By MICHELLE MUELLER
Contributing Writer
©The Recorder October 31, 2019
Valarie Cunningham, MSW, LMSW, raised in Albion by her parents Larry and Bettie Edmonds, recently traveled here from Kalamazoo where she now resides to give a bit back to her hometown.
Cunningham is the CEO of GFM The Synergy Center, which offers help to African-American clients with mental health and substance abuse issues and works tirelessly to break the stigma on people of color seeking help to address them. Her Oct. 17 lecture in Norris Hall on the Albion College campus addressed that double standard.

Learn more about Valerie Cunningham, who is originally from Albion, on this link:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/valarie-cunninghamthe-synergy-health-center-kalamazoo-mi/458731
That higher incidence, Cunningham explained, was due to post-traumatic stress on our African-American population caused by such things as slavery, Reconstruction, Black Codes, Jim Crow Laws and segregation.
The United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health reports that African-American adults are 20% more likely to report serious psychological distress than adult whites, and that percentage increases with African Americans living in poverty.
That higher incidence, Cunningham explained, was due to post-traumatic stress on our African-American population caused by such things as slavery, Reconstruction, Black Codes, Jim Crow Laws and segregation.
Cunningham addressed the fact that mental health misconceptions and stereotypes abound as a result of America’s black history, ranging from “Why are you depressed? If our people can make it through slavery, we can make it through everything,” and “Seeking professional help shows a lack of faith in God,” to “Mental illness doesn’t affect black folks,” and gender generalizations like “Black men must be strong,” and “Black women are angry.”
The resulting stigma, explained Cunningham, works to prevent African-Americans from seeking mental health services
The resulting stigma, explained Cunningham, works to prevent African-Americans from seeking mental health services because that may be perceived as inappropriate conversation amongst their family and friends, and might make them “seem crazy.”
It is also difficult for members of the African-American community to agree to be medicated – even when that medication could be a crucial piece of their treatment.
“African Americans need to seek help regardless of whether or not a counselor looks like them, because, cultural competency is not based on race and can be learned through good training”
In her personal life, Cunningham is also co-pastor with her husband, Daniel Cunningham, at The Empowerment Center in Kalamazoo, and is sensitive to the fact that for many people of color, their own pastor is often the first person they wish to confide in, their “gatekeeper on mental health.”
However, she pointed out that most clergy have no training in dealing with mental health issues, and that culturally competent professional mental health services providers should be sought out.
And although it is difficult to find counselors who are people of color, she concedes, “African Americans need to seek help regardless of whether or not a counselor looks like them, because, cultural competency is not based on race and can be learned through good training.”

“It can be easy to be blind to the symptoms of mental disorders.”
Finally, Cunningham challenged the college students and other audience members to not dismiss their feelings, but rather find a safe place to express themselves. “It can be easy to be blind to the symptoms of mental disorders.”
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