July is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s goal is to raise awareness of the challenges that impact racial and ethnic minorities. Dr. Raquel Martin is a psychologist who is also a professor at Tennessee State University, who encourages mental wellness on social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok.

“Therapy is not the only way to make mental health progress,” said Dr. Martin. “I focus on Black mental health because when I focus on everyone, I focus on no one. A lot of times, we do better with race-concordant relationships when clinicians look like us.”

Dr. Martin said there aren’t many specialists in her line of work who are Black, making it difficult for some people to find the help they need.