Welcome, everyone, to the sixth year of Shattering Stigmas, a blogging event all about coming together and speaking up to continue to break down the stigmas surrounding mental health. As Shattering Stigmas continues, we aim to build on the conversations we’ve had in the past to be more inclusive and more focused on tangible steps we can take towards advocating for access to mental healthcare. We feel that this event is particularly important in 2020, which has been an emotional rollercoaster for many due to a combination of lack of access to mental healthcare, the COVID-19 pandemic, political anxiety, the trauma and mental health effects of systemic racism and structural inequity and other stressors that have shed light on the broken healthcare systems in and out of the United States that fail to help people who are struggling.
That’s why my co-hosts and I are so excited to share these next two weeks with you and showcase the words of all our posters. We hope it will be an opportunity to consider how we conceptualize mental health in our own lives and those around us. Statistically, it is a guarantee that you know people who are struggling with their mental health. If you found your way here and you’re struggling too, we see you, and you matter. You can do this. We hope these posts, if nothing else, provide you with the sense that you are not alone. We are all in this together, even if we have to be physically apart this year.
As usual, we have a stellar line-up in terms of hosts and posters. You can check up on the other posts from my amazing co-hosts Taylor Tracy, who is the main organizer of this event, and Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight, who began this series in 2015. Please make sure to check out their blogs over the next two weeks for lists, Q&As, personal essays, and more! Every year, my co-hosts’ efforts and all the guests amaze me, and I’m so excited to share another round of mental health-related content and conversations with all of you.
Today, we begin publishing posts and will continue through Saturday, November 28th. As the event goes on, you can find a convenient list of all the Shattering Stigmas posts across the internet on Taylor’s website. We have so many amazing guests, so be sure to check back often, read up when you get a chance and support their work.
This year, we are asking people to show their appreciation for Shattering Stigmas not just by reading and responding to the posts that our contributors worked so hard on but also to consider donating to one of the organizations below whose mission is to provide affordable and accessible mental health treatment, particularly to Black women and Queer/Trans People of Color. We are not incentivizing you to donate to these organizations. Still, we hope you will take your mental health awareness and advocacy a step further to learn about and contribute to the good people doing the work by opening up pathways to access treatment.
Over the next two weeks or in the near future, please consider donating to:
- The Loveland Foundation’s Therapy Fund for Black Women and Girls: Loveland Foundation is committed to showing up for communities of color in unique and powerful ways, with a particular focus on Black women and girls. Our resources and initiatives are collaborative, and they prioritize opportunity, access, validation, and healing. We are becoming the ones we’ve been waiting for.
- National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network: The National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network (NQTTCN) is a space for queer, gender non-conforming, and trans therapists of color to build, resource, and support one another as clinicians and healers. NQTTCN will provide a network of support for queer and trans people of color (QTPoC) seeking transformative mental health resources rooted in social justice and liberation. This space will support QTPoC to utilize our relationships and collective power to build our capacity for healing in our communities.
- Therapy for Black Girls: The mission of Therapy for Black Girls is to sustain and grow an engaged community centered on the mental health needs of Black women and girls. We perform this mission by creating resources, content, and experiences designed to present information in a way that feels relevant and accessible.
- Open Path Psychotherapy Collective: Open Path Psychotherapy Collective is a non-profit nationwide network of mental health professionals dedicated to providing in-office and online mental health care—at a steeply reduced rate—to individuals, couples, children, and families in need.
As always, thank you. To everyone. Let’s continue to fight the stigma and elevate our mental health awareness to advocacy, accessibility, and action for our own communities and each other.
One Response