ORLANDO, Fla. – This week on “Black Men Sundays,” host Corie Murray interviews Psychotherapist D’Shawn Harris, owner of Safe Haven Therapy.
Harris urged Black men to prioritize their mental health, describing common warning signs that someone may be struggling.
”It could be withdrawing, socially withdrawing, or oftentimes you’ll see a lot of brothers or a lot of people in general throwing themselves into work, especially men, you know? They throw themselves into work and that’s their only thing, right, in that moment, work, work, work," he said. “(...) We have all these things in our mind and it impacts us in a way to where that’s our sole focus. So we’re performative. We become performative at that point. Like, ‘I got to do this, I gotta go hard, I gotta work seven days a week,’ when in all reality, no, you have to take care of yourself first, because if you’re no good for yourself, you’re not going to be any good for your business, your household, your employer, anybody.”
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Harris reminded listeners that we don’t have to be performative to earn others’ love, respect, or otherwise.
Directly addressing skepticism of mental health care, Harris described therapy as something that everyone can benefit from.
“One thing I always say is, ‘Therapy is hope.’ There’s a way to get to the bag as well as get to yourself,” he said. “(...) It’s a matter of time management, setting your goals, saying, ‘OK, I know I need to make this to make sure I’m able to afford my bills, my lifestyle,’ setting that financial goal and then setting your personal goal to match that financial goal. So, it’s possible. As an entrepreneur, you don’t have to work 24/7, you don’t have to feel like you have to grind out all day every day because then that’s where you experience burnout.”
Hear the interview and more in Season 7, Episode 9 of “Black Men Sundays.”
Black Men Sundays talks about building generational wealth. Check out every episode in the media player below.