Looking for a Black Therapist? This Psychologist Helps Us Find the Right One

The Convention Center has been buzzing since opening its doors Friday for the ESSENCE Culture Festival. But the Wellness House activation, with the Mind Over Matter booth became a room, is quiet. Clinical psychologist Chanda Reynolds, PYS.D., provides a protected space for guests to come back speak about things on their minds, disagreements they’ve with others, and just vent. Reynolds tells ESSENCE that the most typical thing guests come to her for assistance is finding a therapist who looks like them.

“The main thing I hear is, ‘I just don’t know how to find someone who’s black,’” she says. “I think that’s really important, especially for black people, because of the distrust of medicine that we’ve had for decades and centuries, honestly. When we think about how our ancestors, how we were exploited by the medical system, yes, I’m going to have my guard up and no, I’m not going to see a specialist. I’m not going to see a doctor. But when black people are providing treatment, there’s a level of trust that’s established.”

Reynolds says that with the ability to speak about greater than just mental health and stress management with a practitioner will help people feel more comfortable with their therapist. So what’s the first step to finding a Black therapist? She shared a few of her favorite resources.

“We have different catalogs like Therapy for Black Girls, Therapy for Black Men, and the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation, which is Taraji P. Henson’s nonprofit. They have a catalog of awesome stuff. There’s also Minds of culturewhich is my nonprofit. And I also take people to the Psychology of Black Women classes that I teach. I let people know, just come. We can work something out, even if you don’t have the funds. I just want people to get the help that they need.”

She also added that after people find a practitioner they’re excited about, if cost is a problem, they need to ask about discounted rates, sliding scales and more. And if individual therapy isn’t available, she also recommends group therapy.

Reynolds says that regardless, it’s great to see so many black ladies and men reaching out for therapy and searching for treatment, including taking the first step at ESSENCE Festival.

“I think it was amazing, even today, to hear from people, older people, who had experienced things like Katrina, things specific to New Orleans. ‘I’ve been dealing with this trauma for so many years,’ and even though it’s not therapy, they walked in the door,” Reynolds says. “That’s so important because people go through things; they experience trauma, they internalize it, but they don’t unpack it. And that’s why it’s so important that we can do this.”