How To Get Black Men Into Mental Health Counseling

In this video, I explain how to get men into counseling by showing compassion towards how difficult their daily lives are.

Every day, psychologists have an opportunity to work with men. However, the number of men who need mental health counseling versus actually consent and agree to it is disproportionate. Men really do have hard lives and a lot of responsibility to provide for themselves, families and even communities. Additionally, men put internal pressure on themselves to measure up to their expectations as well as those of their family and society.

Hence, men's mental health needs are very high but toxic masculinity, pride and lack of psychoeducation have left us to suffer in silence by not accepting counseling as a gift. In the past, men viewed counseling and therapy as an indication of weakness and illness versus a supportive resource for stress relief. It is especially difficult to get black men mental health counseling because of our distrust for healthcare.

This is one of the reasons that I partnered with Alkeme to help men (and women) have resources for mental wellness who are already in counseling or want to learn more before contacting a counselor. For men (and women) in intense psychological distress, I would recommend calling 988 (mental health crisis hotline) which you are check out here.

I pray this video equips you with an effective approach to get a loved one into counseling or get mental health support. God Bless!