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The Unapologetic Guide to Black Mental Health: Navigate an Unequal System, Learn Tools for Emotional Wellness, and Get the Help You Deserve Paperback – May 1, 2020

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An unapologetic exploration of the Black mental health crisis—and a comprehensive road map to getting the care you deserve in an unequal system.

We can’t deny it any longer: there is a Black mental health crisis in our world today. Black people die at disproportionately high rates due to chronic illness, suffer from poverty, under-education, and the effects of racism. This book is an exploration of Black mental health in today’s world, the forces that have undermined mental health progress for African Americans, and what needs to happen for African Americans to heal psychological distress, find community, and undo years of stigma and marginalization in order to access effective mental health care.

In The Unapologetic Guide to Black Mental Health, psychologist and African American mental health expert Rheeda Walker offers important information on the mental health crisis in the Black community, how to combat stigma, spot potential mental illness, how to practice emotional wellness, and how to get the best care possible in system steeped in racial bias.

This breakthrough book will help you:

  • Recognize mental and emotional health problems
  • Understand the myriad ways in which these problems impact overall health and quality of life and relationships
  • Develop psychological tools to neutralize ongoing stressors and live more fully
  • Navigate a mental health care system that is unequal
 

It’s past time to take Black mental health seriously. Whether you suffer yourself, have a loved one who needs help, or are a mental health professional working with the Black community, this book is an essential and much-needed resource.

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From the Publisher

"Walker has written a Black cultural tour de force." --Jemima Pierre
Navigate an Unequal System, Learn Tools for Emotional Wellness, and Get the Help You Deserve
Also by Rheeda Walker--The Unapologetic Workbook for Black Mental Health

Editorial Reviews

Review

“As African Americans, we take pride in our strength to withstand the stress of everyday life coupled with racism and other forms of oppression. However, pushing through the pain and stress is literally killing us. Rheeda Walker has delivered a much-needed gift in The Unapologetic Guide to Black Mental Health. Walker’s practical guidecenters on the lives and experiences of Black people to identify, understand, and provide language for our experiences with mental distress and pathways to emotional well-being. It is rare that I would recommend a book to parents, families, and mental health professionals alike. However, this is one such book. Walker translates research and best practices into an engaging and culturally informed style. This is a must-read for anyone interested in embracing hope and living one’s best life.”
Helen A. Neville, PhD, professor in the department of educational psychology and African American studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; past president of the Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity and Race (APA, Division 45); and director of the Race-Advocacy-Civic Engagement (RACE) Lab

“In engaging and accessible prose, Rheeda Walker has created a vivid and forceful account of the experience of—to use her phrasing—living while Black, and of the sources of the psychological fortitude needed to sustain and develop self, family, and community. The concept of psychological fortitude is key to her ideas, and I believe that readers will find the concept both profound and useful in day-to-day life.”
—Thomas Joiner, PhD, Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor of psychology at Florida State University, and author of Mindlessness

The Unapologetic Guide to Black Mental Health provides the actual, necessary tools to look out for your wellness. That insight is provided in a voice that our community—young or old, woman or man—can understand and embrace. Rheeda Walker’s work is right on time.
Victoria Uwumarogie, deputy editor of the leading Black women’s lifestyle site, www.madamenoire.com

“The transparency, expertise, and compassion that Rheeda Walker uses to navigate readers through a space in the mental health industry that has gone ignored by society is going to create emotional freedom and growth for generations to come. This is a brilliant and life-changing read that everyone should put on the top of their priorities list.”
—Devi Brown, wellness expert, and author of Crystal Bliss

“In
The Unapologetic Guide to Black Mental Health, Rheeda Walker not only provides an astute and revealing diagnosis of the pain and trauma we have suffered as Black people, but deftly guides us on a journey towards care and healing, rejuvenation, and self-affirmation. Walker demonstrates that Black mental and physical health is connected to a long history of racial terror, while reminding us that Black communities already have the cultural tools to achieve what she calls ‘psychological fortitude,’ our shield of protection and well-being. Using elegant language that easily switches between the conversational intimacy of a girlfriend, the knowing wisdom of an auntie, and the clinical experience of a professional, The Unapologetic Guide to Black Mental Health is also bolstered by historical examples and folk wisdom, popular culture references, and African proverbs. Walker has written a Black cultural tour de force; a robust and revelatory declaration that ‘our very own culture can save us.’”
Jemima Pierre, associate professor of African American studies and anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles; and author of The Predicament of Blackness

“In her groundbreaking book,
The Unapologetic Guide to Black Mental Health, Rheeda Walker speaks directly to Black people: her book helps us to understand how racism, daily stress, and socioeconomic factors impact our daily lives. She places our experiences in the larger context of our culture and our African roots, so that we can embrace the power that is within us: our resilience and fortitude. In doing so, Walker gives us recommendations for change, whether it be getting the help we need, or learning how to bring about emotional well-being.”
—Lily D. McNair, PhD, clinical psychologist, and president of Tuskegee University

