Author, psychologist, and scholar Rheeda Walker will be appearing at Arlington Church of God in Akron on Sept. 11

Dr. Rheeda Walker, author of The Unapologetic Guide to Black Mental Health, will be featured in a conversation on racism and mental health on Saturday, September 11. The conversation will be part of a workshop on the spiritual and psychological effects of racial trauma.

The event will take place at Arlington Church of God, 539 S. Arlington St., Akron [44306]. The program, which will start at 10am, is sponsored by the church's Wellness Team and is free and open to the public.

Walker is a licensed clinical psychologist, scholar, researcher, and tenured professor at the University of Houston. She has observed that black people are “at the intersection of overwhelming, unaddressed stress” minus the cultural identity to help fix it.

Her website says that her work is about “bringing attention to the mental health realities of African Americans”. She has appeared on Good Morning America, The Breakfast Club, and National Public Radio, and has been quoted in the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, GQ Magazine, and the Houston Chronicle.

The workshop will include breakout sessions on several topics hosted by trained professionals:

• Racism and the Church's Response: Mental Health at the Intersection of Faith and Justice
• Microaggression in the Workplace: Racism and Mental Health on the Job
• Racism in the Classroom: Effects on Mental Health and Learning

Attendees can register at https://arlingtonchurchofgod.ticketleap.com/bmh/ or by calling the church office at 330.773.3321. Masks  are required and social distancing will be observed.

The ACOG Wellness Team members include Dr. Angela Neal-Barnett, author and psychology professor at Kent State University; Dr. Dan Sanders, a clinical psychologist; and Mrs. Maisha Green McIntyre, a licensed counselor. The team chair is Dr. Marilyn Sanders Mobley, a lay minister and certified Grief Recovery Method specialist, and a professor emirita of English and African American literature from Case Western Reserve University. 

The event is sponsored in part by a grant from the Akron Beacon Journal’s Health Disparities Fund.

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