Do you want to make a real impact on the advocacy work I do while also supporting a Black queer journalist and storyteller? Consider donating to my fundraiser. Your donation will help me cover over $4,000 in mental health medical bills and relocation for my new career. Please share! https://gofund.me/d927ae84 Stigma keeps too many people from getting the help and healing they deserve for their mental health. In this bonus episode Alex breaks down the different forms of mental health stigma and how each of us can make the world safer for people who are struggling to get the care they need. Sources: https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/stigma-and-discriminationhttps://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(16)00687-5/fulltexthttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5798266/

Best-selling author and therapist Resmaa Menakem talks one-on-one with Alex about the book that inspired Psychological Injury. In a wide ranging and often lighthearted discussion, the two go in-depth on racial trauma, body-centered psychology and how critical race theory, and improving communal mental health go hand-in-hand. Youtube.

Resmaa Menakem: https://www.resmaa.com/

Debra Cruz: https://www.debraanncruz.com/

Janice Evans: https://jlevanslpc.com/

Black therapists explain the long standing lack of cultural competency in the psychology profession, specifically when it comes to treating racial trauma. Research shows that while improvements have been made to diversify the ranks and population in the field, patients are still struggling to have their needs met. Youtube.

Mental Health America: https://www.mhanational.org/issues/black-and-african-american-communities-and-mental-health

Debra Cruz: https://www.debraanncruz.com/

Janice Evans: https://jlevanslpc.com/

APA: https://www.apa.org/education-career/ce/topic/?query=cetopic:Race,%20Culture%20and%20Identity

Alex talks with a survivor of the modern Kurdish-Turkish conflict and a Black American father and son about how racial trauma has impacted their lives. He discovers why even after overcoming hurdles to receive mental health care, many will still struggle when it comes to being treated for their racial trauma. Youtube.

Kurdish-Turkish Conflict: https://www.britannica.com/place/Turkey/The-Kurdish-conflict

Drapetomania: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h3106t.html

Understanding Black Mental Health: https://www.mcleanhospital.org/essential/black-mental-health

MLK’s Mental Health struggle https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/853024

Alex gives the textbook definitions of trauma, post traumatic stress disorder and racial trauma. With the help of therapists Janice Evans and Debra Cruz, he learns how racial trauma can manifest mentally, physically and across generations. Youtube.

Racial trauma defined. Trauma & PTSD defined.

What do you do when your very identity is a source of trauma?

Psychological Injury: Exploring Racial Trauma, is a four-part podcast series that examines the lack of a standard of care for racial trauma in the mental/behavioral healthcare system. Inspired by multi award-winning journalist Alex Spearman’s own mental health journey, therapists, patients and experts share their stories, concerns and hopes for a country still coming to terms with the 2020 racial reckoning and Black Lives Matter protests.