Amanda Fludd: Meet Amanda Fludd, she will will be leading the #therapyisdope section. A section strictly for our professionals and their great work. In addition, she will be answering questions from our readers in our "Dear Amanda" section, so readers...start sending those questions and they just may be featured in our next issue (rallyup,submissions@gmail.com). Amanda is a New York based Clinical Social Worker, originally from the Caribbean and currently practicing in LI, NY. She completed a B.A. Degree in Sociology at the University of Connecticut (where she also ran Track and Field), and then went on to obtain a Masters in Social Work at Fordham University, with post graduate work at Adelphi University. In the past 13 years she’s worked in various settings such as schools, outpatient clinics and psychiatric facilities, supervised other therapists, developed community based mental health programs and taught as an adjunct professor at Fordham University. She absolutely loves her work and might be one of the few people that gets excited to hear other people’s problems. Understanding the need for access to better mental health services on a community level, she went into private practice opening Kensho Psychotherapy in Valley Stream, LI, with the sole purpose of providing exceptional psychotherapy in the community, particularly for minorities. She is also a vocal advocate for Mental Health as the founder behind Therapy is Dope which uses Social Media to reduce stigma and improve access to care. The core of her work is strengthening mental health, which is our true wealth, by developing our mind, body, and community. Amanda Fludd, LCSW-R.
ELEVEN BY AMANDA FLUDD,
LCSW-R @therapyisdope
T
he average amount of time it takes for someone to recognize the onset of mental illness and seek help is eleven years. That equates to about 57% of the adult population with a mental health issue not receiving any kind of support. As a result, that early episode of sadness, anxiety, negative self-worth, or disconnecting from reality, turns into a lasting illness, inpatient hospitalization, and a lifetime of revolving-door psychiatric admissions. It’s like having an episode of difficulty breathing, which then turns into constant shortness of breath when left untreated, when all you needed to do was get it assessed and take your asthma pump regularly so you can breathe. Why don’t you deserve to breathe? Instead, our communities hold this unrelenting narrative “it will be ok,” “there is nothing wrong with you,” “talk to Jesus,” or therapy is “a white people thing and not for us.”
24 | rallyupmagazine.com | Summer 2019
We take that anchor to our strength and choose to endure like we’ve done for generations through poverty, homelessness, incarceration and substance abuse (all factors that create a risk for poor mental health). Traumatic stress increases our risk for physical health conditions (e.g. obesity and diabetes) because trauma is stored in the body and contributes to a shortened life span. So maybe this narrative does not serve any area in our lives, and the resistance and outright shaming of mental health is the antithesis of everything we stand for. Our opposition is in debunking myths and acknowledging that even when it comes to the status of our mental health, we deserve an opportunity to be open about our struggles and without judgment, and to gain the resources we need to help us heal and better navigate this life. We all can benefit from therapy… MYTH #1: GOING TO THERAPY IS A SIGN OF WEAKNESS It’s our nature to demonstrate strength by holding things in and dealing with them ourselves until we are in crisis. It’s the fear of what others will think or of the unknown that keeps us in the dark, or even the downright distrust of the medical field. If you are going to therapy, this means that you are taking the time to learn how to cope with life in healthier ways. Remember - you can find a therapist that more closely represents who you are. Take for examples www.therapyforblackgirls.com and www.therapyforblackmen.org. Becoming purposefully vulnerable with the intent of repairing emotional damage is absolutely admirable.
