As a teenager, Brittany Rush struggled significantly with her mental health. Her family did their best with their knowledge of the disease, but didn’t always talk openly together or understand how to obtain resources for Ms. Rush.

These experiences made Ms. Rush passionate about mental health care and helping others. She earned a bachelor’s in criminal justice from Old Dominion University and a master’s in social work from Virginia Commonwealth University. She became a counselor and works currently as a program therapist for adolescents in residential treatment at Hallmark Youthcare. She also founded RUSH Community Group to help serve the Richmond community.

In hosting this weekend’s inaugural Black Therapy Expo, Ms. Rush will present mental health from the Black perspective and showcase Black mental health providers and artists who use their creativity in therapeutic ways.

“I think it will be beneficial to bring awareness and provide a safe space to ask questions and make connections,” Ms. Rush said about the event she hopes will be recurring and a resource for education and exploration.

“Access is a huge problem,” Ms. Rush said. “Drastically long wait lists for mental health services can see people waiting weeks or more. That’s why all the providers participating in the expo have openings available.”

While Black people experience mental health challenges at similar rates to other groups, they are less likely to seek treatment. Statistics from McLean Hospital, the teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, show only 25% of Black people compared with 40% of white individuals seek mental health treatment.

Ronnie Ransome Jr. is one of the weekend’s participating providers. The Chesterfield County resident is a licensed mental health professional who earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Virginia State University

In a recent telephone call, he named some other factors that often prevent people from getting the mental health help they need.

“One of the biggest factors is financial resources,” Mr. Ransome said. “When you don’t have the financial resources, it is hard to have any sustainability and stability in your life.”

Another factor is the stigma associated with mental health issues – especially in the Black community. Pressure to “keep things inside and suck it up” can lead to people becoming what he describes as “bottles of soda” rather than “bottles of water.”

“If you shake hard enough and long enough, the pressure builds and they explode,” Mr. Ransome explained. “Temporary decisions and temporary moments can have permanent consequences.”

Lack of representation also prevents people from seeking treatment. Data from the American Psychiatric Association shows that only 4% of psychologists in the U.S. are Black. This can make it difficult for Black Americans to find someone they feel comfortable opening up to — especially about race-related trauma.

Racism itself plays a significant role. So much so that in 2021, the CDC called racism “a serious threat to the public’s health.” It not only contributes to unequal access to resources and services, but acts of racial discrimination, even those seen or heard about in the media, can cause or intensify stress and racial trauma.

Which is why safe spaces to talk about mental health openly are so important. Diamond Chanell said in a phone call that this expo can help remove stigmas, showing that mental health is as important as physical health and letting people know what resources are out there and that they are not alone.

When Miss Chanell shares a spoken word poem about her mental health journey and her song “Pray,” she will do so to raise awareness of the arts as an alternative therapy. The recent VSU graduate has a degree in psychology and uses poetry and music as therapy for herself and as a message to others who share similar struggles.

“Everyone wants to be happy. Everyone wants to be at peace,” Miss Chanell said. “Therapy can play a big part in making that happen.”

The Black Therapy Expo will take place from 12 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 20, at 2810 W. Cary St.t, Richmond. Tickets and more information are available online at www.eventbrite.com/e/black-therapy-expo-tickets-608527671647