I am saddened and disgusted by the ongoing police brutality and the rising death toll of the Black community as the result of racism, racist policing, and racist policies of the US. This article shares my commitment to end my part in supporting institutionalized racism of the mental health field and what actions I am committed to taking as an anti-racist provider and company.
My private practice for over a decade was focused on digestive health and the gut-brain axis, with very left-brain pursuits of tracking food consumption, creating meal plans, and measuring and evaluating blood, stool, saliva, and urine tests. Oh and cooking classes, of course. I was a steadfast believer that the key to all health is based on what we choose to eat and that this health can be measured and tracked by lab tests. I was wrong.
One month or so before my 40th birthday, right on time—for once not procrastinating, I was hurled head-first and with great tenacity into my impending mid-life crisis. Although transitions of identity, whenever they may come, can be liberating, fulfilling, and even joyfully amusing, mine definitely started as a crisis before it became an awakening!