"We often think of oppression as something external – laws, institutions, violence, exclusion. But what happens when those forces settle into our thoughts, our choices, and our self-talk?"

In this podcast episode, I speak with Adaiah Lassalle, LCSW, co-author of the book, "Rewriting the Script: The Power of Transforming Inner Dialogue in Oppressed Communities." This is a book about how internalized oppression can become the silent narrator of our lives and how we can defeat these inherited scripts. Adaiah is a healing-centered practitioner and an advocate for racial and social justice. Her work focuses on intergenerational healing and trauma informed care.

SWEET Institute Publishing is an initiative dedicated to making healing, mental health, and human transformation universally accessible, destigmatizing mental illness, and helping to end mental and emotional suffering. https://www.sweetinstitutepublishing.com/

Black Mental Health Matters is a podcast available on all major podcasting platforms. For more content from Dr. Kerry-Ann, check out her YouTube channel at drkerryann.

Is it possible to use empathy as an intervention in educational settings?

Angel Kendall, a doctoral student at William James College, joins me on the podcast today to talk about Empathy in Educators.

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Black Mental Health Matters is a podcast that will educate and empower you as you work towards your mental wellness goals. Find us on YouTube at drkerryann6075

WJC graduate students - Lucy Andino and Natalia Vazquez - join me in this episode to talk about youth mobile crisis services in the state of MA.

https://www.mass.gov/info-details/mobile-crisis-intervention

They have provided the following contact numbers for Massachusetts residents:

There has been a lot of talk in the news lately about ADHD. In today's episode, I speak with Dr. Alecia Greenlee - a psychiatrist who specializes in how to diagnose and treat ADHD in women.

Dr. Alecia Greenlee is a board-certified psychiatrist dedicated to centering the mental wellness of women through comprehensive integrative care. Dr. Greenlee specializes in reproductive and lifestyle psychiatry, with particular expertise in how hormonal fluctuations can influence ADHD symptoms in women—from premenstrual periods to perimenopause. She understands how cultural expectations, workplace dynamics, and historical medical trauma can impact both help-seeking behaviors and treatment experiences for women with ADHD. As one of only 2% of psychiatrists in the U.S. who are Black, Dr. Greenlee brings both lived experience and clinical expertise to understanding the unique challenges women face with ADHD diagnosis and treatment. Her work addresses the intersection of ADHD with perfectionism, emotional overwhelm, and the sociocultural pressures that many high-achieving women navigate daily.

Go to her website: https://www.bloomandbuild.com/

Black Mental Health Matters is a podcast that will educate and empower you as you work towards your mental wellness goals. Find us on YouTube at drkerryann6075

What happens when the rise of psychiatry occurs at the same time as the height of slavery?

In her new book - From the Enlightenment to Black Lives Matter: Tracing the Impacts of Racial Trauma in Black communities from the Colonial Era to the Present – Dr. Ingrid Waldron presents one of the best, research-backed, summaries that I have ever read on the history of racial trauma, psychiatry, and the current state of Black mental health.

Dr. Waldron is a professor and HOPE Chair in Peace and Health in the Global Peace and Social Justice program at McMaster University in Toronto, Canada. She is the founder and director of the Environmental Noxiousness, Racial Inequities, and Community Health Project (ENRICH project) and author of the book, "There's Something in the Water: Environmental Racism in Indigenous and Black Communities", which was turned into a Netflix documentary in 2020.

Dr. Waldron joined me for the podcast today, to talk about how race has historically influenced the psychiatric assessment, the need to look at structural competency, and next steps for how we can all make a difference.

Purchase her book here: https://a.co/d/8FYmUXP

Learn more about Dr. Waldron:

https://experts.mcmaster.ca/people/waldroni

https://www.enrichproject.org/

Black Mental Health Matters is a podcast that will educate and empower you as you work towards your mental wellness goals. Find us on YouTube @drkerryann6075

In this vintage episode, I talk about five supplemental interventions to boost your wellness routine. Enjoy!

Untether dysphoria and self-doubt with mindset coach, Hailima Yates, as she joins us for this episode to talk about her book, "Dissolving the Anchor."

Black Mental Health Matters is a podcast that will educate and empower you as you work towards your mental wellness goals. Find us on YouTube @drkerryann6075

Are you looking for resources for your teen post-COVID? In this episode, I'm joined by graduate students at William James College - Dasia Miles-Langaigne and Angela Walukevich, as they talk about the ins and outs of finding resources for teens in the community.

