In honor of Black History Month, I want to talk about mental health in the African American community. And I just read an amazing book by Charlemagne the God. So let's chat about it. What is up everybody? This is Chris from the ReWire episode where we talk about the problem, but focus on the solution. And if you're new to my channel, my channel is all about mental health. And what I like to do is pull different topics from the YouTube community or pop culture in general to try to teach you how to improve your mental and emotional well-being. So if you're any of that stuff, make sure you subscribe and ring that notification bell. And in case you didn't know, I am doing an Instagram giveaway. I'm giving away three gratitude journals. So if you haven't entered yet, go over there and enter. It's going until 11 p.m. tonight, which is February 17th. Someday. So you're still got time by the time I post this video. And I will be announcing the winners this week. All right. Anyways, before I get started, because I've mentioned that I was reading this book called Shook Once by Charlemagne the God. And I just want to address this. Like I've had a slew of comments just with opinions about Charlemagne the God. And if you want to check out this book, it will be linked down in the description below. But anyways, I really think everybody should read this book. Like Charlemagne the God, he's been controversial, if you will. But he addresses that in this book. And he talks about things that I've talked about. How, you know, like for example, he'll be called, you know, an uncle Tom as well as somebody who, you know, is, you know, very pro black. He gets called both of everything. And that's where some of his stress and anxiety comes from. And all of that. So anyways, this entire book, though, it is talking about the importance of mental health in the African American community. Those of you who haven't got the memory yet, I am half black. So half of my entire family is black. In case you didn't know, the last name, Bouté, comes from Louisiana. Half of my family is Creole. Alright, so this is something that I'm very passionate about. There are many, many instances and statistics out there in which the African American community doesn't get mental health help. For example, I've seen this firsthand in a multitude of ways. In 12 step meetings, there is very low African American attendance, depending on what side of town I was going to meet. Also in the treatment center I was working at, very, very low admittance of African Americans. Right. And there's, there's a wide range. Some of it is, you know, you know, learn helplessness. Some of it is the culture. Some of it is, some of it is things that shallow made the guy talks about in this book. Like those of you who don't know about Charlemagne, the guy, he grew up in, I believe, North Carolina in the hood. And he talked about, you know, having to prove himself as, you know, a black man who was getting into fights, he ran drugs, he did all sorts of things. But he had a ton of anxiety and things like that. He has stories about how he used to just go in the woods and cry and things. And like, it's so cool saying, you know, a black man opening up about these things because it's something that a lot aren't doing, you know. And he talks about the trauma that most African Americans go through. And I've mentioned this before, but trauma can actually be passed down through genetics. So with the history of things like slavery, this can be passed down genetically, which means is that you are more prone to things like PTSD. Because it has been passed down through your DNA, all right. But basically what he's doing in this video is he's explaining, you know, why everybody should be getting therapy. Black, white, whatever nationality you are. But I think it's so, so, so powerful and important that, you know, someone in Charlemagne, the God's position is telling people, you know, go get therapy. It's okay to get therapy. But anyways, a question I always get from a ton of people is how do you pick the right therapist? And it's actually something that Matt and I are going to be talking about this week on our unsolicited advice podcast. Make sure you go subscribe to that channel. We record every Tuesday night. Try to get it up by Wednesdays. Anyways, we're going to be talking about how to find the right therapist. But I thought it'd be a good, you know, topic to discuss why Charlemagne, the God, has a white woman as a therapist. So like long story short for all of you wondering how do you fight in the right therapist? Like a lot of it's trial and error. A lot of it's self awareness. A lot of it is what you need and not what you want. But basically what Charlemagne talks about in his book is that he understands why African Americans want to have an African American therapist. Right? Because it's kind of difficult to share the struggles that you're going through, you know, as a black man or a black woman with, you know, a white therapist. Right? And it could be difficult to open up about certain things and fear that they won't understand and fear that they're going to judge you and fear that they might actually be racist. All these other things there, there is a fear there, right? And some people don't want to open up. So Charlemagne the God does talk about, you know, how you can find an African American therapist and all that. But talking about self awareness, Charlemagne had self awareness and understood why he not only wanted, you know, to have a white therapist, but