Chil if I need to talk to someone about my troubles, I just call on the Lord.
and/or
What I need with some psychologist telling me what to do? I ain’t paying nobody to tell me something obvious.

These are some of the reasons I have heard over the years on why many African America people do not seek therapy. I’ll be the first to say that this attitude is slowly, ever so slowly changing. Now, that there are books published by African Americans about mental illnesses such as depression, there are more (usually younger adults) who acknowledge that we too, can become mentally ill.
I am diverging from the topic of Ruby a bit because this topic has been on my mind for quite some time and I wanted to blog about therapy and its role in helping individuals with their mental health issues. First, I wanted to speak on what it is NOT.

Many of us have watched t.v. shows such as Dr. Phil where the host presents individuals who are in a situation or have a mental health issue. The host usually chastises the individual depending on the situation such as situations of spousal abuse, the host quickly makes an assessment: “You need to leave” or for someone who is a drug addict: “You need to get help.”
I agree with the conclusions but not the process because everything has to be placed in context. Most shows are approximately 45-50 minutes (commercials cut into that hour slot) so we do not get to see how individuals evolve which is one of the major goals of therapy.

You cannot solve a mental health issue in 45-50 minutes and what we are watching is NOT therapy but entertainment with a slice of applied psychology. Therapy is the hard work of changing, adjusting, relearning and acceptance all of which can be difficult if not downright painful. Therapy is not the process of a therapist cosigning our perceptions about ourselves and our lives; especially if our assessments and behaviors undermine and cause harm. Our friends will say, “Uh-huh, you need to leave that alone.” Our pastors may say, “Pray about it.” Therapy challenges us with questions such as, “Why are you here and how does it benefit you?”