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| From a recent Valenrich Wellness flyer |
I'm happy to share the first installment in what I'm hoping will be a fruitful, insightful "Spotlight On..." series here on the blog. As I've thought about the women I personally know--those who are making strides to positively impact Black women's issues and wellness--I decided to learn more about them through conversations and to share their work with as many folks as I can.
Thus, I am excited to feature the first spotlight on Valenrich Wellness, LLC, founded by Dr. Nadia M. Richardson. Nadia and I took some time to chat about her work and what she hopes to accomplish. What ensued was a revealing discussion about the stigma of mental health concerns among young people, particularly college-aged Black women at predominantly White institutions (PWIs). Here's our conversation:
MB:
First, tell us a little
about your organization.
NR:
Sure. My professional
background is a bit diverse. I came out of the nonprofit sector and went into
education; specifically student affairs within institutions of higher
education.
MB:
What kind of nonprofit
work did you do?
NR:
I worked with the
Institute of International Education and the United Negro College Fund Special
Program's Institute for International Public Policy. Those were the two big
nonprofits I worked with professionally but I've been involved in the nonprofit
sector as a volunteer for as long as I can remember.
I've always
participated in programming or research that explored issues of diversity and
focused primarily on issues of race, class, gender, and ethnicity. I developed
courses about social justice, diversity, and identity development. While
teaching a class, I incorporated hidden disabilities (specifically mental
illnesses) into a lecture on diversity and, after the lecture, I had a student
disclose her mental health status to me. It made me wonder how many students
over the years I had interacted with but who did not feel comfortable
disclosing their mental health concerns. Or worse, how many students with
mental health concerns did I interact with who were silently struggling or
feeling unsupported by their campuses? That curiosity led to my research on the
experiences of college students with mental health concerns. Valenrich Wellness
sort of came out of my research findings and the expressed interest of campus
professionals such as faculty and student affairs staff.
MB:
Hmm...So even campuses
with student counseling services...you noticed some lapses with available
services and students' feelings about getting help for their hidden
disabilities?
NR:
Absolutely. I heard several different stories. Some
students did not know that their campuses had a counseling center. Some felt
guilt for experiencing mental health concerns and relied on informal forms of
support such as religion, friends, denial, or substance abuse.
Others went for
perhaps a single counseling session and felt as though they didn't have
anything in common with their counselor and so there was little they were able
to get from the interaction. But what I really learned was that there were
different layers as to why the women that I spoke to in my particular study
experienced mental health concerns the way they did.
In my study, I
combined my established interest in traditionally underrepresented communities
with my emerging interest in and commitment to mental wellness. With that in
mind, I interviewed Black female college students with mental health concerns
at a predominantly White institution.
There already exists a
good amount of research on the experiences of Black students at PWIs but few
that focus on their mental wellness and experiences with mental health
concerns.
MB:
What are some of those
layers which seem unique to Black women on these campuses, regarding mental
health concerns?
NR:
What I learned was
that various forms of discrimination (institutional, covert, micro-aggressions,
etc.) encouraged the study participants to commit to mentally distressing
performances of identity. Some of the layers that are unique to Black women is
this idea that you have to be strong at all times; an idea that is historically
rooted in the justified inhumane labor of Black women and has been passed down
through generations as a socio-cultural rite of passage into Black womanhood.
MB:
NR:
Absolutely!
MB:
So, how did you go
from your interests in underrepresented communities and your research to
creating Valenrich?
NR:
I am a believer in
participatory action research. I don't want to just publish work; I want that
work to inform community efforts that can have a positive impact on various
communities. During the course of my research, I repeatedly heard from
colleagues that this was information that needed to be shared. Through
Valenrich, I develop specific training, lectures, and advocacy workshops that use
research to make issues of mental health, discrimination, and diversity link in
a way that is understandable and accessible to everyone.
It is a way to assist
universities in fostering student mental wellness by actively addressing issues
of diversity on their campuses and providing faculty and staff with the tools
they need to support students with mental health concerns. It is also a way to
dismantle the fear and stigma that many have regarding mental health. If
professors are fearful of students with mental health concerns, they are much
less likely to be of any assistance to [the mental health concerns'] persistence.
MB:
Now that you're Dr.
Nadia Richardson, are you working with Valenrich Wellness full-time, or are you
working on a college campus too?
NR:
Valenrich is my full-time gig right now but I am still looking for the right position. Perhaps a
faculty position.
MB:
Students definitely
need you in the classroom, and they need to know that mental wellness is of the
utmost importance. That leads me to my next question. In the grand scheme of
things, what's the most important thing you want people to know about the work
you're doing?
NR:
I believe that stigma
about mental health continues because we don't allow ourselves to be honest
about how we feel and proactive about addressing those things that truly
threaten our mental well-being. Racism, sexism, ableism, classism and all the
other -isms that are too abundant to name in this conversation all threaten our
mental health. Speaking our truth, valuing ourselves, letting go of the guilt
that we accept for not being some unreachable form of 'perfection,' and actively
addressing the various forms of discrimination continue to exist are crucially
important to ourselves and our communities.
MB:
Yes! I wish we had
more room discuss all of those things! Given your emphasis on college students,
though, would you say that there's something about that kind of environment
that either exacerbates or concentrates those -isms you pointed out? Are young
adults particularly vulnerable to those forces that threaten mental well-being?
NR:
It is both important
and useful to address mental health concerns in college students because it is
during the traditional college-age years when students are away from home for
the first time and adjusting to a new environment that mental health concerns
surface. I believe that universities fall short in fully equipping students for
our increasingly diverse world or to think about diversity in complex ways that
would, for example, allow someone to understand mental health socially rather
than medically. If a person has bi-polar depression for which there is no
'cure', that diagnosis for all intents and purposes impacts their perspective
and informs their identity. However, universities continue to graduate
students who have never so much as had a diversity and/or social justice class
and are therefore ill-equipped to be reflective contributors to society. I hope I'm making
sense.
I think what I am
trying to say is, in order for the fear and stigma of mental health to be
dismantled, we have to be willing to see and understand mental health in
different ways and consider how our society contributes to mental distress by
turning a blind eye to discrimination.
MB:
Yes, that absolutely
makes sense, especially since we're talking about hidden disabilities. It makes
sense for institutions of higher learning to train academically, vocationally
and socially.
Just as progress has
been made in terms of accommodating and learning about disabilities we can see
(though much more progress is necessary), we need awareness for mental health
concerns, too. What an important mission.
How can people find
out more about Valenrich Wellness, and how can they reach you?
NR:
Thanks. I'm excited
about the possibilities and very passionate about the work.
Thank you again for
thinking of me and inviting me to be a part of your series. I am so excited to
share this information with you.
MB:
You're so welcome! I
love it, and I love that you're tackling such a traditionally taboo issue. Our
communities need this kind of awareness, and it's great that you're tapping
into higher education to do that.
NR:
I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with Nadia and tapping into some of those issues which continue to stigmatize the active pursuit of attaining mental wellness. Nadia is passionately fighting that stigma. Be on the lookout for Valenrich Wellness events!
