A TikTok therapist who pleaded with Black men to seek therapy was let go from her job.
The therapist, Shabree Rawls, went viral after posting a TikTok video urging Black men to seek therapy and expand their “emotional vocabulary.”
In the video, Rawls uses tough love to urge Black men to seek help. Rawls specifically spoke to young Black men who were raised in single parent households.
Rawls told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution she had no idea her video would cost her her job.
You might not have liked her delivery. & she ain’t gotta call women bitches.
But idk how y’all skewed this to say “she’s complaining about Black male clients”….She’s clearly telling Black men to go tf to therapy & stop holding shit in when the world is already so hard on you. https://t.co/lPivmOjI1s
— Get Her, Jade! (@keatingssixth) August 15, 2022
“I cannot fake it to you, I’ve sobbed about this,” she told the AJC. “It hurt a lot … it seemed like a lot of decisions were made at my expense and that happens to a lot of black women.”
Rawls’ video was in response to an article published on Psychology Today‘s website titled “The Rise of Lonely, Single Men.”
“My intention was … just go to therapy. There’s no hidden agenda or ulterior motive,” she said.
Rawls wasn’t prepared for the backlash, which mostly came from Black men. Rawls said about 90% of her patients are Black males.
“For my first love, which is the black man, to attack me – it just felt like I experienced whiplash from both sides. As a black woman, I hold them close to my heart. It’s who we are. To be attacked by black men hurt even worse. I’ve dedicated my life to healing our community, but at the same time I’m being attacked by the same faces.”
Rawls is searching for another job. In the meantime, she is launching a podcast to reach a wider audience of Black men.
“A podcast is coming,” she told the AJC. “I realize that maybe I’m not supposed to heal just one-on-one, I’m supposed to heal to a bigger crowd.”
