Mental Health and the Black Professional
As an African American female mental health professional practicing in the Twin Cities, many of the Black/African American (I use these interchangeably) clients who present to therapy work in a professional or corporate setting. The most common problems they present with are anxiety, depression, or symptoms from past trauma that are making it difficult for them to function in the present day. Their work setting is almost always a significant stressor, if not the primary stressor. Research shows that black professionals are more likely than their non-professional black counterparts to develop stress-related physical health problems, such as high blood pressure. Research also indicates that black professionals have a lower life expectancy! The researchers who gathered this information attribute this primarily to their stressful workplace experiences.
I was not surprised when I was told what my black professional clients were dealing with in the workplace. It appears that having to constantly navigate a corporate world built on White American culture and values with systemic racism and anti-blackness built-in can be an incredibly stressful experience. This is in addition to the countless other challenges associated with being black in America.
These professionals are often navigating workspaces where they may be just one of a few black folks or even the only black person in that space. They describe experiences rife with microaggressions, being treated according to stereotypes, general invisibility (until they make a mistake, of course), and covert and overt anti-blackness. I’ve heard many stories of being passed up for promotions, fired, or generally excluded, with justifications being given in coded language (referring to race without referring to it), such as “you’re not a good fit for the culture here.” In addition, clients with other intersectional identities, such as woman or LGBTQ, will likely experience additional stressors in the workplace associated with these identities along with their blackness.
Black professionals also talk about the “masking” that they are required to maintain in the workplace. They often aren’t at liberty to be themselves and need to mask parts of their personality, culture, or perspective in order to be considered palatable to white people in the workplace. Masking takes energy and can be highly stressful, especially if they are masking their feelings and reactions to anti-blackness or microaggressions.
A talk therapy setting that provides black therapists, such as Canopy, gives black professionals a space to safely discuss these issues with someone who will believe their experiences and may have even experienced similar things. I’m grateful that these folks lend trust to me by sharing their stories. It’s my honor to provide them with client-centered therapy and validate their experiences.