Mental Health Awareness Month is Celebrated Amongst the Black Culture.

As the month of May is coming to an end we still have time to dig into mental health awareness month.

Often times you will find individuals complaining that they aren’t happy with their lives which may include, Their job, financial stability, love life or their lifestyle in general.

Erica James is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Life Coach, Author and public speaker based out of Atlanta, Ga.

Erica focuses on two areas in her practice of therapy. The most important relationship is the one you have with yourself. Self-care is a great tool to cultivate and nurture that relationship. The other focus of therapy is assisting clients in becoming aware of and letting go of narratives that no longer serve them. This creates the space for new narratives which in turn ushers in a new experience of life.

She utilizes a dynamic therapeutic style that draws from multiple theories. “I encourage clients to reconnect with their bodies in order to find harmony and balance emotionally, physically, spiritually, socially, and physically by incorporating mindfulness practices and personalized self-care.” Said Erica.

In America statistics show that over 44 million adults suffer from a mental health condition, 12.63% of youth suffer from a mental health condition. Half of all mental disorders begin by age 14 and three-quarters by age 24. Research also shows that somewhere between 30 and 60 percent of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, or transgender people deal with anxiety and depression at some point in their lives. That rate is 1.5 to 2.5 times higher than that of their straight or gender-conforming counterparts. These statistics results are an example as to why people should attend therapy so they can focus on their mental health issues so they are able to cope with their own life issues.

Erica’s approach to therapy is very different compared to what most people think therapy sessions are like, laying down in a chair and just talking.

Erica starts her sessions off by making her clients write a letter to themselves and how they currently feel during the first session, by the end of her client's sessions with a part two of their therapeutic letter. Erica’s says she uses different techniques based off of the client's personality. Due to her rules in her practice, she couldn’t go into many details.

In past generations, mental health issues were often swept under the rug in African American communities one’s elder would say “ it’s nothing wrong with you just pray “.

In today’s generation, mental health issues and theory are praised, supported and acknowledged by the younger generations.

People are speaking out about their issues by becoming spokesmen for different campaigns, creating support groups via social media, group chats and other outlets of communication.

Charlemagne Tha God of being Breakfast Club Morning show always speaks on his theory sessions and mental health issues in almost every interview. He recently wrote a book about his mental health issues and therapy sessions and how it helped with his everyday life.

In life, it’s important that we must take care of our mental health!