“‘The belief that we can endure anything is both a strength and a weakness of our current culture,’ writes Rheeda Walker, a behavioral scientist and psychology professor at the University of Houston. Early in
The UnapologeticGuide to Black Mental Health, she highlights the struggles with mental illness and suicide that Black people experience, which go widely unacknowledged. She makes the empowering case that, in the midst of white supremacy and all its implications, Black people need to cultivate ‘psychological fortitude,’ sharing frameworks and resources that speak directly from and to Black Americans’ realities. Equally vital, for Walker, is the life-giving opportunity to celebrate one’s Black cultural and spiritual belonging. The book’s focus is twofold: Part One, Recognize Serious Threats to Emotional Health and Life; and Part 2, Reclaim Your Mind to Reclaim a Life Worth Living.”
Mindful Magazine

About the Author

Rheeda Walker, PhD, is a tenured professor of psychology in the department of psychology at the University of Houston. She is a behavioral science researcher and licensed psychologist who has published more than fifty scientific papers on African American adult mental health, suicide risk, and resilience. Walker is recognized as a fellow in the American Psychological Association due to her scholarly accomplishments.

Walker has been a guest expert psychologist on T.D. Jakes’s national television talk show, and her work has appeared or been cited in
The Washington Post, CNN Health, the Houston Chronicle, and Ebony magazine. Her expertise has been critical to mentoring doctoral students in cross-cultural psychology since 2003. Walker was previously a lead consultant in the statewide African American Faith-Based Education and Awareness initiative in Texas. She conducts workshops, and coordinates with churches and other organizations to address emotional wellness.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ New Harbinger Publications; 1st edition (May 1, 2020)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 232 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1684034140
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1684034147
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.51 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 2,526 ratings

About the author

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Rheeda Walker PhD
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Rheeda Walker, PhD, is a tenured professor of psychology in the department of psychology at the University of Houston. She is a behavioral science researcher and licensed psychologist who has published more than fifty scientific papers on African American adult mental health, suicide risk, and resilience. Walker is recognized as a fellow in the American Psychological Association due to her scholarly accomplishments.

Walker has been a guest expert psychologist on T.D. Jakes’s national television talk show, and her work has appeared or been cited in The Washington Post, CNN Health, the Houston Chronicle, and Ebony magazine. Her expertise has been critical to mentoring doctoral students in cross-cultural psychology since 2003. Walker was previously a lead consultant in the statewide African American Faith-Based Education and Awareness initiative in Texas. She conducts workshops, and coordinates with churches and other organizations to address emotional wellness.

Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8 out of 5
2,526 global ratings
If you aren't ready to be change or be well emotionally, keep scrolling this isn't for you.
5 Stars
If you aren't ready to be change or be well emotionally, keep scrolling this isn't for you.
I'm now on chapter 2. I wish I could drop everything and continue but I will take this journey at a casual pace to retain the information.We talk often about physical wellness but what about our mental health? As I continue my fitness journey, I realize that my body is changing. I feel stronger physically & yet, I still felt weak mentally. I thought I was over it - sexual abuse, physical abuse, racism, childhood traumas etc. Recently, I have removed my cape and disconnected. I am constantly the one my family and friends run to when they need advice and caring the baggage of others.Although it is only the beginning, I already feel, inspired, hopeful, relevant, relieved. I have given myself grace and now know it's ok not to feel ok. What we do next it's more important.Dr. Walker says, "things will not change unless we actually do something."THIS BOOK HAS HELPED ME GAIN BACK MY SOLACE!
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Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2021
This book is written as a guide and call to action for the general public, written in the style of a self-help book—though obviously with some major differences. The book is written for African Americans from the Black perspective. The writing is sublime in that is charming, pragmatic, and phenomenally real. There is no jargon. It is not academic. It is written in the manner someone would talk with their family and friends.
In her book, Dr. Walker addresses both the unique pain, trauma, and adversities that accompany the Black experience in America, specifically targeting cultural stigma that may act as barriers to mental health. She also draws from and reinforces the unique factors of resilience and fortitude of this population. She discusses cultural factors as they relate to both instances of risk and resilience. The book touches on clinical issues in a way that is consistent with the Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies and it is also applicable to nonclinical populations.
I was not the intended audience of the book, and yet I found it to be nourishing and informative. The Foreword for her book starts out with a powerful statement, “There are probably hundreds of ‘unapologetic guides for white mental health.’ Though they are not likely to be so titled, the content of these publications betrays the implied idea that mental health is the same, regardless of race. This book boldly and courageously challenges that assumption and speaks directly to Black people about unique issues that affect their mental health.” This is a good summary of the book (and of the need for the book).
I found chapter 10, “How to make therapy work when you need it,” to be especially helpful information and this will directly influence my clinical practice, hopefully making me a more culturally responsive CBT therapist. I would wholeheartedly recommend this book. Given the nature of the topic and current mental health crisis, it would be inappropriate to say this is the only book you’ll ever have to read on the topic. If anything, we need more books on the topic.
21 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2024
I love this book so far. I’m only on chapter 8. Paperback. Do not hesitate to get the book. It’s a good read.
One person found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2021
This book spoke to me in ways that only the bible could - and I'm not particularly religious! I bought it the day it came out after hearing Charlamagne tha God mention it on The Breakfast Club; it was the first time I had pre-ordered a book, and I read the first 3 chapters before focusing all of my attention to my online college courses.

