Aug 24, 2020
How does cultural experience affect mental health? In this episode of Woman Worriers host Elizabeth Cush interviews Dr. Nilaja Green about how the Strong Black Woman identity can be both protective and problematic.
Quotes:
“Part of what the stripping away of freedom meant was also the
loss of control over the very basic aspects of life that most of us
take for granted.”
— B. Nilaja Green, PhD
“If I am in a position where I have to show up and do things
whether I feel like it or not, and my emotions can actually be used
against me, what is my choice?
— B. Nilaja Green, PhD
“Sometimes the needs of other people are more immediate than
your own needs, but what begins to happen is that the more that
message is reinforced, the more it becomes unacceptable for you to
have needs.”
— B. Nilaja Green, PhD
“There’s only so long you can function not paying attention to
your own needs and be in any way effective for yourself or anyone
else.”
— B. Nilaja Green, PhD
“This characteristic that is not functional in some places is
actually very functional in other places.”
— B. Nilaja Green, PhD
“How will I know when it’s time to reach out?”
— B. Nilaja Green, PhD
“If I’m so used to being empty all the time, that might become
my way of living and I may not know there is another way to be in
the world.”
— B. Nilaja Green, PhD
“Emotions are communicators.”
— B. Nilaja Green, PhD
“All I see is that you have survived and continue to survive. I
don’t also see what it has cost you.”
— B. Nilaja Green, PhD
Show Notes:
Sometimes strength is not an advantage. The qualities we develop to protect ourselves can sometimes cause us problems. In this episode of the Woman Worriers podcast, host Elizabeth Cush, LCPC, of Progression Counseling in Annapolis, Md., welcomes B. Nilaja Green, PhD, an Atlanta-based psychologist who provides specialized trauma treatment to vulnerable populations including people of color and members of the LGBTQ community. They talk about the paradigm of the Strong Black Woman as a coping mechanism—how it arose and why it’s necessary, why it’s effective and how elements of it can negatively affect mental health, sometimes leading to depression and suicidality. They also discuss the issues that can block some Black women from getting into therapy and finding the support that could help them find relief from distress and how to access resources that feel right.
Listen and learn:
Learn More
> Standpoint Therapy website
> Dr. B. Nilaja Green on Instagram
> “Strong Like My Mama: The Legacy of ‘Strength,’ Depression, and Suicidality in African American Women” by B. Nilaja Green, PhD, in Women & Therapy