An interview with Patrice Douglas, LMFT, talking about mental health stigma in the Black Community. Curt and Katie talk with Patrice about how she is working to decrease stigma and increase access to competent treatment for African Americans.   It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age. Interview with Patrice N. Douglas, LMFT, CAMS-I Patrice N. Douglas is a licensed therapist, Certified Anger Management Specialist, and Certified Parent Child Interaction Therapist in California and Texas. She is currently a doctoral candidate at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology in Los Angeles. She is the owner of Empire Counseling & Consultation located in CA, NY, and TX where she specializes in anger management, men’s issues, minority mental health, as well as parenting. Patrice is passionate about decreasing stigmas in minority communities by curating initiatives such a t-shirt campaign that spreads awareness about mental health as well as uses the profits to pay for therapy for those who can’t afford it as well as low cost workshops. She has been featured in Bustle, HelloGiggles, Therapy For Black Girls, and other platforms discussing the various topics surrounding mental health. In this episode we talk about: Mental Health Advocacy within the Black Community Reducing Mental Health Stigma How awesome Patrice’s Instagram is The pros and cons about social media and how you can use it to decrease mental health stigma Patrice’s Infographics and how she has used them (and the response that she has gotten) The way Patrice has used social media to provide education and has gotten a lot of visibility Culturally specific impacts of mental health concerns – historical context, religion, lack of trust Barriers to Mental Health Treatment for African American Clients including cultural mistrust The impact of slavery, experimentation, institutionalization on access and perspective The importance of understanding cultural differences, stereotypes, privilege, bias Advice for Allies – hold space, consultation, understand required competence Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome – intergenerational trauma from slavery impacting the current generation of Black people The movement that Patrice is starting to increase awareness and decrease stigma – through t-shirts, infographics The importance of consultation, cultural humility, historical context   Our Generous Sponsors: This episode is sponsored by SimplePractice. SimplePractice is a HIPAA compliant all in one practice management platform where you can schedule appointments, use paperless intakes, file insurance claims, meet with clients remotely using our integrated Telehealth system, and do so much more.  Learn more by going to www.simplepractice.com/therapyreimagined. You can also sign up and receive a special promotion of getting 3 months of SimplePractice for the price of 1. Please note, this offer is valid for new customers only.  This is episode is also sponsored by Brighter Vision. What’s the point of having a beautiful website if it doesn’t attract the clients you want to see? As the World Wide leaders of website design for therapists, Brighter Vision sees this issue happen way too often. A nice-looking website doesn’t equate to a successful website. The truth is, your current website might even be turning off potential clients. That’s where Brighter Vision comes in. Brighter Vision’s team of website designers will create you a website that is centered around attracting and retaining your ideal client. So that you can have a nice-looking website as well as a successful one. To save $120 on your first year, head on o