January 18, 2025 • 16 mins
It can be easier to take the first steps into therapy if you're doing it in a space where you feel comfortable, safe, and part of a community. For centuries, Black and Latino men have used barbershops as places to connect with their neighbors and friends. Black Brown Boston is taking that community tradition and channeling it into "The Barbershop Clinic", hoping to provide a space for Black and Latino men to open up and do some healing. Vania Arroyo, Founder and CEO of Black Brown Boston, and marriage and family therapist Rob Badgett join Nichole this week to talk about the program and their mission.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England Weekend.
Each and every week right here, we come together, we
talk about all the topics important to you and the
place where you live. It is so good to be
back with you again this week. I'm Nicole Davis. Reaching
out to get assistance with your mental health can take
a lot of courage. Even though there are more options
these days to talk with somebody or connect with a therapist,
(00:29):
there's still a lot of stigma in many spaces surrounding
just that people cast you as sick or lazier, weak,
or even worse. It does make it a bit easier
to take those first steps if you're doing it in
a safe and comfortable space. That's part of community. Over
at Black Brown Boston, they're taking that idea and transforming
it into the barbershop clinic. They hope to help black
and Latino men open up do some healing in a
(00:52):
place they love to connect. Vanya Arroyo is the CEO
and founder of Black Brown Boston, and Rob Badget is here.
He is a marriage and family therapist based in Massachusetts,
and it's great to have you both on the program. Vanya,
appreciate your time. We'll start with you. Tell us a
bit about Black Brown Boston and your mission here.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
So Black Bron Boston is a social impact organization that
was founded in twenty twenty two, and it came about
because I'm a professional photographer who travels the country a lot,
and so a lot of people were always shocked to
find out that I was from Boston. There's this belief nationwide,
in my opinion, that there are no like black and
brown people here, and so I started Black Bron Boston
(01:33):
as a way to amplify the culture that we do
have here through curated events and programs. And so the
Bibershop Clinic is actually our first program that we're getting
ready to launch next month.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
So where did the idea for the barbershop Clinic come from?
Tell us a little bit for people who might not
know about why barbershops mean so much to black and
around communities.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Yeah, So the biber Shop Clinic came about because I
started a women's mental health program and I noticed that
something that was missing with a lot of like the
mental health spaces, like self help spaces, was were therapists.
There were no like therapists involved, and so I just
wanted to kind of switch it up a little bit
(02:15):
and involve a therapist in these spaces. But when we
had our when we launched our women's program, well when
we were trying to launch our women's program, I had
a lot of men reaching out to black brown Boston like,
well what about us? And so that I ended up
connecting with Rob. Rob and I met through Facebook. That's
how I started connecting with Rob about like ways that
(02:36):
we can possibly help the men of the community, because
I didn't really feel like that was my space. And
in interviewing like a lot of different men and finding
out what their mental health needs were, most men, I
would say like a good ninety percent of the men
that we surveyed said that they felt like the safest
or that they received some form of.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Therapy in barbershops.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Rob can speak to that because I've never actually been
in a barbershop before.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Okay, that's we're kind of sitting there and talking.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
But so that's what the men said, and so that's
where we came up with the concept for the Barbershop
Clinic of bringing therapists into barbershops to have these conversations
with men.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Yeah, Roll, could you expand on why that matters so much. Yeah,
go for it.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
Absolutely. Absolutely. Historically, for black and brown men within our community,
the barbershop has represented the safe space. It represents the
place where you're going to get an update on all
your current events politically, socially, entertainment. It was the one
place and still is by and large that guys will
(03:38):
go as a form of release. Where they're there, they
have an opportunity to share what thoughts are on their minds,
but you also have an opportunity to get groomed, so
you know, you come out of that space feeling a
little lighter than when you went into that space. So historically,
as I said, within our communities was the place. It
(04:01):
wasn't you know, the churches or community centers, because a
lot of a lot of different places you just kind
of filter your conversations and you know you're going there
for different types of things. But to go into a
space and feel good about yourself coming out on the
other side has always been the place where a lot
(04:23):
of men have felt, you know, that space for them. Historically,
I would go to the barber shop and you're you're
You're not just waiting for your cut, You're part of
the experience. While you're there, so you could be there
similar to women, you know, the beauty salon, you can
be there for a couple of hours. Yep, because you've
(04:43):
got a really good shop and everybody knows within the
culture you don't cheat on your barber. Once you find
a good barber, you stick with them, You wait in line.
And it's very similar to therapy. When you find a
good therapist, it's like, now, this is my person and
a three months to find them and we have a relationship.
(05:03):
So some of the similarities that definitely did now. Obviously
on the other end, you can get some of any
kind of information. Not all advice that you're going to
get at the barbershop is get advice fair. You know,
you might run into someone and say, hey, you know
what your wife did that leibam right.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
I mean that's cool, but no, right, it is.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
Some of everything. You just got to filter through it.
But the greatest thing that you will get is a
sense of community belonging and I feel good about yourself
coming out.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
And when it comes to mental health and black men,
I have done a couple segments on the show before
about how historically black men have not had access to
mental health resources and the way that many of us have.
