Time to Have a Conversation About Black Men, Mental Health, & Self-Care

An Exclusive Interview with Spencer Allen of The L.I.F.E. Project on what it’s like to work as a Black man in Mental Health

For far too long, and throughout the African Diaspora, any talk about going to meet with a therapist, is often met with the statement that only crazy people seek out such services; or that therapy is for white people. When the truth of the matter is, with our long and horrid history of enslavement, colonization, and disenfranchisement; as well as complex trauma resulting from the stress and frustration of having to deal with racism, micro-aggressions, anti-Blackness, and structural racism daily – means that Black people, perhaps more than any other group, should be actively prioritizing self-care and their mental health needs.

According to the Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, Black adults in the U.S. are more likely than white adults to report persistent symptoms of emotional distress, such as sadness, hopelessness and feeling like everything is an effort. Further, Black adults living below the poverty line are more than twice as likely to report serious psychological distress than those with more financial security.

Disparities in Care & Access: There is a definite and undeniable disparity when it comes to access to mental health services. Despite the overwhelming need, according to a 2019 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Survey on Drug Use and Health, only one in three Black adults who need mental health care receive it.

While the conclusion of a research article “Disadvantages in Mental Health Care among African Americans” published in 2009 in the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, stated that “African Americans experience mental health disadvantages relative to European Americans with respect to financial barriers, barriers to seeking help, and poorer quality services”.

According to the American Psychiatric Association’s Mental Health Facts for African Americans guide, they are also:

• Less likely to receive guideline-consistent care
• Less frequently included in research
• More likely to use emergency rooms or primary care (rather than mental health specialists)

I wanted to hone in on the last point, “more likely to use emergency rooms or primary care”, it not only goes back to my opening comments regarding cultural stigma and/or shame in seeing a therapist, but also alludes to a far more terrible problem; where Black people are accessing services when they are in “crisis”, and this is often due to untreated mental health needs. This cycle becomes even more nefarious when we consider how state sanctioned violence is more likely to be carried out against Black people who are going through psychological distress.

Barriers To Care:

• Stigma and cultural shaming.
• Socioeconomic disparities & higher costs for mental health services.
• Provider bias & inequality of care.

Removing Barriers To Care:

• Black men having honest and open conversations about mental health.
• Policies and programs, including Universal health care that would make mental health services more accessible/affordable.
• Clinical interventions that improve identification of symptoms of mental illness.
• Increase cultural humility & inclusion training for the mental health workforce.

A Provider’s Perspective: Spencer Allen of The L.I.F.E. Project

We are speaking with Spencer Allen to gain insight on what it’s like to work as a Black man in the field of mental health, as well as his insight on the challenges of this work, and why it is critical. Spencer Allen is the quintessential modern day renaissance man. Who strives daily to attain the pinnacle a top of Maslow’s hierarchy needs pyramid that Maslow called self-actualization. As a poet, lecturer, author, and life coach Spencer is the founder and president of, The L.I.F.E Project, LLC. A life coaching and consultant company that specializes in individual empowerment, relationship enhancement, and employee productivity that is aligned with a holistic integrative process that is evidence-based and cross sectional grounded in the resilience theory.

He has produced numerous events from poetry to lectures with the focus being on self-empowerment and love. Besides developing the Man Up lecture and focus group series, Spencer is the co-producer of the yearly Allen Empire couples holiday staycation retreat in Temecula wine country and Yearly Couples Anniversary travels. Currently Spencer is Assistant Program Manager for a homeless shelter in Los Angeles while simultaneously working on his PhD in Psychology.

Spencer can be reached via his website: www.thelifeproject.solutions

Facebook @SpencesLifeProject; Instagram/Twitter @Spencerallenbiz

What led you to become a mental health service provider?

First, I want to thank you for inviting me and this opportunity to dialogue regarding this important topic. A short answer would be that I saw/see myself in the people that I serve. So, let me try to answer that question from the “why” perspective, because for me it offers a consciousness of choice on many levels. While many separate the mental from the spiritual, I do not. They must be aligned as one, having their own separate function but, must be aligned for the betterment of the whole.

Why I wanted to serve as a social service provider to individuals particularly Black men who suffer not only from emotional and spiritual disorders but, mental disorder as well. It started from a mission to heal myself. Being raised in dysfunction. As a young boy graduating eight-grade, and being told that I would not live past high school. And being told that by your own mother. So, I can remember making a conscious choice to be as bad as I could. I can also remember when I almost overdosed between my sophomore and junior year in high school, waking up in the hospital, seeing a police officer walk passed my door, and I am thinking that I killed somebody because the last thing that I remember was getting into my car to drive home late one, party night. No, I did not have an accident, I made it home.

It was my behavior when I got home that made everyone know something was wrong with me,and got me to the hospital. When I was sitting up in that hospital seeing that officer which appeared to me at the time to be at my door, I remember panning the room, the nurse or doctor in front of me asking me, identifying questions and I am not answering because of the officer at the door. I am panning the room until I see my mother sitting in a chair just staring at me, with a look that said I was nothing, what trust or love I thought I had from her was gone. Because she was right, I was satan himself and would be dead before I finished high school. A few days after that event, I remember making a conscious choice that that was not going to be my life. Of course, I made many more mistakes but, I always believed that my life had meaning, I just had to find it. Find my purpose.

Can you share more about your experience working in the field and any areas of specialty?

