May is Mental Health Awareness month which makes for an opportune time to address mental health prevention. To solely utilize therapy when experiencing crises is underutilizing this service. Some view attending therapy similarly to going to the ER for a temporary fix to an issue. However, therapy may be used as a form of prevention where risk factors are reduced and protective factors are cultivated. Tune into the podcast via www.talkingwithdrtoy.com.

Connecting has been defined as "joining or linking things together, especially so as to provide access and communication." Some may struggle allowing others access to their authentic selves and erect walls instead of bridges. Disconnection may occur more often than connections leaving individuals feeling isolated, withdrawn, and alone. Disconnection may appear as the norm but it may breed further disruption and perpetual exile from self and others. Tune into the podcast via www.talkingwithdrtoy.com

A passage reads, What is your life? You are a vapor, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away. Life appears so fragile at times especially when experiencing the death of loved ones. We often contemplate our own mortality in such moments and explore existential musings regarding the meaning of life and ponder what our lives may mean to others when we die. Don't allow anyone or anything to steal a moment of life from you because life is precious. So my question to you: How are you living? Tune into the podcast via www.talkingwithdrtoy.com.

There's a scripture verse that states, "There's a time for everything, and a season for every activity...A time to weep, a time to mourn, and a time of heal." There are just no words regarding the mass shooting that took place at the Covenant School in Nashville, TN. I'm extending my condolences and holding space for the precious lives affected by this tragedy. Many are struggling with cognitive dissonance and various emotions in the effort to return to some sense of normalcy when in this environment there's no anchoring definition for what normal is or what it will be from this point forward. Tune into the podcast via www.talkingwithdrtoy.com

Someone stated, "Imagine if we measured success by the amount of safety that people felt in our presence." I absolutely love this quote because safety is often one of those unspoken and hard to obtain core values. You may know it when you experience it and you absolutely react to it when you don't experience it. I believe many women desire to experience intrapersonal and interpersonal safety and I so appreciate those women who have cultivated that for me. I want to express gratitude for those who strive to be safe spaces for others. Thank you! Tune into the podcast via www.talkingwithdrtoy.com

"The most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much and forgetting that you are special too." Sometimes as women, we serve the role of being the super heroes in the lives of others while being the villain within our lives. The needs and wants of others often take priority while aspects within our lives become collateral damage. Why does this happen? Someone stated that it is out of necessity, cultural norms, and self-esteem issues. This process becomes the norm, to the point that anything contrary is viewed as deviant. Tune into the podcast via www.talkingwithdrtoy.com.

Women not only deserve to be celebrated but we also deserve to be supported. Sometimes women have to choose between wearing a cape versus exhibiting the need for a supportive shoulder. The article, "Black women are often pigeonholed as strong caregivers and providers who shoulder others' burdens and do not share their own" sheds light on the Strong Black Woman image/schema. Oftentimes, too many toxic sacrifices are made to sustain the image rather than the wellbeing of the individual. Tune into the podcast via www.talkingwithdrtoy.com for more information.

Black mental health matters is a rallying cry for identifying and dismantling the healthcare disparities that persists within the community. The lack of cultural competency, humility, relativity, gatekeeping within the profession, mistrust due to historic as well as present unethical and racists practices informed by implicit and explicit bias, and discriminatory systems are a few reasons why the health care system needs an overhaul. The mental health system must be willing to look into the proverbial mirror, accept the reality of the reflection, make amends, and make changes in order to provide trauma informed and therapeutic spaces of safety for African Americans. Tune into the podcast via www.talkingwithdrtoy.com.

Fannie Lou Hamer asked: "Ain't I A Woman?" and that question resounds today as many African Americans are still asking, "Ain't I human?" The objectification and dehumanization of African Americans is one aspect that lies beneath the systemic mental health disparities that persist in communities of color. Not being viewed as human but as objects/commodities did not end with slavery, but persists and informs some of the mental health practices and policies that displace African Americans at society's margins. As a result, our mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health represents the collateral damage of a system driven by this insidious ideology. Tune into the podcast via www.talkingwithdrtoy.com.

The co-morbidity of mental health and substance use issues has increased within the African American community. According to the African American Behavioral Health Center for Excellence, "The rate of increase in drug overdose deaths in 2018 for African Americans exceeded other racial groups and compared to all other races, had the highest death rates attributed to synthetic opioids, represented by an increase of 818%." Sometimes unhealthy and even deadly coping strategies are utilized when managing mental health issues. Let's continue to talk about Black Mental Health matters, tune into the podcast via www.talkingwithdrtoy.com