Meet Jerisha LaCrae | Founder | Therapy for Black Women

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jerisha LaCrae and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jerisha, let’s talk legacy – what do you want yours to be?

When I think of legacy, I’m reminded of Oprah Winfrey’s commencement address at Agnes Scott College. Oprah recited the advice given her by the late, great, Dr. Maya Angelou. “Your legacy is what you do every day. Your legacy is every life you’ve touched, every person whose life was either moved or not. It’s every person you’ve harmed or helped. That’s your legacy!”

With that in mind, I simply can’t speak to legacy without making mention of Black women;  as I know what maltreatment against Black women feels like and the way it permeates every facet of life.  As a result, I have a unique commitment to service as it relates to fostering well-being amongst Black women.

With that said, my legacy has to do with cultivating corrective emotional experiences appertaining to the therapeutic process for and by Black women. In essence, therapy for us, by us!

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Absolutely!

Therapy for Black Women came to be as a result of my working with a world renowned psychologist who was not a woman of color. After a while, I found that the psychologist was more concerned with my ability to provide a window into the Black experience, than she was with my growth. She exploited the relationship for her purposes. That experience coupled with countless accounts of maltreatment, misdiagnosis and the general disinterest that Black women encounter in therapeutic relationships, led me to open a practice exclusively for Black women.

What sets me apart however, is my undying commitment to humanize Black women. To refute the tropes that are associated with our mere being such as the Angry Black and/or The Strong Black Woman tropes. These ideologies paint us as one dimensional, thereby robbing us of the ability to be seen as fully realized women. We too have the need for safety and yes, we even need to be rescued from time to time. It is my mission to assist Black women in not only accepting but embracing their vulnerabilities, which will inevitably dispel the myth(s) that paints us as impenetrable caricatures.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
One of my favorite places to eat is Fixins Soul Kitchen. I actually love that entire area of downtown LA, including the Staples Center, Microsoft Theatre, and the Grammy Museum. 

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
When it comes to shoutouts, I must mention 1980Companies, owned and operated by Emanuel C. Harris, Sr.  Emanual provided the encouragement needed to start my practice, and also served as my business coach. He taught me how to obtain a fictitious name, a Dun & Bradstreet number and provided direction on a plethora of issues. He has championed me all the way, and I simply would not be where I am today were it not for him. I’d also like to give honorable mentions to those who have believed in, and supported me along this journey: Mr. Jeffrey Donell Hill, Jr., Mr. Courtney R. Boddie, and finally Mrs. Denise Thurmond.

Denise modeled what it is to be a Black therapist who is vested in the growth and healing of Black women, and I would neither be the woman nor the therapist that I am today had it not been for her!

Website: www.therapyforblackwomen.org

Instagram: @therapy_forblackwomen

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerisha-lacrae-m-ed-lpc-lpcc-ncc-134b421b8/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/therapyforblackwomen