National Minority Mental Health Month

First recognized in 2008, National Minority Mental Health Month is an initiative to bring awareness to the unique struggles experienced by underrepresented groups with regards to mental health issues in the United States. Studies find that minorities are less likely to seek treatment or medication for mental health issues and, if they do seek care, they often a experience poorer quality of services.

Below are some resources from our collection which can support mental health awareness.

Marbley, A. F. (2011). Multicultural counseling: perspectives from counselors as clients of color. Routledge.

"This is the first book to explore the experiences of people of color in counseling from the perspective of individuals who are practicing counselors and were previously clients in counseling themselves. Marbley conducted a research study in which she interviewed either individuals representing each of the major groups of color in the United States... to obtain the stories of their experiences in their own words."  -- from publisher

Ratts, M. J. (2014). Counseling for multiculturalism and social justice: integration, theory, and application. American Counseling Association.

"In this book, Drs. Ratts and Pederson combine the very best from the multicultural and social justice traditions into a new paradigm, which will guide counselors toward a deeper understanding of the connections between these two counseling forces." -- from publisher

Rugkasa, J. (2015). Care and culture: care relations from the perspectives of mental health caregivers in minority families. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

"Drawing on practice-oriented cognitive sociology, the book shows that, in order to understand caregiving, its personal, social, and cultural dimensions must be considered. It presents a new model for understanding caregivers care relations to the person who is unwell, to health professionals, and to the state... [this book will] shed new light on issues such as the caregiving burden and  the commodification of care." -- from publisher


For more information on National Minority Mental Health Month, visit: https://www.touchstonemh.org/july-minority-mental-health-month/  and to learn more about Chaminade University of Honolulu's Counseling Services, visit: https://chaminade.edu/student-life/counseling-center/.