Black Mental Health Therapists: Local Help for Young Men

By Dianne Anderson Black men may need that strong shoulder to cry on –  but naturally suspicious of healthcare providers – can now take heart knowing that therapists who look like them are just around the corner. With nine therapy local locations, and another Colton Wellness Center coming soon, Marty Sellers is gaining mental health traction in the Inland Empire. Sellers, a marriage and family therapist, understands the community’s reluctance to seek help. It’s not just about stigma, he said, but that young Black men often feel alone, or have anxiety they can’t explain. It could be heightened race hate, discrimination in aspects of life or work, or just the high cost of living. He advises clients to take a breath, take a walk at the park or run, and go to group therapy, but also know that in these unstable times, negative emotions are not so unusual. “You’re seeing a bodily response experience that is natural, but if no one tells you that it’s a normal response, we might think it’s crazy,” said Marty Sellers, MFT, MTS Chief Executive Officer of MarSell Wellness Center. Soon, he opens his tenth Wellness Center, which has grown over the years to over...