African American Pioneers in Mental Health

AFRICAN AMERICAN PIONEERS IN MENTAL HEALTH

BLACK PIONEERS IN MENTAL HEALTH

BEBE MOORE CAMPBELL

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ebe Moore Campbell was an American author, journalist, teacher, and mental health advocate who worked tirelessly to shed light on the mental health needs of the Black community and other underrepresented communities. She founded NAMI-Inglewood in a predominantly Black neighborhood to create a space that was safe for Black people to talk about mental health concerns. Throughout her time as an advocate, Campbell made her way to DC. On June 2, 2008, Congress formally recognized Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month to bring awareness to the unique struggles that underrepresented groups face regarding mental illness in the US. SOURCE: https://www.mhanational.org/black-pioneers-mental-health

BLACK PIONEERS IN MENTAL HEALTH

MAXIE CLARENCE MAULTSBY, JR, M.D.

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r. Maultsby was the founder of the psychotherapeutic method, rational behavioral therapy. Through his work and therapeutic method, Dr. Maultsby explored emotional and behavioral self-management. Dr. Maultsby’s unique contributions include making emotional self-help a legitimate focus of scientific research and clinical use. Through rational behavior therapy he formulated a comprehensive system of cognitivebehavioral psychotherapy and counseling that incorporated, in a clinically useful way, the most recent neuropsychological facts about how the brain works in relation to emotional and behavioral selfcontrol. The technique of cognitivebehavioral therapy and counseling that Dr. Maultsby created is the first comprehensive, yet short-term, culture and drug-free technique of psychotherapy that produces long-term therapeutic results. In addition to authoring books for health professional therapists and counselors, Dr. Maultsby has written four pioneering books that describe his method of emotional self-help, called rational self-counseling.

SOURCE: https://www.mhanational.org/black-pioneers-mental-health

BLACK PIONEERS IN MENTAL HEALTH

BEVERLY GREENE, PH.D.

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everly Greene is the author of the landmark article “When the Therapist is White and the Patient is Black: Considerations for Psychotherapy in the Feminist Heterosexual and Lesbian Communities.”

She is a pioneer of intersectional psychology, and her work on heterosexism, sexism, and racism has illuminated how different intersecting facets of a person’s identity shape their experiences of privilege, oppression, and mental health. Dr. Greene’s work earned her the honor of the Distinguished Publication Award from the Association for Women in Psychology in 2008.

In an interview from 2012 titled, “PFV Interview with Beverly Greene: African American Feminist Psychotherapy,” Dr. Greene talks about her training in the psychoanalytic tradition and her perspective on psychotherapy as an African American feminist.

SOURCE: https://www.mhanational.org/black-pioneers-mental-health

BLACK PIONEERS IN MENTAL HEALTH

MAMIE PHIPPS CLARK, PH.D. & KENNETH BANCROFT CLARK, PH.D.

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amie Phipps Clark was the first African American woman to earn a doctorate degree in psychology from Columbia University. She previously earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Howard University. Her experience in college and specifically graduate-level courses helped her realize the shortage of psychological services available to the African American community and other minorities. The Clarks are best known for the famous “Doll Study” in which more than 200 Black children participated. Both Mamie and Kenneth Clark worked on this study, providing invaluable evidence in favor of ending school segregation in the supreme court case Brown vs. The Board of Education, citing that school segregation was psychologically harmful to black children. Dr. Kenneth Clark was the first-ever black president of the American Psychological Association.

Dr. Mamie Phipps Clark’s dedication and passion for adequate mental health services for all prompted Dr. Clark to open her own agency to provide comprehensive psychological services to the poor, blacks, and other minority children and families. In February 1946, Dr. Clark and her husband opened the doors of “The Northside Center for Child Development” for those in the Harlem area. She worked in the center counseling and providing other psychological services from 1946 until 1979 when she retired.

Although retired, Dr. Mamie Phipps Clark served on different advisory boards and was still very active within her community.

SOURCE: https://www.mhanational.org/ black-pioneers-mental-health