Mental health support group launched for black men

Tyler Attwood says therapy has taught him to be kinder to himself

Group therapy sessions designed to encourage black men to open up about mental health are being launched in Gloucester.

The Black Kings Mental Health and Wellbeing Circle is a black-led project, which aims to challenge the stigma that prevents many black men from seeking support.

Organisers said cultural attitudes that linked mental health struggles to weakness, alongside generational fears of sharing personal problems, systemic racism and mistrust of healthcare services, had all contributed to silence within the community.

"There's a lot of things that young men have to contend with today," said 32-year-old Tyler Attwood, co-producer of the project. "It's okay to admit that you're struggling."

He added: "It's okay to admit that you need help."

Tyler, pictured left, says he experienced bullying as a child because he was mixed race

Mr Attwood said therapy had helped him cope with a number of difficult issues, including being bullied as a child for his mixed heritage, and the recent loss of his mother.

"Since losing someone who's such a pillar in your life, I now know how much of a journey that grief can be," he said.

"Therapy has helped me to be kinder to myself."

'An epidemic'

Psychotherapist Audrey James, one of the councillors for the group, said stigma around mental health ran deep among the black community.

"As a community, we were raised not to talk about our business and not to make ourselves vulnerable," she explained.

"I call it an epidemic with black mental health. We're very slow to think about our mental health, to make it a priority."

Project facilitator Ronnie McGrath echoed this viewpoint.

"We're often brought up in a situation where 'silence is our strength' and any sign that we are not coping with our environment - that's a sign of weakness," he said.

"That kind of imprisons us and we adhere to that subconsciously."

The Black Kings programme will offer eight two-hour sessions combining guided discussion with creative activities.

The sessions will be led by Ms James and Mr McGrath, an artist, poet and academic.

The project is being run in partnership with Artlift, an NHS-backed arts charity, and Restore Black, a mental health initiative set up by Ms James in 2018 to tackle inequalities in access to therapy.

She said she began the initiative because she noticed many black people were reluctant to engage with therapy.

Ms James said financial pressures, lack of trust in medical professionals and cultural stigma remained major barriers to accessing help.

Psychotherapist Audrey James will be facilitating the group therapy sessions

According to NHS statistics from 2021–2022, black individuals are four times more likely than those from any white background to be detained under the Mental Health Act and 11 times more likely to be given a Community Treatment Order.

"When you're treated differently because of your skin colour and culture, what then is being reinforced is that we're not good enough," said Ms James.

Mr Attwood said black men faced particular pressures.

"There is definitely a shared opinion that therapy isn't for black people, that therapy isn't for black men," he said.

He urged men in the city to consider joining the new group.

The Black Kings Mental Health and Wellbeing Circle will run from 18:00 to 20:00 BST every Thursday from 9 October to 27 November in the Blue Coat Room at Gloucester Guildhall.