National Black Mental Health Professionals Day is dedicated to celebrating the mental health professional and advocates who have provided culturally competent mental healthcare to the Black community during unprecedented times.

We have a crisis of Black mental health in America. Long before Covid-19 brought an added wave of loss, anxiety, and isolation, African Americans were less likely to have access to culturally competent mental healthcare. The American Psychological Association tells us that African Americans are 7.3 times as likely to live in high-poverty neighborhoods with limited to no access to mental health services. Black therapists — who comprise just 2% of all psychologists in the US today — report that they feel overburdened and unable to meet the needs of their community.

Why is this day being created?

This National Day is an opportunity to acknowledge the incredible work of these caregivers and to raise awareness about the critical issue of mental health in the Black community. The work to transform the relationship between African Americans and mental health begins by meeting people physically and metaphorically where they are. This day is another step in the process of destigmatizing Black mental health and normalizing conversations about care. It is an opportunity to engage, embrace, and exercise our physical and mental health to embrace JOY and acknowledge the incredible work that mental health professionals and advocates have done in our community.

How should this day be observed?

This year, we will acknowledge National Black Mental Health Professionals Day with Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation’s “Can We Talk Symposium and Joy Award Celebration.” We will link this National Day with our high profile national convening to highlight Black mental health and provide information to mental health professionals and advocates about the tools and resources needed to help break the silence and stigma that keeps so African Americans from asking for and receiving the help we need. We acknowledge the incredible work that caregivers are doing each day, building pathways into the mental health professions for Black students, and providing support for current providers who may be struggling. We will offer National Black Mental Health Professionals Day materials to our program partners, corporate and philanthropic sponsors, and educational institutions that tell the story of the day and connect people to resources and pathways to free virtual therapy.

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