How to Be an Anti-Racist Clinician

Melanin & Mental Health

Worth 1.5 Cultural Diversity CEUs

Friday, March 3, 2023, 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM

Eboni and Eliza of Melanin & Mental Health will open the uncomfortable conversation about race and racism in therapy, addressing the problematic relationship between Black and Latinx communities and mental health to help you become an anti-racist therapist. This will include the history of race and mental health, systemic racism, how it has shown up in healthcare, and what goes wrong in the therapy room. Gain tools to check for your own blind spots, and learn how to show up differently for Black and Latinx communities.

About Melanin & Mental Health

We are 2 brown therapists (Eboni Harris is Black; Eliza Boquin is Mexican) who saw a gap in the mental health and wellness industry. We met via social media because there weren't many therapists using social media as a marketing tool. As soon as we went on our 1st networking lunch date, the conversation quickly turned to "Where are all the Black and Brown therapists? Who do you refer to when someone is not a good fit for you?" As we continued to develop our professional relationship; this conversation continued to happen, and eventually, we decided to host a "small" meetup of therapists in Houston so we could introduce our therapist friends to each other. We expected around 6 people and ended up with 30 mental health professionals, advocates, and just interested people.

Earlier that year, Eliza was inspired to start the Melanin & Mental Health social media pages and a group where she could start sharing information about mental wellness geared to brown and black people without the psychology jargon. It quickly grew, so when they decided to do a small meetup with our therapist friends, Eboni suggested it be posted in the Melanin & Mental Health group.

Immediately after the meetup and all the questions regarding the next one and how they can keep up with all of the amazing professionals that came, Eliza and Eboni (being the businesswomen they are) decided to meet the next day for lunch to discuss... well, business. During that meeting, they decided to make Melanin and Mental Health a formal business and immediately started planning for the national directory, merchandise, and more events.