Episode 50: Dr. Kimber Shelton
Kimber Shelton, PHD: But that cultural competence is so important that if the therapist is not culturally competent for Black women, and then other minoritized, uh, populations. Therapy doesn't work. It's just not going to be effective.
Jessica Fowler: Welcome back to What Your Therapist is Reading. I'm your host, Jessica Fowler. We are ending Season 5 with an episode just for those in the mental health professions.
Today, we are speaking with Dr. Kimber Shelton about her Amazon bestseller book, A Handbook on Counseling African American Women: Psychological Symptoms, Treatments, and Case Studies. Dr. Kimber Shelton is a licensed psychologist, author, and speaker. She is the owner of KLS Counseling and Consulting Services in Texas, where she specializes in cultural diversity, LGBTQ issues, trauma, and relationship concerns.
The 2023 Black Mental Health Symposium Distinguished Practitioner of the Year, Dr. Shelton is an award-winning psychologist committed to creating transformative healing spaces to empower minoritized groups. She has over 20 publications, including a handbook on counseling African American women. If you are enjoying these episodes and would like to support the podcast, please make sure you leave us a five-star review.
And make sure you follow along on social media @therapybookspodcast to learn about the latest giveaway. And as always, the information shared in this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only.
Welcome Kimber. I am excited to have you on the podcast today.
Kimber Shelton, PHD: Thank you. I'm excited to be here. Thank you for having me on.
Jessica Fowler: So, as we discussed, I'd like to ask the question to start the interview with, can you share a memory of how reading has impacted you?
Kimber Shelton, PHD: Yeah, I really appreciated your question when you sent this to me because I hadn't thought about that, and I'm glad I had some time to think about that beforehand, and what are the memories that were so salient to me, and it's not a particular book per se. When I was young, my mother, she said, I cannot wait for you to start reading. Because she was so sick of me like, read this and this book and read that. So, she was so excited for me to learn how to read, so that she wouldn't have to read books to me anymore. And then I've just always loved reading since I've been a little girl. And, um, I, my family's pretty close. So, when my nieces were young, we would go to the library, we would get a book, then we would go get a snack, and then I would take them, take them to a park, and we would lay out a blanket, and we would read different stories, and we would do books with, find the character, or find the picture. And I just loved that. I loved us. Just going out and being on a blanket and reading these beautiful books together. And then we started a auntie niece book club where we would all read the same book. And then we would journal some notes about the book. And one person would take their turn reading the chapter. And then we'd write our little notes. And then we'd have a conversation about what we had written about. And they're probably You know, seven, eight, nine, ten-ish around that. So, they're still young and just to hear their minds, the way they were working, the way they were thinking, the way these stories impacted them was really beautiful for me.
I'm so glad that I got to have those sorts of moments with them and then to see how reading has impacted them and how they continue to read after that. And now that I have my own children, we go to the library. We get our books, we get our snacks, we lay on our blanket, and we do their reading, too. So I'm just glad that I get to continue that legacy.
Jessica Fowler: That is amazing. That is a beautiful story on so many levels. Just with, you know, reading and having, sharing that enjoyment of reading and the relationship building. And, you know, just all that goes into that with the journaling and having them explore. Oh, that's amazing.
Kimber Shelton, PHD: Yeah, yeah, I loved it. Just the vulnerability and hearing their creativity and their imagination and seeing them get so engrossed in the stories. I feel really fortunate to have been a part of that experience and I so appreciate my children, their love for reading already. Even though I kind of feel like my mother, like, I cannot wait to meet you. Can learn how to read, but I don't have to be reading all these stories.
Jessica Fowler: Well, I love it. So, what is, it's a great transition to what is your hope that readers will take away from your book?
Kimber Shelton, PHD: Yeah. So ,the book, a handbook on counseling African American women, the intention is for when black women go to therapy, we want black women to leave therapy, feeling empowered, feeling transformed, feeling healed. And then for readers, want there to be that same experience where readers feel empowered in their work with Black women. They're able to transform therapy with Black women. And if there are ideas or assumptions or stereotypes we've been hearing about Black women, for us to be healed from that so that we could create these transformative healing spaces for black women and for there not to be shame or, um, guilt and the type of therapy we might be providing to be able to lift that so we can fully embrace what black women's experiences are and give them the support that they need.
Jessica Fowler: And so before we kind of jump into what the topics are covered in this book a little more, um, deeply, can you share, so this is editors, there's three editors in this book, can you share about how this came about and what that means for our listeners?
Kimber Shelton, PHD: Yes. So ,the book is co-edited by myself, Dr. Michelle Lin, and Dr. Mahalat Ndala. And we all went to University of Georgia for our PhD program, but in different years. And then we all worked at Georgia State's Counseling Center together, um, for a time. And then, interestingly enough, we were all working at Georgia Tech University and their Counseling Center at the same time as well.
