Opportunities in Intersectionality - Race, Gender, Sexuality, Ability & Mental Health: Interview with Emily Unity | Episode 107

We all have multiple identity markers that make us uniquely us and that shape our lives and experiences. When it comes to understanding our experiences with mental health, appreciating these influences helps us better understand our strengths in well-being, our disparities in exposure to harm, and differences in barriers to and opportunities for support. When we see mental health in this context, new frameworks and needs emerge:

Intersectionality is an identity strength rather than being an “other” or “not being enough” of one identity
Representation in and accessibility to mental health services and supports matter greatly>
Exploration and self-investigation into identity is often key to personal and community resilience.
When people identify as “bi” (e.g., biracial, bisexual) or “multi” or are moving in between identities (e.g., immigrants, refugees, gender transitioning) can also have unique challenges and opportunities to well-being. When they sometimes find themselves in a “betwixt/between” state, they find they are not fully embraced by one identity or even rejected outright. This experience of disconnection can cause distress.

In this podcast, Emily Unity invites us to sit in the in between and get comfortable being uncomfortable.

Intersectionality & Historical Trauma -- 3 Insights for Resilience: Interview with Dr. Tammy Sanders | Episode 78

How we see ourselves often is shaped by the many voices of our experience —- intersecting identities, some which may be aligned, others in conflict with one another. The voices we internalize may come from our parents or other influential adults from our childhood, or our religions and cultures more broadly. Still, other voices may be those of our ancestors, whom we have never met, but whose experiences have been imprinted in our bodies.

In this conversation I speak with the inspiring Dr. Tammy Sanders, a self-identified, Black, gay woman raised in the Black Baptist Church of the deep South. She realized at an early age that in order to survive, she needed to escape parts of herself or perish. Come listen to her incredible journey to wholeness — a holistic approach towards uncomfortable growth surrounded by deep connection with others.