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Twitter went haywire after a TikTok video of a young therapist discussing Black men and therapy took the internet by storm. The viral video captured a Black female clinician urging men of color to expand their “emotional vocabulary” and seek therapy.
“Y’all think b***hes just be talking in ya’ll ear just to be f***ing talking; we don’t,” the TikTok user explained in the post. “Y’all think b***hes just wanna argue with y’all because y’all refuse to expand your emotional vocabulary; we don’t. It’s to provide clarity for both us and y’all dusty b***hes.”
The mental health advocate went on to note that 90% of her clients are Black men, who struggle to find the words to properly communicate their feelings. She passionately explained that Black men should use therapy as a tool to understand themselves better and to promote healthier relationships with their significant others, albeit with a tough love approach.
“Don’t you want to be able to communicate with you b*tch!?” the fiery TikTok star exclaimed in her post. “When you expand your emotional vocabulary, you expand your awareness of yourself. When you expand your emotional vocabulary, you understand how you can navigate in this b*tch.”
Now, while the therapist’s delivery may not have been sweet, one thing is true, Black men and women are less likely to receive therapy and other forms of mental health care. Between 2015 and 2018, major depressive disorders skyrocketed in young Black adults ages 18 to 25, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Sadly, only one in three Black adults receive treatment for mental illness, NAMI adds.
The Black clinician ended her lengthy message pleading for Black men to seek help.
“This f***ing weird a** world that is so hard on y’all, like let’s acknowledge that the world is very difficult for y’all, but y’all are not making it any easier bruh,” she said. Go to therapy. Talk about that sh** that’s on your chest… y’all are doing a disservice to y’all self.”
Naturally, after the post went viral, internet users lit into the TikTok star for her unorthodox mental health advice.
On the other hand, a ton of users sided with the young clinician for sharing a truthful take on the lack of therapy amongst Black men in the community.
One Twitter user named @keatingssixth wrote:
“You might not have liked her delivery. & she ain’t gotta call women bitches. But idk how y’all skewed this to say “she’s complaining about Black male clients”….She’s clearly telling Black men to go tf to therapy & stop holding shit in when the world is already so hard on you.”
Another Twitter user slammed haters for being “unnecessarily dramatic.”
“2 things can be true, she can still be an effective therapist & call out when BM aren’t doing the work. I’m sure she’s compassionate during her sessions,she is venting right now. I’m sure she isn’t a misandrist,she clearly wants BM to do better,” they added.
Unfortunately, the young Black clinician’s message wasn’t widely received. After the post went viral, the video generated so much backlash that the therapist was doxxed and fired from her job. According to the user’s follow-up post, a Black female journalist wrote a whole story on the video, and somehow, the writer found and referenced her “full government” name and place of employment in the piece. Internet trolls also threatened to get the zealous mental health advocate fired and blackballed from the industry.
“Ya’ll scream that ya’ll want to protect Black women, specifically, but have done nothing to protect this Black woman who has been serving the communities,” the therapist said in an emotional video post as she pointed to herself. “Being doxxed by a black woman kinda freaking hurts and she never reached out to me so that I could spin my side of the story.”
She also slammed into other media sites and keyboard warriors who disregarded her safety. “Ya’ll attacked me and got mad at me because I wanted better for ya’ll? That’s the most crab in the barrel bucket type bullsh*t I’ve ever heard in my entire f*cking life,” the user added.
A few social media users rallied in support of the internet star after sharing the unfortunate news.
“Doxxing and getting a black woman therapist terminated because she told black men to go to therapy is quite literally proving every point she made in her video,” @louiefattions wrote in response to the video.”
While others urged the passionate therapist to open her own practice.
“Time to start your own private practice. You didn’t deserve this. Destiny is asking you to jump right now. You have an important message,”a TikTok user commented.
Yes, the message may have been harsh but the idea was clear. Therapy can be an extremely powerful tool to unpack trauma and other life stressors that can drastically impact daily life. It’s unfortunate that his young woman lost her job for standing in her truth, especially in today’s social media climate where men can use their platform to degrade, shame, and belittle Black women.
Watch the clinician’s full response below.
MADAMENOIRE has reached out to the young clinician to discuss the turn of events, and waiting for a response.
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