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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Therapy for Black Girls Podcast, a weekly

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Speaker 1: conversation about mental health, personal development, and all the small

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Speaker 1: decisions we can make to become the best possible versions

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Speaker 1: of ourselves. I'm your host, Dr joy hard and Bradford,

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Speaker 1: a licensed psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information or

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Speaker 1: to find a therapist in your area, visit our website

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Speaker 1: at Therapy for Black Girls dot com. While I hope

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Speaker 1: you love listening to and learning from the podcast, it

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Speaker 1: is not meant to be a substitute for relationship with

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Speaker 1: a licensed mental health professional. Hey, y'all, thanks so much

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Speaker 1: for joining me for session one of the Therapy for

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Speaker 1: Black Girls Podcast. I know that there are many of

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Speaker 1: you listening who may be thinking about starting therapy soon

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Speaker 1: but just still may be feeling a little uncomfortable about

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Speaker 1: exactly what happens in that first session. So today I

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Speaker 1: wanted to share some information about what happens in the

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Speaker 1: first session to help you get a little more acquainted

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Speaker 1: with the process. So your first session, and maybe even

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Speaker 1: your first couple of sessions, is typically what we call

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Speaker 1: the intake. It's our opportunity as therapists to get to

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Speaker 1: know more about you and what's bringing you into therapy,

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Speaker 1: and it's also your opportunity to get to know more

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Speaker 1: about how we work and whether you feel comfortable talking

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Speaker 1: to us. It's likely that before you attend your first session,

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Speaker 1: you'll have filled out some paperwork, so we might check

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Speaker 1: in with you about whether you had any questions, and

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Speaker 1: we'll also likely spend some time in that first session

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Speaker 1: chatting with you about things like confidentiality and when it

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Speaker 1: needs to be broken, our cancelation policies, and what steps

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Speaker 1: you might need to take in the case of an emergency.

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Speaker 1: It's also likely that we'll talk with you about what

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Speaker 1: happens if we see each other in public. So I

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Speaker 1: typically tell my clients that if I run into you

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Speaker 1: in Walmart, I will pretend as if I don't know you,

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Speaker 1: and that is an interest of protecting your confidentiality. So

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Speaker 1: I don't ever want to put a client in a

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Speaker 1: position of having to identify who I am if that's

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Speaker 1: not something they're comfortable with. It's also likely that will

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Speaker 1: spend some time talking with you about boundaries and confidentiality

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Speaker 1: related to social media. So our professional ethics boards all

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Speaker 1: have lots of rules about how we interact with clients.

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Speaker 1: Outside of the therapy space, and it's not appropriate for

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Speaker 1: us to be friends with, to like, or to follow

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Speaker 1: any clients on social media. Social media is also not

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Speaker 1: an appropriate place for us to communicate with clients as

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Speaker 1: it's not confidential and your private health information could be compromised.

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Speaker 1: We all know these things sometimes get hacked, and so

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Speaker 1: it's just not the appropriate place for you to be

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Speaker 1: trying to communicate with your therapists. So after we go

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Speaker 1: through all these kinds of guidelines, then comes all of

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Speaker 1: the questions. So I know a lot of people feel

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Speaker 1: pressured to figure out what they're gonna say in their

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Speaker 1: first session, but I can assure you your therapists will

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Speaker 1: have tons of questions, so don't worry about that. Will

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Speaker 1: likely ask you about what's bringing you into therapy, how

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Speaker 1: long it's been going on, and why you're deciding to

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Speaker 1: start therapy now. We'll also probably ask about your relationships

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Speaker 1: with family and friends, what you do for work or school,

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Speaker 1: what you're sleep and eating patterns look like, whether or not,

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Speaker 1: and how much you use any substances. And will probably

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Speaker 1: also ask about whether you've had therapy or medication in

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Speaker 1: the past, and whether you've been hospitalized for any psychiatric

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Speaker 1: kinds of concerns. It's also pretty standard for us to

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Speaker 1: ask about whether you're currently having any thoughts of suicide

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Speaker 1: or whether you've had them in the past. You'll also

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Speaker 1: spend some time in the intake process discussing your therapeutic goals.

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Speaker 1: What exactly would you like to get out of therapy?

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Speaker 1: We sometimes ask the magic question, which is some variation

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Speaker 1: of this question. If you were to wake up tomorrow

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Speaker 1: and everything was better, how would you know what would

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Speaker 1: be different? That helps us to tap into what changes

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Speaker 1: you might be seeking and how we might help you

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Speaker 1: to get there. Now, you may not get into all

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Speaker 1: of these areas in the first session, depending on where

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Speaker 1: the questions lead, but it's likely you'll get to most

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Speaker 1: of these and roughly the first one to three sessions.

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Speaker 1: And again, all of these questions are designed to help

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Speaker 1: us get a clearer picture of what's going on with you,

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Speaker 1: what areas we may need to ask more about, and

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Speaker 1: how we may begin to help you meet the therapeutic

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Speaker 1: goals that you said now. Of course, all of this

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Speaker 1: is generally speaking. We don't all follow one script, and

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Speaker 1: there's no one way to do an intake, but generally

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Speaker 1: this is what you would expect the first session to

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Speaker 1: look like. There are a few other things that I

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Speaker 1: want you to know about that first session, just so

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Speaker 1: you have a realistic idea about what happens and that

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Speaker 1: you're not surprised about how you might be feeling afterwards.

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Speaker 1: So the first thing I'd like you to know is

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Speaker 1: that you probably won't walk away with a lot of

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Speaker 1: answers or solutions after that first session, as again, it's

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Speaker 1: really more about getting to know you and what's going on.

