BIPOC Mental Health Month focuses on unique needs of people of color

July is recognized as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) Mental Health Awareness month, a time that focuses on the specific challenges that people of color face all year long. 

“BIPOC Mental Health Month is an opportunity to put a spotlight on the often unacknowledged or under acknowledged mental health experiences in the BIPOC community,” said Lambers Fisher, a licensed marriage and family therapist, DEI trainer, and host of The Diversity Dude podcast.

Fisher notes that while BIPOC individuals, couples and families grapple with the stresses of systemic racism, microaggressions and discrimination as well as challenges related to their relationships and personal growth, they often are reluctant to seek help through therapy or counseling.

“The well-known, sobering mantra that ‘you have to be twice as good to get half as much’ unfortunately conveys that any less-than-ideal display of mental health proficiency could result in an unacceptable personal or communal set-back,” observed Fisher.

Adrianna Willis is speaking out forcefully during BIPOC Mental Health Awareness month. She thinks there’s no time like the present to encourage people of color to consider the benefits of therapy.

“It’s okay to seek help and balance. I’ve been a low points in my life where I needed a therapist. We have to normalize this,” she said. “We only get one vessel and our mind controls our body. Therapy, along with prayer and community, will protect our peace.”

Willis has a year-round mission promoting mental health and mindfulness through her business, Mind the Crown (https://www.mindthecrown.com/). It

offers a line of self care products—including affirmation cards, adult coloring books, mugs, purses and candles with positive messages—as well as special events aimed at “restoring peace with fun and self-love.”

A professional who worked for a Fortune 250 company for 27 years, Willis pivoted from her corporate career to founding and working full time with Mind the Crown, aimed at her fellow hard charging Black women.  

“We carry a lot of people with our incomes. We hold a lot. I’ve known too many women  diagnosed with cancer in their 40s. We as women have a hard time being softer and letting our guard down,” Willis said. “We need to rest and be in the moment — and we need help for that.”

Willis points to a handbag in the Mind the Crown collection as a perfect accessory to mark the goals of BIPOC Mental Health Month. The stylish tote bag (https://www.mindthecrown.com/productss/p//this-bag-carries-boundaries-tote) is embossed with the words “This Bag Carries Boundaries.”

“It resonates. I personally am a pleaser, but glancing at that message reminds me to stay true to my boundaries. Carrying that purse makes women feel more powerful,” she said. “We don’t always communicate or maintain our boundaries but when we do, it’s the greatest form of self care.”

Willis wants to smash the stigma in the Black community about discussing mental health. She believes that is a barrier to seeking help and guidance through therapy.

“In the Black community, people can be penalized or called crazy if they go to a therapist. And we don’t want to look like we don’t believe in God and don’t believe He can heal everything. I believe in God but I needed someone to talk to who was not in my family,” she explained.

Lambers Fiisher hopes that BIPOC Mental Health Month can get an important conversation started that will continue once July is over.

“We can use this time to invest in empowering and equipping the community with mental health maintenance skills in a way that they can be nurtured, maintained, and not just modeled but also taught to the next generation and the generations to come.