Nineteen Fifty-Six Vol.4 Issue 2

In Conversation
with
Andrea Early
Sidney Todd
Black Americans are less likely than their white counterparts to pursue mental health assistance, according to
Mental Health America. This disparity influenced a general mistrust of the medical system, and often results
in individuals turning to faith-based outreach for support first.
Nineteen Fifty-Six magazine sat down with Andrea Early, a staff therapist at the Women and Gender Resource Center
and University of Alabama alumna, to explore the stigma surrounding mental health in the Black community and
how to find help.
Q: How do we navigate the conversation of therapy in
the black community with family members who might
buy into the stigma?
Early: One of the things that I definitely tell students
who come to me, that are like, “my family doesn’t know
I’m here; I’m just wanting to work on these things.” If
we think about our mental health the same way we think
about our medical health, we are our own doctors. Doctors
can’t doctor themselves.
There is religion, there is faith, there is prayer, but also
God made therapists. I think he also would like you to
take care of your physical health and mental health and
take care of it as a whole, because people don’t realize
how much your mental health can impact so many other
things. Your stress levels, your anxiety, your depression,
that impacts whether you eat, whether you sleep, and
when you’re not eating and sleeping, that impacts your
ability to do schoolwork, to focus, to have social interactions.
All this stuff is interconnected.
It’s almost like, “hey, I might just be getting a checkup.”
I’m getting a checkup on all things, making sure my
head is where it needs to be and things as well my health
is where it needs to be in things. I would tell them to
approach it from a place of “I’m doing like a whole life
check. This is part of that whole life check. I’m just
checking in to see if there’s anything that I need to work
on that maybe I don’t see myself. And because you’re my
family member, you’re too close to me, you’re too biased
to see it for me too.” So, it’s one of those things where
it’s like, I’m just doing what I call just a checkup.
Q: What do you think people should prepare for, or do
you have any advice before going into therapy?
Early: It’s about having an honest conversation, I think a
lot of times, people come to therapy, and they minimize.
They’re scared of what people might think or what people
might say or being perceived as “crazy.” There’s no
such thing. There’s no judgement here. We are here to
help you work on whatever you want to work on.
I think the thing is, come being willing to fully be honest.
You know how when you go to the doctor’s office,
and you go, “Oh, I mean, nothing’s really wrong,” but
you’re in there for a stomachache. You know what I’m
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