See below a list of resources in Massachusetts compiled by today's guests:

Resource List

Resource: (Targeted to knowledge/information gathering - can be used both for the organization level and also family level)

Afterschool Programs | Youth.gov

Afterschool 101 — Massachusetts Afterschool Partnership

Can apply for vouchers for childcare and transportation reimbursement:

Child care voucher 13y/o and younger

Get Child Care and Transportation Help | Mass.gov

Apply for funds for child care and/or after school programs:

Child Care Financial Assistance | Mass.gov

Applying for Childcare assistance: Mass211's Child Care Services & Financial Payment Assistance | Mass 211

Partial reimbursement transportation that is work and child-care related activities:

Get Child Care and Transportation Help | Mass.gov

Apply for Grant(s) for youth sports:

Youth Sports Grants - All Kids Play

Every Kid Sports – We pay. Kids play.

For younger/small children, but still seems like great resource: (play groups, activities, vouchers)

Child Care Works – PACE

EBT Card for Culture (lower/free access for humanities, arts, sciences):

EBT Card to Culture - MA SNAP-ED

EBT Card to Culture Organizations | Mass.gov

Additional Places:

Brookline Teen Center: (middle and high school; teen jobs) - Mix of gaming, music/art, cooking, sports

Brookline Teen Center – A safe space for discovery, creative expression, and social change.

Children's Services of Roxbury: (music group, peer leadership/advocacy program, & drop in center - access food, housing, jobs, resources)

Youth Resiliency & Development | Children's Services of Roxbury

Zumix: (Music based: teens, but also ages 7-13, filmmaking, music production, and even podcasting)

Who We Are – ZUMIX

Younger Kids/to Grade 5: Arlington Child Center: (toddler, preschool, kindergarten, but also after school and summer programs for 6-11y/o/just completed 5th grade)

Programs for Arlington Children's Center, Arlington Ma

Think Together: (K-12 - academic focused, dynamic learning, enrichment) + college and career readiness

Afterschool Expanded Learning - Think Together | Nonprofit

The Black Man Can (mentoring, focused around boys/young men)

The Black Man Can Foundation

Follow Suit Mentoring (mentoring, workshops, focused around boys/young men)

Follow Suit Mentoring

Boston Project Ministries (multiple programs, mentoring, art, community)

The Boston Project Ministries

Girls on the Run (Physical activity for girls)

Girl Empowerment Programs | Girls on the Run

Swaby Tae Kwon Do (Tae Kwon Do)

ww1.swabystaekwondoboston.com/lander

YMCA Before and After School: (Greater Boston - local)

Before / After School - YMCA of Greater Boston

Additional local/community locations to consider:

· Parks

· Library

· Boys and Girls Club

Might be helpful for the organization: – "Youth Voice" - youth having voice in society. Ways to have culturally competency in the programs

Youth Voice — Massachusetts Afterschool Partnership (STEM)

Boston After School and Beyond: Hub to look for activities/programs (funding on organizational level), can search by neighborhood, age, topics

Boston After School & Beyond | Youth Educational Programs

What are neuropsychological assessments? Are you trying to find one in the Boston area? In this episode, two graduate students from William James College - Ellie Deveaux and Sonia Cordero - talk about cultural disparities in neuropsychological assessments and provide resources for accessing these assessments in the Boston area.

Here are some resources provided by today's guests, including two Spanish-speaking psychologists:

#1 Boston Children's Hospital-Department of Psychiatry

#2 The Massachusetts General Hospital-Pediatric Neuropsychology

#3 The learning and emotional assessment program (LEAP)-Boston

College.

#4 Butler Hospital

#5 Dr. Juan E. Rosario Jr. Psy.D.

#6 Dr. Frank Hernandez

Black Mental Health Matters with Dr. Kerry-Ann is a podcast covering mental health topics relevant in the Black community and beyond. Listen to more episodes by following this podcast on any major podcasting platform or by subscribing to the drkerryann channel on YouTube, where you can find the video version of this episode.

Liberate your narrative. Boast in your weaknesses. In this episode, Mr. Hassan Daniel uses biblical principles to help men heal from childhood sexual abuse. Hassan is the founder and CEO of the Father Factory Inc (https://thefatherfactory.com/), a fatherhood program focusing on parenting, biblical literacy and counseling for fathers who have experienced childhood trauma.

Hassan has written a book called, "Where is the Man of the House?" and he is about to release a book called, "Not Another Child." Check him out on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTFwGM3Dy/

You can reach out to Hassan directly at: [email protected]

Other helpful resources:

1in6: https://1in6.org/about-1in6/

RAINN: https://rainn.org/resources

Male Survivor: https://malesurvivor.org/

Black Mental Health Matters with Dr. Kerry-Ann is a podcast covering mental health topics relevant in the Black community and beyond. Listen to more episodes by following this podcast on any major podcasting platform or subscribe to the YouTube channel (@drkerryann6075).