ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014\u00a0For many in the Black community, conversations about mental health have long happened behind closed doors, if at all.<\/p>\n
What You Need To Know<\/p>\n
Black\/African American adults were 36%<\/a> less likely to receive mental health treatment in 2024 compared to U.S. adults overall Camara Gaither, Orlando\u2019s Poet Laureate<\/a> and a pre-licensed therapist, said she now uses poetry not only for herself, but as a therapeutic tool for her clients to express themselves. Gaither says her own journey with writing began early in life.<\/p>\n \u201cI have been writing since I was 8 years old. I wasn\u2019t crazy about school, but when it came to English language arts and poetry, I was really engaged,\u201d she said. \u201cArt and poetry specifically can help us to have a place to put pain and help us have a place to savor beauty.\u201d<\/p>\n Gaither was appointed the city of Orlando\u2019s Poet Laureate in October 2025. She\u2019s also a pre-licensed mental health therapist working with teens and adults navigating trauma, grief, depression, and anxiety.<\/p>\n According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health<\/a>, in 2024, Black\/African American adults were 36%<\/a> less likely than U.S. adults overall to have received mental health treatment. Experts say barriers like cost, lack of access, stigma, and a shortage of culturally competent providers all play a role.<\/p>\n Gaither understands those challenges firsthand.\u00a0She says access to care is also about feeling seen and understood.<\/p>\n \u201cNot everyone has insurance. Things are continuing to get really expensive. Usually in black and brown neighborhoods, there\u2019s not a lot of specialties and clinics nearby,\u201d Gaither said.<\/p>\n Beyond traditional therapy sessions, Gaither partners with nonprofit organizations and clinical spaces to offer poetry therapy groups for marginalized communities.<\/p>\n She says poetry serves as a powerful healing tool, especially for communities deeply rooted in storytelling and oral tradition.<\/p>\n \u201cMore and more studies are showing how effective art is and helping us process what we\u2019re going through and helping us feel belonging and connection,\u201d\u00a0Gaither said.<\/p>\n During Black History Month, Gaither hopes the spotlight helps normalize mental health conversations and encourages more people to seek support. She says healing is not a sign of weakness but a continuation of strength.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to see us feel more freedom and be given more affirmation and express the full range of who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, local and national resources are available.<\/p>\n Resources:\u00a0<\/p>\n To find Therapists (Filter Search By State): Black Therapists<\/p>\n Black Therapist Rock Therapy Scholarships:\u00a0<\/p>\n Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation Local Resources:<\/p>\n Mental Health Association of Central Florida
\nBarriers include cost, stigma, limited access, and a shortage of culturally competent providers
\nGaither uses poetry as a therapeutic tool for healing
\nGaither says healing is not weakness, but a continuation of strength<\/p>\n
\nPsychology Today
\nOpen Path Collective<\/p>\n
\nBEAM (Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective)<\/p>\n
\nNew Hope for Kids
\nHeart Bonds Counseling (Accepts Medicaid)
\nHope & Serenity Counseling (Accepts Medicaid)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014\u00a0For many in the Black community, conversations about mental health have long happened behind closed doors,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":160328,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[767,1011,1013,274,6507,48241,71626,770,1190,115,1335,139,141,140,278,835],"class_list":{"0":"post-160327","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-app-community","9":"tag-app-human-interest","10":"tag-app-latest-human-interest-stories","11":"tag-app-top-stories","12":"tag-ashley-engle","13":"tag-black-history-month","14":"tag-black-history-month-2026","15":"tag-community-news","16":"tag-human-interest","17":"tag-news","18":"tag-orange-county","19":"tag-orlando","20":"tag-orlando-headlines","21":"tag-orlando-news","22":"tag-top-stories","23":"tag-vod"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}