I started off by working with teenage boys at an after-school program in St. Louis, Missouri. Then I moved back to Los Angeles, California. and through poetry, I started conducting workshops for what are deemed at-risk teenagers. I dislike that terminology of identification. From there, I was able to take poetry into the Metropolitan State Hospital and while finding myself through writing and performing poetry, I was connecting to others.

The facilitators at the State Hospital contacted me, and informed me that some of their patients/inmates wanted to send me some of their writing, and they wanted to know if it would be alright if they could send their writings to me. I had connected to them in a way that was positive and profound. I was honored. I was also hosting an open mic that was a pure organic mix of people from all walks of life. And I mean all walks of life. The Poet’s Jazz House. Although it was a poetry venue, it was where I really began to understand that serving people who were troubled was my purpose.

I ended up moving back to St. Louis and started working with the Children Foundations of Mid-America as a mentor for again at-risk teenage men, with one strike away from going back into juvenile detention and placed on hold until they turn 18 years old, when they could be sentenced as an adult. I would visit them at their homes and take them on trips to places like the library, art museum, and St. Louis had a Black arts museum, that I was sure to take them to. Most of the youth that I worked with had never seen Black art/artist’s work, and I was trying to show them there is more than the dysfunction that they only knew. I eventually moved back to Los Angeles, this time for good, and for awhile I was homeless living in my Ford SUV on and off, totaling about 14 months. But I learned even more. While homeless, I got a job driving the Metro bus, went back to school to better complete in the job market, but, most important while working there I was able to see a therapist for some psychological issues. That was the one of the best things that has ever happened for me. I knew what I wanted to do and who I was. Ireceived my undergraduate degree in Behavioral Science, and then went on and got my Master’s in Psychology. After graduation, I immediately, started working with probationers who were homeless andsuffering with a mental & substance disorder. My job was to connect them to services while seeking permanent housing for them. Working up through the rank and file I am currently an Assistant Program Manager for a homeless shelter.

Does Representation Really Matter? Do you believe that it is important for Black men to seek out Black male therapists? If so, why?

Yes, representation matters a lot. It is important on several levels. We must be able to see ourselves achieving those types of positions, because it is empowering on the intrinsic level , and when I went through therapy, I was seeing a Black male therapist. For a Black man to sit down with a Black male therapist there is a level of understanding, a knowledge of historical trauma that does not have to be explained. There then becomes a level of reflective listening on the Black therapist’s part, and he can offer relatable antidotes to the Black male client, that if the client is fully engage can began seeing a clear path, and can learn how to handle himself in this society, as well as have personal accountability for himself that has nothing to do with anyone else. I really need more space and time to really delve into this.

Is there a gender-racial disparity in mental health services? And are more Black men needed in this field?

Whew, there is a huge gender-racial disparity. Speaking from a Black/African American male perspective Black women far outnumber Black men in the mental health and social services. Brothers are needed in abundance.

Internalized Self Hate or internalized racism involves negative beliefs about one’s racial group, and can be a result of racism that is endemic in American society. How has internalized self hate impacted Black men?

Just like trauma, self-hate is engrained in our DNA. In a society that loves butterflies and hates spiders, Black men are viewed as spiders. No matter how good we are, how much we achieve, how much we conform to society, or give everything to our community. Even when we love harder than the butterfly, we will continue to be the viewed as the spider. Knowing that of yourself how would it impact you? Remember I said that it is engrained in our DNA. How do we change our DNA? It can be done. That has been proven with empirical evidence of forms of meditations and affirmations.

What are some of the negative coping mechanisms utilized by Black men?

Alcohol (ETOH) abuse, substance abuse, domestic violence, violence against each other from jealousy. Here is an analog: You know the saying crabs in a barrel when referring to Black people men especially. Just like crabs in the barrel we are always putting each other down. However, a barrel is not a crab’s natural habitat? It is an unnatural environment, and like the crab we are placed into unsuitable environments, and have not been given the proper knowledge on how to get out of the barrel. How are they supposed to get out except but grab, crawl, claw, and pull by any means necessary?. More important than that, why hasn’t anyone asked who put the crabs in the barrel, for what purpose to begin with?

How has the coronavirus pandemic exacerbated mental health challenges for Black men?

It has increased the substance use even more than before.

When it comes to Black men’s mental health, what topic do you believe is most pressing, or isn’t discussed enough?

The historical aspects that has produced and continue to control the trauma that exist today. There is no separation.

What recommendations would you give to Black men for self care?

I do a lecture, focus group series called ManUp! It is a group of Black men that are successful in (1) knowing themselves, (2) Loving and respecting their wife, girlfriend, mate, partner, and family(children). And (3) Doing some form of positive work in the community. But it all starts with self. For self-care, each day whether in the morning or at night, we should take time to quiet everything and talk to ourselves. Don’t be afraid to ask yourself questions about yourself. Why you act a certain way, say things a certain way, allow things to affect you a certain way. And be truthful and accountable with your answers to yourself.

Within the Black community, many may still opt to seek counseling at a church or some other religious setting. Why would it be more of a benefit to seek out professionals and clinicians like yourself?

The Black/African American church and Black/African American religious settings were built off, of the same trauma that Black men re still hiding and running away from. Unfortunately, the Black church still believes and follows far too many taboos. There must be knowledge of cognitive-base therapy (CBT) involved. And balance it with self-determination theory (SDT). I utilize the resilience theory when working with men and young men in the TAY (Transitional Aged Youth) programs. As I initially said, for me the mental (psychological) and spirit are one. The ancient form of religion meant to re-align oneself. To go within for the power.