Compassionate Black Therapist in Greensboro NC
The Mindfulness Space Offers Culturally Informed, Virtual Therapy for Black and BIPOC Clients in Greensboro NC and Surrounding Areas!
Why Working with a Therapist Who Looks Like you Matters!
Are you searching for an informed, compassionate and affirming Black therapist in Greensboro, NC and the surrounding Triad area?
Starting therapy, especially for the first time can feel scary! For many of us, working with a therapist who not only looks like us, but shares similar lived experiences and cultural understandings, can not only lead to feelings of validation and trust, but also allows for more comfortable and open communication in a relatable therapeutic setting!
What Makes the Mindfulness Space Different!
The Mindfulness Space offers a safe and affirming therapeutic environment that recognizes the unique diversity, attributes and lived experiences of all Black and BIPOC clients and offers a space for emotional healing and support that’s free from judgment or emotional harm.
While yes, Black people are not a monolithic group and our lived experiences can feel drastically different, The Mindfulness Space incorporates a social justice informed approach to the clinical practice of therapy, understanding how systemic racism, anti-blackness, and oppression, are frequently at the roots of many of the acculturative stressors black client’s live with, leading to depression, anxiety, trauma, as well as a general strain on our mental and emotional well-being!
The Mindfulness Space is Here to Support you With…
Body Image Healing and Radical Self-Acceptance
For Black and BIPOC clients, specifically Black clients, the topic of body image can be an especially sensitive subject, as it’s culturally insensitive to ignore the role that anti-blackness, as well as colorism, featurism, textualism, internalized racism, the external pressures to align with European standards of beauty (all rooted in racial trauma), often contribute to the way we are taught to see ourselves. As a therapist, I’m often saddened while attending trainings on the subject matter that are led by some of my non-melanated colleagues, as those trainings are quite frankly, uninformed when it comes to the lived experiences of Black clients!
The Truth Is…
The truth is that many of these trainings often only teach how to treat body image from a surface level, i.e. using CBT to change our “distorted thoughts,” while failing to recognize how deeply rooted underlying racial trauma impacts the way we see ourselves! As a Black therapist, I incorporate a racial trauma informed lens, as well as the use of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (is very validating), mindfulness practice, and somatic informed therapy (think mind/body connection) in order to help my clients make peace with their body while healing from the effects of racial trauma.
Binge Eating, Emotional Eating, and Restrictive Eating
Research tells us that Black men and women are just as likely to experience eating disorders as people with an other racial ethnic groups. Unfortunately, because of racial stereotypes as well as a lack of research into eating disorders amongst black clients, society likes to portray clients with eating disorders as white, usually affluent, cisgender adolescent females.
What are Eating Disorders?
According to the American Psychiatric Association, eating disorders (ED’s) are defined as behavioral conditions characterized by a severe and persistent disturbance in eating behaviors and associated distressing thoughts and emotions. ED’s can be very serious conditions affecting our physical, psychological and social functioning.
The Truth Is…
The truth is, due to many of the risk factors experienced by Black clients, as well as clients from other marginalized communities, like food insecurity, lack of access to healthcare, economic insecurity, and acculturative stressors, Black clients are at risk, if not a higher risk of developing eating disorders. It just never gets diagnosed.
How The Mindfulness Space Helps…
The mindfulness space offers outpatient treatment for eating disorders, focusing on the unique circumstances, such as racial trauma, as well as acculturative stress that often contributes to the development of eating disorders in Black and BIPOC clients.
Anxiety disorders are a group of mental health conditions characterized by excessive worry, fear, or nervousness that cause significant stress and impairment of daily functioning to the individuals living with these disorders. Anxiety disorders can manifest in various forms, that include generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and specific phobias.
Anxiety disorders, as well as other stressors can disproportionately impact Black and BIPOC clients in therapy due to various systemic factors such as racism, discrimination, and socioeconomic disparities. These experiences can exacerbate mental health and wellbeing, as well as can impact physical health if left untreated.
Meet Stefanie!
Stefanie Lawson, MSW LCSW is a licensed therapist in Greensboro, NC with nearly a decade of clinical experience! As owner of The Mindfulness Space Psychotherapy Services, PLLC., she helps clients with reducing anxiety, as well as developing healthier relationships with their bodies and with food! As a Black therapist, Stefanie maintains a specialized focus and understanding of how social factors, such as systemic racism, interpersonal racism, economic disparities, acculturative stress, and forms of oppression, often lead to the development of mental health disorders in Black and BIPOC clients. Stefanie is a graduate of The NC A&T University Joint Master of Social Work Program and is a proud Aggie!
*** Please note: NC Blue Cross and Blue Shield is coming soon!
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The Mindfulness Space is a proud member of the International Association of the Eating Disorders Professionals!
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