The history of mental illness for black people in America stretches all the way back 400 years, 15 million people, and an ocean that holds the stories - Nissen In recent studies, Black/African American women and men were not seeking therapy or mental health services due to under representation of licensed Black/African American therapists, social workers, or mental health professionals (Taylor & Kuo, 2018). In 2013, Dr. Jeff R. Gardere, an African American psychologist, reported that Black/African Americans would seek mental health services if there were more racial- ethnic clinicians (Smith, 2015). He expressed that it could help eliminate the mistrust that Black/African Americans may feel when seeking therapy services from those not of their race.