Um, and our experiences as Black women and then working with Black women, um, really called or highlighted the need for us to have more support around Black women's mental health. And although there is greater focus on cultural competence, still, we know that the majority of research around mental health is on white, middle class, able bodied, heterosexual Christian men, which is not always going to fit for a black trans woman living in poverty, so that we, um, don't always have the resources we need to be able to do this work with black women.
And that's part of the reason why it was important for us to develop this book. And then also just in my own therapy experiences with Black women, I know that those Black women are coming to me and they're sharing things with me that they would not share with another clinician who is not a Black woman. And I know this because they say, I wouldn't have never felt comfortable sharing these things with anyone or it was so important for me to find a Black woman therapist to work with. So, I feel fortunate, but then it's unfortunate because then what's happening in therapy relationships where you're not sharing the same gender and ethnicity as your therapist. So, wanting all therapists to be competent and working with Black women was another reason that we were very motivated to create this book.
Jessica Fowler: And so, can you share a little bit about how it's organized?
Kimber Shelton, PhD: Yeah, so there's four different sections to this book. The first part of the book is focused on, um, intersectionality and cultural competence. So, it contextualizes what intersectionality is, being able to look at all the different identities of Black women, and not that those identities are separate, those identities are combined together, which then has an impact on Black women's lived experience. And then it also looks at cultural competence. Defining what cultural competence is, how we can increase our cultural competence, and ideally we're moving from a place of competence to a place of cultural humility, where we are identifying as closely as we can with Black women while still being humbled to recognize we'll never fully understand their full experience if we are not a Black woman. And also, for Black women, we're going to have differences. So, we come as close as we can to understand our client. Um, while being humble and knowing that there's going to be some things that we're still going to have to continue to grow and learn about. So that's the first piece of the book. And then it looks at how, um, symptoms or cultural, uh, clinical issues that Black women can be facing. So how they might present to therapy, what are the mental health concerns and then clinically what that can look like. The presentation of mental health symptoms and issues doesn't look the same for Black women as it does for other populations where Black women are more likely to express somatic issues and physical issues. A Black woman may not say, I feel depressed, but a Black woman may say, I feel like a failure. And then we can miss that, that her feeling like a failure might be imposter syndrome, or you need some assertiveness skill training, but really what she might be expressing is she's feeling depressed. So, it looks at symptoms and how they present. And then the third part looks at different treatment interventions. So, What that looks like in individual therapy, group therapy, inpatient therapy, and how we could be more competent in all those realms. And then the final part of the book looks at specific populations. So, for lesbian, bi, trans black women, um, black women in higher education, black women with disabilities, and then multiracial black women.
Jessica Fowler: So I, I have to say, I love how that you set up the book the way that you just described it and it's really every chapter kind of reads as its own book, journal, article. I don't know what you want to call it. It's own, it's own chapter where you take on a specific population. And I thought that was so useful, right? Everything from like eating disorders, like you said, to gender, to you know, anxiety, right? Like all of these different chapters and each one was set up when you looked at the history. There was a lot of history in there. A lot of what happens with treatment. You had case studies in there. It was, it was set up in a really user friendly way that I really liked.
Kimber Shelton, PhD: Yeah, we wanted you to be able to read it, understand it, and immediately be able to apply it, which again, having those case studies were instrumental in that, where you could see how it is applied, and then you can use that in your own work. And it's an edited book, so Each of the chapters are written by different authors who primarily are Black women who are experts in Black women's mental health. But then, it's nuanced in that the majority of the authors have had their own therapy experiences. So, you get a understanding or presentation of Black women's experiences that are different and how you may be reading about them in other books because it's nuanced with these Black women authors who have also been in treatment themselves over time, and that each of the chapters are written by experts in that particular field. However, in my opinion, the book still feels very cohesive, so it doesn't feel like, okay, I'm reading about this thing, and then a completely different topic that like, the, like, language or the author or the description feels very different. It still feels very cohesive, where you can go in there and focus specifically on, Oh, I need some more information about binge eating. Or you can read this from beginning to end, and it feels very comprehensive and cohesive.
Jessica Fowler: I 100 percent agree. It did not feel like I was reading different, um, different authors, right? It did not feel like that at all. It felt very cohesive. It was very streamlined in the way that it was set up, that it was, it, it just went very well together. And that's why I think when we started, I asked you to like, explain to me how this happened because it was written in a way that it felt like it was coming from one place, even though it was brilliant in the way it's bringing in all of these different places together.
