Racism in Mental Health – a Zoom dialogue

“In our mental health system, people of color are overrepresented, misdiagnosed, and mistreated, and organized psychiatry has no plan to guide the correction of these well-studied and long-standing inequities.”  Ruth S. Shim (physician, director of cultural psychiatry, and professor of clinical psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, Davis).

Between stigma, misrepresentation, underrepresentation, and issues with access, the idea of signing up to see a mental health professional can be incredibly difficult and daunting. This is further impacted when you look at structural racism and how it shows up in the mental health space. Not just as part of an individual’s therapy session but as part of the mental health system. As we see the public health world begin to incorporate the social determinants of health in the medical space: what would it mean to fully recognize an individual’s oppression as part of their mental health journey?

Please join us for a presentation and facilitated, interactive dialogue.

Our presenter:   Paola Guzman is the Social Services Director for Houston Immigration and Legal Services Collaborative which is a collaborative of service providers working to advocate for immigrant inclusion, equity, and justice in the Houston area. Paola Guzman is responsible for leading the strategy, operations and logistics of collaborative projects that streamline immigrant access to social and legal services; developing short- and long-term goals centered through a trauma informed lens; co-managing HILSC events, and mentoring professionals interested in working in non-traditional social work settings to provide holistic services. Paola holds a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Arts from Mount St. Mary’s University.