why he needed one. And basically what he talks about is he wants to have a therapist who doesn't know anything about, you know, or knows very little about the black struggle, right? And he sees it as an opportunity for both of them to learn from each other. And he also sees it as an opportunity to educate his therapist about things that he goes through as an African American man and what he's dealt with as a child and what he's dealt with his entire life. He has stories in his book about how he lives in a rich, you know, neighborhood and the cops have been called when like one of his friends just came over to like pick him up for some fancy, you know, dinner or night out or something like that. But his neighbor called the cops on the sky. So Charlemagne, part of it is that his therapist is learning more about this. And then maybe maybe she can educate other therapists. I don't remember the exact statistic he said, but like I think when it comes to American therapist, psychologist, psychiatrist, you know, there's a very small percentage of African Americans, right? And this could be for a wide variety of reasons, you know. But anyways, I think that's cool of him to do that now. Like I, I just went through the process of picking a therapist through better help. Those of you who don't know my channel is also supported by better help. There's always an affiliate link down in the description if you want to check it out too. But you get to pick your therapist and you know, you talk about your history and whether struggles anxiety, depression, addiction, eating, you know, whatever it is. And then you also get to talk about like, do you want to pick a man or a woman? And like when it comes to 12 step programs, men with men, women with women, rules are a little bit different in the LGBTQ community. But like typically as men with men, women with women. So my sponsor was a man, right? Now with therapy, like I chose a woman. And this could be for a wide variety of reasons. Maybe I'll ask you why she thinks I picked a woman therapist. But anyways, I guess, you know, to be honest, it's part of what Charlemagne the God talked about and why, you know, African Americans don't open up to one another. Like I think I still feel, you know, uncomfortable opening up to a man about my feelings and all that stuff or any guys watching you might understand what I mean. It's always been easier for me personally to open up, you know, to a woman about those things, right? So that's why, you know, I think I chose a woman therapist. But I will say this having a sponsor who was a man, it helped me get out of my comfort zone. It helped me get used to relying on other men to, you know, see me get vulnerable and see them get vulnerable and all of that. But again, like at the end of the day, like there's not many right or wrong decisions that you can, you can have when it comes to picking a therapist, like, like I said, Matt and I will dive more into this in the podcast, but just know this. You can always switch. You're not getting married to your therapist, baby. You can always, always, always get a new therapist. So if it is not working out for you, like just find a new one. If you're somebody who has never been to therapy, maybe do one session with three or four different therapists that you pick from a list from your insurance company or whatever it is. If you decide to use better help, you don't even got to have that awkward conversation about yo, I don't want you to be my therapist. You just push a button. It gives you a new therapist, but just realize like this isn't like I know your brain is telling you how stressful with this, how difficult it is and all that, but do not over complicate this thing. But have some self awareness. Realize, you know, do you need someone who's going to be more gentle with you? Do you need somebody who's going to call you out on your quack? Like, what is it? But anyways, again, the book is shook ones by Charlemagne the God and like I hope the sales on it is doing well. I highly recommend it. Like for all of my African American, you know, viewers or, you know, my channel's international now. But anybody like anybody in the black community all over the world, I suggest that you read this book, but I also suggest everybody reads this book. Like it talks about just minorities in general and getting help for mental health, mental health affects everybody. Men, women, doesn't matter, you know, your race, doesn't matter, you know, your sexual orientation, doesn't matter any of that stuff. We all need to be working on this. You know what I mean? But I also like to read books that aren't exactly about me or for me. So not only can I make better videos, but so I can empathize better with other people. You know what I mean? So I think that's important. Like one thing, you know, with my channel having such a large female audience, it helps me empathize with women a little bit more. You know, but anyways, check out his book. It'll be linked down in the description, down in the pinned comment and all that stuff. If you read it, let me know what your thoughts are. Anyways, that's all I got for this video. If you liked this video, please give it a thumbs up. If you're new, make sure you subscribe and ring that notification bell. And a huge thank you to everybody supporting the channel over on Patreon. You're all amazing. And if you'd like to become a patron and get involved in the Q&A and other perks, you can click a tap right there. Thanks again for watching. I'll see you next time.