Breaking the Stigma

How might we have better conversations about tough topics like race, sexuality, religion, politics, and mental health? How can we reduce social stigma?

Today my guest is Dr. Adrienne Williams (@AAWilliamsPhD), a clinical health psychologist based in Chicago, who specializes in sexuality and gender. She provides therapy for anxiety and depression, and her work with sexuality and gender includes sexual abuse/assault, sexual orientation, and trans*gender care. She is a vocal advocate for primary mental health providers, and breaking down the stigma around mental health.

I wanted to speak with Adrienne about her general work and motivations in these areas, but I also wanted to speak with her about the challenges of mental health during Covid-19 and also during the BLM movement.

This is a fascinating and wide-ranging conversation. We discuss sexuality, faith, mental health, race, gender, and a whole lot more. One thing that I love about speaking with Adrienne is that she doesn’t shy away from talking about tough topics. Instead, she embraces them. And a lot of her work is devoted to helping people have those hard conversations, and to break down the stigma around them.

Resources:

We Need Primary Mental Health Providers, by Adrienne Williams (op-ed)

Book Recommendations:

How to be an Anti-Racist, by Ibram X. Kendi

White Fragility, by Robin DiAngelo

Waking Up White, by Debby Irving