Could you kind of expand on that a little bit,
and what sort of efforts are being done besides the
barbershop clinic to sort of bridge that gap in a way?
Speaker 4 (05:52):
Yeah, and I'll try not to go super far with it,
but the origin of just mental health within our country,
it was not made and modeled for people of color,
like that was not the target audience that they said, Hey,
you know, we're going to reach out to these communities
and help these individuals that just we weren't on the list.
(06:13):
And so from that, obviously not having access was one thing,
but then the other part was there was a stigma
that went along with it. And you know, when you
heard about a social worker coming into your neighborhood to
check into your house clinically, that meant something bad was
going to happen. And so we adopted the moniker what
(06:35):
happens in this house stays in this house, because if
it doesn't, they're going to take your children away, or
they're going to report some information that you don't want
to be reported. So when it comes to all the
kinds of issues that might be happening in the house,
I'm definitely not going to talk to a therapist or
social worker about those issues. So that obviously created such
(06:58):
a wide gap in terms of people feeling like I
can go talk to someone about depression, anxiety, you know,
all sorts of traumatic experiences that have happened. And so
it has been a tremendous work trying to close that gap.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
You know.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Obviously, I'm a man of color, a clinician, and I
got into the space largely because of that, where I'm like, Okay,
we could talk about, you know, all the things that
we don't have, or we can enlist and become a
face in the space and serve and support people. And
even me being in the space, it's still very challenging
to you know, build a roster of individuals who look
(07:42):
like me to get those type of services and supports right.
They're not just like, oh, we're just gonna let all
of our guards down because you're one of us. Now.
It doesn't work like that, So still trying to close
that gap. I think the clinic, the branding, the pitching
of it, the familiarity of it, that is definitely why
(08:04):
I joined this movement, you know, this organization, because I'm like, oh,
this is a great strategy. You take something that they
know within the culture, and then you bring something that
they might be afraid to connect with. So you create
this opportunity where I might be a little nervous about it,
but here's what I do know, right, and you combine
(08:25):
those two and then hopefully you know a success and
people feel like, all right, I got it, I want
to take another step forward.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Yeah, and Vauna putting all this together, what has the
process been like? Have you found any roadblocks so far?
Or have you found that people generally are willing to
help you make this happen.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
So it's been kind of a little bit of both.
There have been a couple of roadblocks just due to
me being a woman and you know, some men feeling
like this is not the space for me to be in.
But then I also have people like Rob and a
whole board of other men who have come together to
(09:05):
help build out this program. So Rob is he's created
the curriculum for the program that all of the therapists
will follow for the sessions that he's not able to.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Attend. And so it's been a little bit of both.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
But overall it's been a really positive experience and we've
been getting a lot of great feedback from the community.
We're already getting a lot of messages from a lot
of men, wives, sisters who want to sign up their brothers.
We've gotten a couple of DCF workers who have reached
out saying that it might be a good program for
some of their older teens or young adults that they
(09:42):
have in their group homes. So there's a lot of
excitement around being able to offer this type of mental
health resource two men of color, and the program is free,
so I think that also makes it easier that they
don't have to come out of pocket, and they'll be
able to to be in community with other men.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Who are seeking the same type of services.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Yeah, and you brought up a really good point, getting
to children while they're younger, teaching them these coping mechanisms,
teaching them that it's okay to talk about their feelings.
These young men, so it's almost kind of like breaking
the generational cycle in a way. It seems to me,
absolutely absolutely, these men clearly want to open up and
they want to share. And I am just loving the setting.
I'm loving the premise of all of this. And so
(10:27):
you said, Vanya, you are rolling out next month, give
us some information if you could, about where the clinic's
going to be, how people can get involved, so on
and so forth.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
Yes, so the clinic will be our first clinic. The
first barbershop that we're partnering with is in the cup
Biber Shop in Nubie and Square. They are an amazing barbershop.
They really community orientated, community focused, and so we're excited
to be partnering with them. It'll be on February eighth
from six pm to nine pm. So all of our
(10:59):
clinics are just want to let people know that they
happen when the barbershop is closed. And so we were
working our clinics are going to be a cohort of
ten men. So we're capping the cohort at ten to
keep it intimate for the men so that they're comfortable
with opening up and just you know, being able to
have this experience without feeling judged or overwhelmed. And the
(11:24):
way that it's gonna work is we're gonna we're gonna
send out a form.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
I think we're gonna open it up on this Friday.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Okay, We're gonna just put out a form and we're
gonna have the men apply and then from there we'll
have we'll choose whoever the ten are going to be
that are going to be a part of this first cohort. Okay,
so the first session will be in person at the
clinic for three hours, and then they meet every week
for the next four weeks for a total of five
(11:51):
sessions for the cohort.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
Okay, cohort you meet on the zoom, right, So we're
trying to give them a full therapeutic experience where the
initial clinic in person is kind of like the catalysts,
and then from there we do the follow up work
and kind of unpack things a little bit more, maybe
for about an hour session on a weekly basis.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Okay, all right, So the clinic itself, the in person
clinic is a one time thing and then you continue
the work online for a total of five weeks.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
Absolutely, Okay, Yeah, that.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Makes it pretty accessible, though, I'd say.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
For sure, for sure. Yeah, and it's definitely cutting edge
because as she said, they're getting this for a free
right and.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
Therapy is not cheap. Trust me, I know it is
not cheap. But let me also say that clinicians and
therapists deserve to be paid, you know, appropriately for your work.
