American African Community Of Mental Health Professionals Hits 20,000 Membership

Posted by Eric Ojo Latest Headlines, U.S./Canada Thursday, July 21st, 2022

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – The rapid growth trajectory of African American owned community of Mental Health Professionals in the Unites States has increased to 20,000 members.

The group known as Clinicians of Color is a community of mental health professionals whose mission is to connect BIPOC mental health communities to services.

Clinicians of Color was founded by Lisa Savage, LCSW, and Kim L. Knight five years ago. These two mental health professionals met on Facebook and immediately clicked. They realized that Black and Brown therapists were doing amazing things but often overlooked.

Eventually, Lisa and Kim decided to create a platform to elevate Black and Brown therapists and provide them with support, training, and a welcoming community.

Since its inception, the group has remained on the fast lane in terms of growth and they believe strongly in the power of community and engage in ongoing activities to cultivate the community.

After the killing of George Floyd, it became amply evident that the Black communities needed mental health services but accessing them was challenging. Many in these communities were unaware of the resources and sought to connect with therapists who represented their race and understood their cultural nuances.

Clinicians of Color heard the call and decided to create a mental health directory to help connect communities to therapists who look like them. Their objective was to make it easier for Black and Brown people to find a therapist.

The directory has therapists representing almost every state with various specialties. To learn more about the directory, visit CliniciansofColor.org

This month, Clinicians of Color sponsors an online webinar for their therapist community under theme, “Healing Ourselves To Heal Others”.

The keynote speaker for the webinar, Dr. Joy DeGruy expanded a concept originally developed by Dr. Alvin Poussaint of Post-Traumatic Slavery Syndrome and the author of a book of the same name.

In this book, she posits that Black people continue to suffer from the ill effects of slavery and ongoing oppression. Dr. Degruy connects low self-esteem, ongoing anger, and internalized racism in Black people to post-traumatic slave syndrome. She believes that social and structural changes can only change this syndrome.

The webinar will empower Black and Brown therapists to understand the concept of post-traumatic slavery syndrome and what they can do to help dismantle systems of oppression and empower the communities they serve.