Health & Science
Mental health for Black men
By Johnathan Hooker
Black men are among the least likely people to seek mental health counseling. Some Black therapists are trying to change that by tailoring their services to better attract Black males and hosting workshops just for them.
In New York City, licensed clinical social worker Frederick Bush on June 11th kicks off his “Idiosyncratically Colored Male” workshop. That online counseling series aims to help Black men tap more deeply into their emotions and explore how those feelings influence how they move through society.
“Men have an old-fashioned, turn-of-the-century way of seeing themselves — and that’s their problem. We are in the 21st century and they are in the 19th century, ” Bush said.
His Eidolon Therapeutic Services also serves Hispanic, Asian and other men of color through one-on-one and group sessions.
Like Bush, licensed professional counselor Robert Marchant, of Stockbridge, Georgia, said he strives to provide care that takes into account the lived experiences of Black men. That includes traumas they’ve endured, whether in their families, the workplace or on the nation’s streets. On June 7, he hosted a One Size Don’t Fit All workshop for Black men in Stockbridge, Georgia.
“I try to make an environment where men feel free to express themselves without having the feeling of being judged,” said Marchant, who counsels individuals, couples and families.
Bush and Marchant are hoping to move Black men out of the top spot for those who don’t tend to prioritize their mental health by going into therapy:
- 25% of Black men but 40% of white ones seek mental health treatment.
- 56% to 74% of Black males who suffered or been exposed to traumatic events may have an unmet need for mental health services.
- The suicide rates is highest for Black males aged 10 through 24.
Marchant knows those trends. His ability to listen and hear how his Black male clients see themselves, amid those trends, are part of what helps them to open up. Many more of them have been talking about their mental health, he said.
“I have seen more Black men hop on a Zoom call these past two years than I did in my first 11 years,” said Marchant, whose practice now has more Black men than ever. They account for a third of his 130 patients.
Henry County Schools Interim Superintendent Carl Knowlton has been in therapy since his mother and father died within months of each other in 2022. “How I was interacting with people, it was a struggle for me,” said Knowlton, of how his grief disrupted his everyday routine.
“We as African American men work out everything from the shoulders down,” he said. “But we don’t work out from the shoulders up to make sure that area of our body is taken care of.”
Bush wants his upcoming workshop to make the Black men attending to think differently about themselves. He wants the participants to allow themselves to think about the future and not the past.
“Build things that don’t exist and throw away things that don’t really serve us,” Bush said. “And stop worrying about what people think of us.”