Kimber Shelton, PhD: Mm hmm. Yeah. Um, I'm glad that it's not disjointed and it does feel very thematic. And I think one of the primary reasons is because it's all the chapters are coming from a strength based and empowerment focus. So, I think that those are common threads that you hear throughout the entirety of the book.
Jessica Fowler: Absolutely. Who would you say, um, would benefit from reading, reading your book?
Kimber Shelton, PhD: Yeah. Anyone who is doing any sort of mental health behavioral work with black women that this is about black women, but it's definitely not a book for black women therapists. It's a book for all mental health professionals working with black women, that black therapists, we make up 2 to 4 percent of the mental health field, so definitely need a lot more people to be competent and working with black women than that 2 to 4%. And just because we are Black women, that does not necessarily mean that we are culturally competent in working with Black women ourselves, because we're getting that same training and education as all other mental health professionals are. So this book is for anyone who is working with Black women in any sort of mental health capacity, um, psychologists, marriage and family therapists, counselors, social workers, students, general practitioners, psychiatrists, behavioral, um, analysts, um, administrators, um, psychiatric nurse practitioners, people who supervise Black women, people who supervise students who are working with Black women, anyone that has any sort of touch with Black women's mental health would benefit from this, which is going to be the majority of mental health professionals. So everyone benefits from this book.
Jessica Fowler: So everyone, anyone who's in this field. What made you decide to write the book?
Kimber Shelton, PhD: Um, yeah, I think from our own experiences as Black women and working with Black women was a major influence and that there are more Black women coming to therapy than ever before. So, Black women have been doing an excellent job in overcoming cultural stigma and shame that's been connected to barriers for us getting care. And they were coming to treatment. But that cultural competence is so important that if the therapist is not culturally competent for Black women and then other minoritized populations, therapy doesn't work. It's just not going to be effective. So, to take that risk, to overcome, again, cultural stigma and shame and ideas about what it means to be in therapy or having mental health issues, to come to therapy and then not get the care that you need, that means that your mental health issues are going to continue. You might prematurely terminate therapy, you're leaving early before your treatment can be achieved, your goals can be achieved. That when we prematurely leave therapy, it takes us longer to come back, or we're less likely to come back at all. Or the worst thing that we could do is internalize that. I must be doing something wrong. That's why therapy isn't working. So, we don't want that to be the experience, is that since more Black women are coming in, we want them to be able to get that care that they need. And that's part of the reason why this was super important for us to do this work.
Jessica Fowler: Well, it sounds like it worked out too if you all were happen to just continue to be together.
Kimber Shelton, PhD: Yes, there was something that said we needed to do more.
Jessica Fowler: What would you say are one or two takeaways you would like your readers to walk away with?
Kimber Shelton, PhD: Oh, one takeaway is to have a fuller narrative of Black women's experiences that we can get pigeonholed and the traumas that Black women experience or the stereotypes of Black women, which absolutely is a part of Black women's story and our narratives. However, there's this other full narrative of joy, happiness, um, sisterhood, connection, community, success, thriving. So, for readers to have a fuller understanding of who Black women are and the liberation that comes from seeing us more fully and for us to be able to tell our own stories would be a takeaway. And the second takeaway is when you sit down with your Black woman client, you feel, um, greater strength and ability to give her that service or that care that she needs. So, then she is able to heal and thrive the way that she wants to.
Jessica Fowler: I love that. I think that that did definitely come across in the book. Well, thank you so much for coming on today. I appreciate it. Where can our listeners connect with you?
Kimber Shelton, PhD: Yes, please feel free to connect with me on Facebook and Instagram @Doc.Kimber and you can learn more things specifically about the book at on Facebook and Instagram @counselingblackwomen where we have resources for black women. We also highlight and promote black women therapists. So that's another great way to learn more about this book and our projects and see all the wonderful things in the community that's been built out from this book.
Jessica Fowler: Well, thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you for listening to this week's episode of What Your Therapist Is Reading.
Make sure you head on over to the website or social media to find out about the latest giveaway. The information provided in this program is for educational and informational purposes only. And although I'm a social worker licensed in the state of New York, this program is not intended to provide mental health treatment and does not constitute a patient therapist relationship.
About the author:
Dr. Kimber Shelton is a licensed psychologist, author, and speaker. She is the owner of KLS Counseling & Consulting Services in Texas; where she specializes in cultural diversity, LGBTQ issues, trauma, and relationship concerns. The 2023 Black Mental Health Symposium Distinguished Practitioner of the Year, Dr. Shelton is an award-winning psychologist committed to creating transformative healing spaces to empower minoritized groups. She has over 20 publications including the Amazon Best Seller, A Handbook on Counseling African American Women.