Minority Mental Health Awareness Month: Professionals encourage minorities to seek therapy if needed

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - In an effort to spread the word about Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, mental health professionals are encouraging those who need help to make sure they do not hesitate seek it.

“It is such a stigmatized topic.”

Licensed Counselor Tabria Corprew has a passion for strengthening mental health for minority women

“What do you need met today.”

While seeing all women, he specializes in counseling women who are looking to start a family, already pregnant or in the postpartum stages.

“Most of the time, getting moms to therapy who identify as Black, Indigenous People of Color is the most challenging.”

Challenging, he says, because of a stigma

“We don’t want to be diagnosed or viewed as having a struggle.”

According to the CDC, the maternal mortality rate for Indigenous women is 2 times higher and for Black women nearly 3 times higher than white women.

“It’s a very scary thing to think about pregnancy but also to be pregnant and to trust your provider and know that they’re going to give you the best maternal care and they’re not going racially biased or they’re not stereotyping you,” Licensed Counselor Tabria Corprew said.

Corprew says counseling can help concerned mothers and mothers-to-be in expressing themselves.

“I really encourage them to speak up, advocate for themselves, if they need to change providers, be okay with that.”

She says going to therapy can give you more skills to navigate life even outside of a session.

“This is why therapy is so important because there’s tons of interventions, techniques, tools and things that we’ve been trained on and we’ve been taught that we can teach clients that can be helpful whenever they don’t seek out therapy or outside of there therapy sessions.”

She encourages women of color to try resources like the websites called Therapy for Black Girls and another called Inclusive therapist to find a mental health provider.

Because one conversation with a mental health professional.

Can go a long way.

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