Maya Gwynn
With KVCR Public Media, I'm Maya Gwynn with Black Perspectives IE, a show where we learn about the amazing things members of the Black community are doing in the Inland Empire. My guest today is Dr. Janiel Henry, Clinical Psychologist and Founder of Women Rise Psychological and Wellness Center. Thank you so much for being here, Janiel.
Dr. Janiel Henry
Thank you so much, Maya. I'm so excited to be here with you all.
Maya Gwynn
So we'll start at the beginning. What inspired you to become a therapist, and how has your identity as a black woman shaped your approach to mental health?
Dr. Janiel Henry
Thinking about my upbringing and my experience, one of the things that really stood out to me was this idea of resilience, resilience in the face of challenges that myself, my community, my family, has experienced, and so one of the people that really inspired me was my grandmother, because, to me, she was like a therapist in her community. But at that time, she didn't have the opportunity to do like a licensed therapist position, and so she really inspired me because she showed up for her community and was there during the challenges and really help tap into our resilience as a community. And so I thought to myself, hey, this is something that we need more of, especially in our community.
Maya Gwynn
For sure, one stereotype I'm really tired of hearing, and I'm sure you're tired of hearing it too, is that black people don't go to therapy. That hasn't been true in my life or the lives of any young black millennials I know. I think at times, therapy is not always accessible, or people don't know that there's different options to it, like a sliding scale, or even for some insurances, it's free. In your work, what are you doing to make it more accessible, or to get rid of the stigma that shouldn't be there at all?
Dr. Janiel Henry
Doing a lot of different things pointed at all the different aspects that contribute to mental health and wellness, right? So you talk about therapy, and we have in the conversation expanded more of, hey, this is something that's open to me, that I can do, and I can focus on my own health and wellness. But sometimes, for some individuals, they feel like, Hey, I can't find somebody that is a good fit for me to increase that access. One of the things that we're doing is trying to do more events and community collaborations so that we can have informal conversations about, hey, this is what it could look like. These are the resources, but then also contributing to organizations that are providing those resources. Because one of the things that we like to say is that there is a person, a therapist, a clinician, for every person, but it all looks different because there's many different teachers and many different healers.
Maya Gwynn
A very popular podcast called The Read, it's been on for over 10 years. One of the hosts, she just got her Master's in therapy, and she said she doesn't know if she wants to be a therapist or if she just wants to argue really well. Now it's really funny, but she said that something she always hears is that black women specifically talk about not finding a good fit with a therapist because they're not super hard on them. And I think being in a marginalized community, navigating systems of oppression, being kind to ourselves can often feel unfamiliar and uncomfortable. I think that's oneof the reasons why they think that specific therapist isn't a good fit for them. What advice would you give to someone who's trying to practice more self compassion but doesn't know even where to start?
Dr. Janiel Henry
Yes, Maya, this is something that I see too over and over again. We get this idea that, hey, I just have to keep going like I don't have time to be compassionate to myself. Yeah, because things don't get done, or how am I going to survive? And so one of my favorite ways to address that is to have someone really think about the person that they love the most, or even someone that they really care about, and if that person was in their same position, if they were struggling with that same thing, how would that person encourage them? What are those words of compassion and comfort that they would give that person, right? Because it's easy for us to do for somebody else, but so hard to do for ourselves. And so starting at getting into the mode of thinking about yourself in the same way that you would think about others, that somebody that you love, a friend, a colleague, somebody that's trusted.
Maya Gwynn
What if that person is someone that would speak to their friend, or someone in, like, a tough love kind of way?
Dr. Janiel Henry
Yeah, so self compassion looks differently, right? It doesn't just have to be like, oh, you know, be kind to yourself. Sometimes self compassion is okay. I'm being real with you, hey, like, this is what I'm seeing. This is what I notice. And it's okay to be like, Hey, this is what you've struggled with, but today, you can do it. You can get out of bed. You can do those things that have been hard for you because of the depression or the anxiety or the trauma that you've experienced.
Maya Gwynn
And what does collective healing look like to you? And how could we all play a role in supporting one another's mental health and well being?
Dr. Janiel Henry
For that, there's so many different ways for us to really hold each other accountable, and I'd say that's really the biggest key. Is when I see somebody in my community, in my circle, if they don't feel like themselves, if they're not acting like themselves, something's out of whack, right? I want to be able to say, Hey, are you okay? And we've come so far because we want to have more conversations of, it's okay to be not okay. But in reality, what does that actually look like? So collectively, we have to normalize these conversations instead of judging or saying, Oh, you're taking medication or, that's only for crazy people. All of those terms that sometimes we say in everyday language. So in our community and in our circles, normalizing those conversations and allowing ourselves to not be okay.
Maya Gwynn
People could do that more with within their family, because I feel like sometimes there's so much history and it can be even harder sometimes to have compassion for loved ones than it is for like a stranger.
Dr. Janiel Henry
And that's the challenge, right? And so when it comes to family, we may talk to them differently. When it comes to a stranger, sometimes just being non judgmental, right, just having an active listening perspective, because we may not be as comfortable with them. And so that's something that we really encourage, is just be non judgmental and say, hey, something seems different. Where are you at? And if you're not comfortable talking to me, there's a couple of people that I suggest, or sometimes even, I know a family member that got really good support from this place or this person. And sometimes that can really bridge the gap.
Maya Gwynn
So we're gonna move to our rapid fire portion. So just whatever pops your mind, there's no wrong answers. If your work had a theme song, what would it be?
Dr. Janiel Henry
It would be "Lean On Me, when you're not strong" - you don't want to hear me sing.
Maya Gwynn
If you had to teach a master class or give a TED Talk about a random skill that you have besides therapy, what would it be?
Dr. Janiel Henry
It would be mindfulness, being present, taking in your environment, grounding nature, being in nature, and allowing that to also be a part of your healing.
Maya Gwynn
What's your favorite IE restaurant or a landmark that reminds you of the Inland Empire?
Dr. Janiel Henry
I'd have to say, in Riverside, the Martin Luther King statue.
Maya Gwynn
Oh, wow, yeah. And how can people keep up with you and support your work and what you're doing?
Dr. Janiel Henry
Yeah, they can follow us on Instagram at Womanrisepsych_wellness. They can also join our email list and get our monthly newsletters where we talk about updates, even articles that are helpful on what they may be experiencing in their daily life.
Maya Gwynn
Thank you so much for having me. Dr. Janiel Henry is clinical psychologist and founder of Women Rise Psychological and Wellness Center. Support for this segment comes from the Black Equity Fund at IECF, advancing racial equity and supporting long term investments in black led organizations and Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Join us again next week for Black Perspectives IE. For KVCR Public Media, I'm Maya Gwynn. Thank you.
