black women. Across the board it's kind of costly, but because that's who I'm paying attention to in the community, I see it come up a lot that people can't afford it. Of course, it becomes more manageable if you have a copay. But people are losing their jobs right now. There's also the fact that, historically, there's been a very difficult relationship between therapists and insurance companies. So some therapists have now opted not to take insurance, which makes access more difficult. I think people find the whole process draining.
It's also so different than if you're only looking for a primary care doctor. You might ask around and people will say, "Oh, so-and-so has appointments," and you get in on Thursday. It typically doesn't work like that with a therapist. And because it's much more focused on the relationship, you have to feel a connection and enjoy spending time with this person.
What are some of the most common questions you've been getting during the pandemic from your followers?
There's been a lot of anxiety from people who are considered essential workers. Not only health care professionals but also people who work at our grocery stores and gas stations. Lots of anxiety about, "How do I keep myself and my family safe around that?" Parenting has also been a huge one: How do you keep afloat at work, but also make sure your kids are okay and are learning in the process? Managing all those multiple relationships has definitely become magnified for lots of members of our community.
What advice would you give to essential workers or anyone who is anxious about returning to work during the pandemic?
One of the most important things is to try to do what you can to protect yourself. I've been encouraging people to make sure they have their own mask and gloves and to make sure they're spending time talking with support systems—but not necessarily about the virus. We're already overwhelmed, so it's important to make sure you have spaces where you can unwind and not focus on what's keeping you anxious.
One piece of advice you've been giving on the podcast is to stop reading the news as much, which admittedly can be really hard.
It's so hard. It's so hard because so much changes every day, right? There's a new symptom every day it seems. New accounts from physicians and things. And when we don't have answers, we want to get information. We think it's helpful, but it really can be overwhelming, because who stops at only one article? It truly is like the worst kind of black hole. The key is to set a limit or establish certain times you're reading the news—like only in the morning, instead of right before bed—so you aren't constantly consuming information.
Why is therapy an important part of self-care?
Therapy helps you better understand how you show up in the world. There's this idea we have about who we are, and sometimes it's right, but sometimes we don't necessarily have the correct insight to really understand how other people are perceiving us or how we manage ourselves in certain relationships. Therapy can act as a mirror to help you see yourself truly.
I also really, really love that therapy is a great space to help you work through some patterns in your life. It's like coming in with a big jigsaw puzzle and throwing all the pieces on the table. We're trying to put it all back together. A therapist can help you connect some dots that you would have lots of difficulty doing on your own. We'll think about that story you told us in the second session, and 25 sessions later we're connecting ideas like, "Oh, did you recognize such and such?"
There's that magic moment in therapy, where you feel like, "How did she know?" But that's a part of what we're trained in. We're listening for what you're saying, but we're also listening for what you're not saying, and we try to connect the dots.
If someone can't start therapy right now, what are some good resources they can look into to help them manage their mental health?
As I always say, the podcast is not a replacement for therapy, but I am a therapist and my guests on the podcast are therapists. So if you're struggling or can't afford therapy, we offer sound tips and strategies that can help. You can also be a part of our social media community—we have different kinds of discussion groups that you can join for free. I go live on Instagram and Facebook every Thursday to answer mental health questions.
One of the biggest things you can also do is pay attention to your sleep hygiene. Sleep gets easily overlooked, but you don't recognize what a big deal it is until you're not really getting quality sleep. Make sure you're not going down the rabbit hole of news too close to bedtime or exercising right before you go to sleep.
Assertiveness is another thing women really, really struggle with. I mean, I know when I was younger, my mom and grandmother would always say, "Little girls should be seen and not heard"—stuff like that. You can imagine what that does as you're growing up. It minimizes your voice and makes you feel like you can't contribute. So work on speaking up for your needs—in relationships, in work settings, wherever you need to. That, ultimately, is self-care.
Tashia Millstein, LMSW, is a social worker and psychotherapist in New York City. Find her on the Therapy for Black Girls directory and on Instagram @tashiamillstein.
This interview has been edited and condensed. Additional reporting by Lindsay Schallon.
A few short months ago, our world was irrevocably changed. But one constant that’s remained as we’ve navigated our new normal are the everyday heroes who continue to inspire hope. All year long we’ll be celebrating the women who are stepping up and doing good—the Glamour Game Changers. Up first: 10 women who are redefining what self-care means in 2020, whether that’s organizing to donate thousands of personal-care products to the front lines or helping to keep others, stuck at home, sane.
