As mental health professionals grow in popularity on TikTok, offering words of advice to app users, Black therapists are also gaining traction and finding a sense of community online, Kaiser Health News reported March 23.
TikTok has given these Black mental health professionals space to discuss the realities of working in a predominantly white field, as well as address specific racial and social issues that affect mental health.
"I try to lighten topics that are very difficult for people to talk about," said Kojo Sarfo, DNP, an Los Angeles-based psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner with more than 2 million followers. "And to let people know that it's not as scary as you would think to go get help."
Stigma against mental health and access to resources has had a detrimental effect on usage of mental health services for Black people. In 2019, 36 percent of Black children aged 12 to 17 years old who suffered from depressive episodes got treatment compared to 50 percent of white children.
"I think it's wonderful that it's opening a door for people," said psychologist Alfiee Breland-Noble, PhD. "Black people still underutilize mental health care in proportion to what the need is."
It's not just the users who learn from the Black TikTokers, but Black professionals have also been able to build a community for themselves.
"That's been one of the really neat things about the app is finding this community of Black therapists that have become like friends to me," Janel Cubbage, a Black therapist on TikTok told KHN.