Episode 1: Therapists

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Today’s guests are Jenn Ma-Pham, Dr. Christine Coleman, and Jacqui Johnson. These amazing women are all DRK Beauty therapists and they join us on the show to highlight the diversity of our team and share the breadth of work that is going on in the DRK Beauty community. Jen is a licensed clinical social worker whose passion stems from the belief that recovery is possible and that the human spirit is resilient. Dr. Coleman is a speaker, consultant, and award-winning founder of a women’s non-profit called Sol Sisters Inc. Jackie is an LPC and an art therapist who offers holistic therapy that integrates art, storytelling, and body sensations to promote healing from racial, generational, and other traumas. Our conversation covers the lack of access to therapy for people of color and the systemic causes for this. We speak about what the situation looks like on the ground for Black people who need to talk to somebody and the many challenges that stand in the way. Together, our guests also weigh in on their personal experiences of devoting their lives to helping their clients along their journeys of healing and how they find the time and energy to look after themselves as well. So for all this and more in a conversation filled with the brilliant work and perspectives of Jen, Christine, and Jackie, tune in today!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Introducing our three guests from today and the respective focuses of their work.
• How Jenn, Christine, and Jacqui got interested in social work and their journeys in the space.
• The emotional cost of helping others and how each of our guests take care of themselves.
• Setting very clear boundaries and holding space to ‘just be’ rather than code switch.
• Being authentic as a therapist and how this can help clients feel safer.
• Perspectives on stigmas surrounding mental health in communities of color and its origins.
• Systems that have been set up to make access to therapy difficult for people of color.
• Experiences of white male doctors dismissing the experiences of womxn of color.
• How POCs are looking for therapists who understand them but resources are slim.
• Fault being put on POCs for not seeking therapy when its more of a societal issue.
• Effects of the pandemic on access to therapy and how people are coping with readjusting.
• The lack of systems for prisoners to get access to therapy in jails versus prisons.
• Guilt around tapping out from activistic work and the need to set boundaries.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Dr. Christine Coleman

Sol Sisters

Wilma Mae Basta on Instagram

DRK Beauty
E-Team