Dr. Joy Harden Bradford Is Destigmatizing Therapy for Black Girls
It's also so different than if you're only looking for a primary care doctor. You might ask around and people will say, "Oh, so-and-so has appointments," and you get in on Thursday. It typically doesn't work like that with a therapist. And because it's much more focused on the relationship, you have to feel a connection and enjoy spending time with this person.
What are some of the most common questions you've been getting during the pandemic from your followers?
There's been a lot of anxiety from people who are considered essential workers. Not only health care professionals but also people who work at our grocery stores and gas stations. Lots of anxiety about, "How do I keep myself and my family safe around that?" Parenting has also been a huge one: How do you keep afloat at work, but also make sure your kids are okay and are learning in the process? Managing all those multiple relationships has definitely become magnified for lots of members of our community.
What advice would you give to essential workers or anyone who is anxious about returning to work during the pandemic?
One of the most important things is to try to do what you can to protect yourself. I've been encouraging people to make sure they have their own mask and gloves and to make sure they're spending time talking with support systems—but not necessarily about the virus. We're already overwhelmed, so it's important to make sure you have spaces where you can unwind and not focus on what's keeping you anxious.
One piece of advice you've been giving on the podcast is to stop reading the news as much, which admittedly can be really hard.
It's so hard. It's so hard because so much changes every day, right? There's a new symptom every day it seems. New accounts from physicians and things. And when we don't have answers, we want to get information. We think it's helpful, but it really can be overwhelming, because who stops at only one article? It truly is like the worst kind of black hole. The key is to set a limit or establish certain times you're reading the news—like only in the morning, instead of right before bed—so you aren't constantly consuming information.
Why is therapy an important part of self-care?
Therapy helps you better understand how you show up in the world. There's this idea we have about who we are, and sometimes it's right, but sometimes we don't necessarily have the correct insight to really understand how other people are perceiving us or how we manage ourselves in certain relationships. Therapy can act as a mirror to help you see yourself truly.
I also really, really love that therapy is a great space to help you work through some patterns in your life. It's like coming in with a big jigsaw puzzle and throwing all the pieces on the table. We're trying to put it all back together. A therapist can help you connect some dots that you would have lots of difficulty doing on your own. We'll think about that story you told us in the second session, and 25 sessions later we're connecting ideas like, "Oh, did you recognize such and such?"
