Description
An unapologetic exploration of the Black mental health crisis—and a comprehensive road map to getting the care you deserve in an unequal system.
We can’t deny it any longer: there is a Black mental health crisis in our world today. Black people die at disproportionately high rates due to chronic illness, suffer from poverty, under-education, and the effects of racism. This book is an exploration of Black mental health in today’s world, the forces that have undermined mental health progress for African Americans, and what needs to happen for African Americans to heal psychological distress, find community, and undo years of stigma and marginalization in order to access effective mental health care.
In The Unapologetic Guide to Black Mental Health, psychologist and African American mental health expert Rheeda Walker offers important information on the mental health crisis in the Black community, how to combat stigma, spot potential mental illness, how to practice emotional wellness, and how to get the best care possible in system steeped in racial bias.
This breakthrough book will help you:
- Recognize mental and emotional health problems
- Understand the myriad ways in which these problems impact overall health and quality of life and relationships
- Develop psychological tools to neutralize ongoing stressors and live more fully
- Navigate a mental health care system that is unequal
It’s past time to take Black mental health seriously. Whether you suffer yourself, have a loved one who needs help, or are a mental health professional working with the Black community, this book is an essential and much-needed resource.
Read more
Kayri Taylor –
I love everything about this book and would 100 percent recommend it
T. Brooks –
I can’t thank Dr. Walker enough for writing this book. I never thought I would read a book where someone actually understood Black Women’s struggles and the effects it has on our mental wellness.
I identify myself in her words(institutional racism, unequal pay, lack of promotions) as well as family members.
My mother passed away from suicide and I wish this book was around to help me comprehend mental illness and how brutal the disease is and how it’s allowed to run rapid and misdiagnosed in the black community. Dr.Walker advise those to skip the suicide chapter if you can’t handle it but it was perfect for me because I had already experienced it with my beloved mom.
Dr.Walker is right when she said that if someone wants to kill themselves that there is nothing that you can do about it. It’s a devastating reality.
This book should be recommended for all Black people. It’s a book that needs your undivided attention and to be read slowly so that you can take everything in and overstand what is happening to us(Black Americans) in this racist systematic society.
I highly recommend and give it 10 stars!
CMG629 –
This book is what I needed for life in general, but especially during these COVID-19 times. It’s refreshing to read this guide, as Dr. Walker addresses issues not only as an academic, but also with examples and all to real scenarios. There was more than one occasion where my husband and I would discuss a thought or predicament regarding the Black community, only for me to read the next page and see the same topic described almost identically.
Dr. Walker provides real solutions and suggestions to help raise and sustain psychological fortitude (PF). I feel that mine is high, but also came to realize that the negative narrative that plays in my head sometimes gets in the way. In chapter 11, she refers to this as “disqualifying the positive.” I plan to incorporate more of the tools in this chapter to help boster my mind and thoughts.
Bravo, Dr. Walker, on creating a vital, necessary and essential guide that, upon application, helps Black people move through the world with a more peaceful mind and a fortified spirit.
Kayri Taylor –
Great read. Very well written and articulated in a way that the reader can understand. A must read and highly recommended.
Mrs. Lala –
e s t e l i v r o m u d a u m a v i d a
Scott –
This book is written as a guide and call to action for the general public, written in the style of a self-help book—though obviously with some major differences. The book is written for African Americans from the Black perspective. The writing is sublime in that is charming, pragmatic, and phenomenally real. There is no jargon. It is not academic. It is written in the manner someone would talk with their family and friends.
In her book, Dr. Walker addresses both the unique pain, trauma, and adversities that accompany the Black experience in America, specifically targeting cultural stigma that may act as barriers to mental health. She also draws from and reinforces the unique factors of resilience and fortitude of this population. She discusses cultural factors as they relate to both instances of risk and resilience. The book touches on clinical issues in a way that is consistent with the Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies and it is also applicable to nonclinical populations.
I was not the intended audience of the book, and yet I found it to be nourishing and informative. The Foreword for her book starts out with a powerful statement, “There are probably hundreds of ‘unapologetic guides for white mental health.’ Though they are not likely to be so titled, the content of these publications betrays the implied idea that mental health is the same, regardless of race. This book boldly and courageously challenges that assumption and speaks directly to Black people about unique issues that affect their mental health.” This is a good summary of the book (and of the need for the book).
I found chapter 10, “How to make therapy work when you need it,” to be especially helpful information and this will directly influence my clinical practice, hopefully making me a more culturally responsive CBT therapist. I would wholeheartedly recommend this book. Given the nature of the topic and current mental health crisis, it would be inappropriate to say this is the only book you’ll ever have to read on the topic. If anything, we need more books on the topic.
Mrs. Lala –
I’m now on chapter 2. I wish I could drop everything and continue but I will take this journey at a casual pace to retain the information.
We talk often about physical wellness but what about our mental health? As I continue my fitness journey, I realize that my body is changing. I feel stronger physically & yet, I still felt weak mentally. I thought I was over it – sexual abuse, physical abuse, racism, childhood traumas etc. Recently, I have removed my cape and disconnected. I am constantly the one my family and friends run to when they need advice and caring the baggage of others.
Although it is only the beginning, I already feel, inspired, hopeful, relevant, relieved. I have given myself grace and now know it’s ok not to feel ok. What we do next it’s more important.
Dr. Walker says, “things will not change unless we actually do something.”
THIS BOOK HAS HELPED ME GAIN BACK MY SOLACE!
Cliente Kindle –
Great research