Fast forward to April 2021, the week of Derek Chauvin's conviction over the murder of George Floyd, and all I see on the news are stories of numerous Black people getting harassed and/or killed by other cops. As a young Black/Latinx man, living in a new city without any nearby family to lean on, this started to deeply affect my mental health. I took a month-long break from school (still have a couple weeks left as of writing this review), and I chose to spend my time enriching myself and taking care of myself, including finishing this book.

Just a friendly warning: Dr. Walker uses specific gendered pronouns in some of the later chapters as she gives her anecdotes. If you can look past them and just focus on the message she is giving you, then you will have a valuable tool in your mental health arsenal!
13 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2020
A standing ovation for the author...

Although the title of Dr. Rheeda Walker’s “Unapologetic Guide to Black Mental Health....” may suggest it is about mental health, the book is SO much more. First, her conversational approach in the text really makes the reader feel a personal attachment to the topics of systemic racism, faith and religion, and self-care. Secondly, her personal stories with added humor are relatable especially as she discusses her upbringing and connections to her family and community. Thirdly, as mentioned in the subtitle, “...Learn Tools for Emotional Wellness....,” Dr. Walker gives practical step-by-step instructions on how to maintain your “psychological fortitude” (pf), a term she coined for people to gauge their well-being.

For me, what is most important to note is the timeliness of the book as we experience the international protests related to the unprovoked killings of George Floyd and countless others. People are angry and do not realize how the stress associated with the anger is impeding their well-being. There are two chapters dedicated to the topic of racism and Dr. Walker directly offers tools on how to manage the pain associated with racism and how to get help.

While many may overlook this book because of “Mental Health” being in the title, anyone who reads the “Unapologetic Guide to Black Mental Health“ will benefit—not just for the reader, but to pay it forward to help others.
34 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2020
I can't thank Dr. Walker enough for writing this book. I never thought I would read a book where someone actually understood Black Women's struggles and the effects it has on our mental wellness.
I identify myself in her words(institutional racism, unequal pay, lack of promotions) as well as family members.

My mother passed away from suicide and I wish this book was around to help me comprehend mental illness and how brutal the disease is and how it's allowed to run rapid and misdiagnosed in the black community. Dr.Walker advise those to skip the suicide chapter if you can't handle it but it was perfect for me because I had already experienced it with my beloved mom.
Dr.Walker is right when she said that if someone wants to kill themselves that there is nothing that you can do about it. It's a devastating reality.

This book should be recommended for all Black people. It's a book that needs your undivided attention and to be read slowly so that you can take everything in and overstand what is happening to us(Black Americans) in this racist systematic society.

I highly recommend and give it 10 stars!
4 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Cliente Kindle
5.0 out of 5 stars Obrigado, Rheeda 🇧🇷
Reviewed in Brazil on May 13, 2022
e s t e l i v r o m u d a u m a v i d a
Unblind Tibbin
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read especially for those working with clients with mental health issues
Reviewed in Canada on December 24, 2020
Great research
Kayri Taylor
5.0 out of 5 stars Relatable content!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 8, 2022
I can’t recommend this book enough. It was first gifted to me by a friend and when I read it, it was so relatable that I immediately got rid of another book on mental health that I was struggling to read for years.

After leaving the book with another friend, I decided to buy a copy for myself and to read it again 🙂
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Kayri Taylor
5.0 out of 5 stars Relatable content!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 8, 2022
I can’t recommend this book enough. It was first gifted to me by a friend and when I read it, it was so relatable that I immediately got rid of another book on mental health that I was struggling to read for years.

After leaving the book with another friend, I decided to buy a copy for myself and to read it again 🙂
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Russel Brooks
4.0 out of 5 stars Important book!
Reviewed in Canada on March 4, 2021
Great read. Very well written and articulated in a way that the reader can understand. A must read and highly recommended.
Kevin
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books I’ve read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 8, 2020
I love everything about this book and would 100 percent recommend it
3 people found this helpful
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