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Speaker 1: And I know that can be incredibly frustrating, as it

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Speaker 1: may have taken a lot of energy and a lot

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Speaker 1: of time for you just to get to that first session,

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Speaker 1: but it's probably not realistic to think that you'll leave

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Speaker 1: with a fully formed treatment plan after just one visit.

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Speaker 1: You gotta hang in there, give it a little time,

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Speaker 1: give yourself time to get to know the therapists, give

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Speaker 1: the therapist time to get to know you before you

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Speaker 1: really get to see some movement. The second thing I'd

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Speaker 1: like you to know is that it's unlikely that you'll

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Speaker 1: leave the first session with a diagnosis. If you ever

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Speaker 1: leave with a diagnosis, So you probably have heard me

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Speaker 1: talk about the d C m which is our big book.

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Speaker 1: This is the big book in our field, which contains

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Speaker 1: all the mental health diagnoses and the criteria that must

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Speaker 1: be met for each one. So, based on the information

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Speaker 1: that you share in the intake, we may feel like

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Speaker 1: you might meet criteria for something like a major depressive

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Speaker 1: disorder or an anxiety disorder, but it's very likely we'll

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Speaker 1: want to get much more information and hear more about

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Speaker 1: the history and the severity of any symptoms you're experiencing

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Speaker 1: before we'll make a diagnosis. But I also think it's

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Speaker 1: important to note that not everyone meets criteria for a diagnosis,

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Speaker 1: so you can see a therapist without ever a meeting

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Speaker 1: criteria for a diagnosis. You don't have to have a

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Speaker 1: diagnosis to be seen in therapy. And then the third

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Speaker 1: thing that I want you to know about that first

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Speaker 1: session is that you may feel a little exposed in

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Speaker 1: the hours in the days afterwards, especially if you shared

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Speaker 1: a lot and this was the first time that you

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Speaker 1: talked about maybe some very private information. So it may

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Speaker 1: initially feel better to finally have a place to share

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Speaker 1: what you're struggling with, But afterwards, you may have what

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Speaker 1: we call a vulnerability hangover and This is where later

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Speaker 1: in the day or the next morning, you wake up

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Speaker 1: and you think, what in the world did I just do?

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Speaker 1: So it may feel like you have been naked in

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Speaker 1: front of a room full of people. So I want

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Speaker 1: you to know that this is not uncommon and it

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Speaker 1: may make you feel a little bit embarrassed and difficult

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Speaker 1: for it for you to go back to the therapist.

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Speaker 1: But I want you to try to fight through that

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Speaker 1: feeling if that comes up for you, and go back

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Speaker 1: the next session and share with your therapist what happens.

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Speaker 1: If you can get through those feelings of vulnerability and

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Speaker 1: hanging there, it will likely be a very worthwhile experience.

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Speaker 1: So let me know what other questions you have about

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Speaker 1: that first session of therapy. Are there concerns you have

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Speaker 1: about what happens in the first session that I haven't addressed.

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Speaker 1: Let me know on social media using the hashtag tb

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Speaker 1: G in session and I'll try to answer as many

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Speaker 1: as I can. And remember to share this episode with

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Speaker 1: two friends who you think might benefit from it. And

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Speaker 1: share your takeaways with us from the episode either on

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Speaker 1: Twitter or in your I G stories, And again make

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Speaker 1: sure to use that hashtags that we can find it

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Speaker 1: if you've been contemplating therapy and you still feel a

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Speaker 1: little confused about how to get started, don't forget that

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Speaker 1: we have a guide to getting started with therapy that

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Speaker 1: you can download at Therapy for Black Girls dot com

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Speaker 1: slash g t G S And of course that information

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Speaker 1: will be in the show notes so that you can

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Speaker 1: find that easily. And if you've already decided to start

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Speaker 1: therapy but you're still looking for a therapist, be sure

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Speaker 1: to visit our therapist directory at Therapy for Black Girls

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Speaker 1: dot com slash directory. And I also want to add

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Speaker 1: that we are now adding therapists from Canada to the directory,

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Speaker 1: So if you are a therapist in Canada and you're listening,

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Speaker 1: please add your information to the directory, as we've had

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Speaker 1: lots of requests from listeners in Canada who want to

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Speaker 1: connect with great therapists there as well. If you haven't already,

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Speaker 1: make sure that you're following us across our social media channels,

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Speaker 1: as we've been having some incredible conversations all this month

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Speaker 1: in honor of Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, we've been

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Speaker 1: talking all about our relationships with other sisters, and we've

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Speaker 1: dubbed this our Summer of sisterhood. So we're really wanting

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Speaker 1: to delve into all things related to friendship and how

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Speaker 1: to create and maintain healthy support systems. So join us

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Speaker 1: in those conversations if you have it. You can find

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Speaker 1: us on both Facebook and Instagram at Therapy for Black Girls,

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Speaker 1: and you can find us on Twitter at Therapy for

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Speaker 1: the Number four be Girls. A huge shout out to

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Speaker 1: all of you that I met last weekend at the

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Speaker 1: Essence Festival. It was so beautiful to meet and chat

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Speaker 1: with so many of you who listen to the podcast.

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Speaker 1: And another thank you to all of you who sent

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Speaker 1: your love even though you couldn't be there. I really

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Speaker 1: really appreciate it. Thank y'all so much for joining me

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Speaker 1: again this week, and I look forward to continue in

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Speaker 1: this conversation with you all real soon. Take good care,

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Speaker 1: m Ber