Speaker 4 (12:41):
We talk about it.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
So look, yeah, we need more mental health assistance. We
need you know, properly paid clinicians. And thank you for
donating your time to help your community like that, both
of you. I mean, this is really, like Rob just said,
cutting edge stuff and I'm really excited to see it
show up in our community for sure.
Speaker 4 (13:00):
And I think you know, she can speak to this more, hope.
The vision is definitely to take this nationally, where we
start in Boston, but we don't end here and just travel,
you know, as much as we can make this available,
you know, bringing in other clinicians and practitioners who will
(13:21):
be able to tag team and lead the sessions. And
so it's definitely this is this is definitely the infancy stage,
but the vision is to do this as many places
as possible, Northeast, southeast, West, across the globe.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
For sure, Vanya. If people want to connect with you
in the clinic, how can they do that?
Speaker 2 (13:41):
They can find us right now for social media.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
We have Instagram, so we have We're at Black Brown
Boston on Instagram. Also at the Barbershop clinic on Instagram, okay,
or they can find us at our website blackbron Boston
dot com CE Oh.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
All right cool, and that's where they can you know,
the form will be released there. They can sign up there,
they can get involved that.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Way, right, Yep.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
They can find it on our site and they can
also find it on our on both of our Instagram pages.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
All right, cool? And Rob, how can people get a
hold of you if they want to find out about
your services, what you offer, so on and so forth.
Speaker 4 (14:16):
Yes, it's Rob Badget B A, d G, E T
T all social media platforms and the website Robbadget dot
com as well B A, d G E TG.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
So vognya. Before we wrap it up, what else is
happening at Black Brown Boston you might want to talk about.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Yeah, So we are in the process of planning our
We have a signature event called the Freedom Cookout.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
It happens on Juneteenth.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
So we're in the process of planning our third year
and we partner with the Shirley USTA's House in Roxbury.
I don't know if you're familiar with the organization, Yeah,
but they're an incredible organization.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
They're doing incredible work preserving the history of.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
Some of the people who were enslaved on that property
and so we do as a lot of people don't
even know that that what the Shirleyas's House is. They
don't know why it's there, they don't know the history
behind it. So we partner with them. We offer free
tours to the community. We have about four hundred community
community members that come out a year and it's free
(15:15):
and it happens on June nineteenth. This year is going
to be I think on a Thursday, so there's no
school or work for most people, which is where we
just keep it on Juneteenth, and it's a really fun event.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
We have a lot of things that happening.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
We're doing free caricatures, we have free food, we have
what we call Riley's Playground, which is an area just
for kids.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
We have live music, we have a DJ, and we.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
Also have the free tours of the Shirley Usless House.
So there's like that you know, hit the history piece
to it, so that so that's really exciting. And then
we're getting ready to launch the Barbershop Clinic, and right
now we're just focused on men's mental health because I
feel like there's so much available for women right now.
(16:00):
There's so many resources available for us and so that's
why it's important for us to put most of our
focus on the men of our community because they.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Deserve to have more options.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
So yeah, we're really focused on just rolling out this
program and our signature event that will be happening June
nineteenth at thirty three Shirley Street in Roxbury.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
It's open to the community from eleven am to six pm.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Vanya and Rob, thank you so much for the work
you're doing to uplift our men in our communities and
just to have the best of luck with this first
official clinic. I guess you could say if yours and
all the best as you move forward with it.
Speaker 4 (16:36):
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
I appreciate it so much.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
All right, have a safe and healthy weekend, Please stay
warm and join us again next week for another edition
of the show. I'm Nicole Davis from WBZ News Radio
on iHeartRadio.
From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England Weekend.
Each and every week right here, we come together, we
talk about all the topics important to you and the
place where you live. It is so good to be
back with you again this week. I'm Nicole Davis. Reaching
out to get assistance with your mental health can take
a lot of courage. Even though there are more options
these days to talk with somebody or connect with a therapist,
(00:29):
there's still a lot of stigma in many spaces surrounding
just that people cast you as sick or lazier, weak,
or even worse. It does make it a bit easier
to take those first steps if you're doing it in
a safe and comfortable space. That's part of community. Over
at Black Brown Boston, they're taking that idea and transforming
it into the barbershop clinic. They hope to help black
and Latino men open up do some healing in a
(00:52):
place they love to connect. Vanya Arroyo is the CEO
and founder of Black Brown Boston, and Rob Badget is here.
He is a marriage and family therapist based in Massachusetts,
and it's great to have you both on the program. Vanya,
appreciate your time. We'll start with you. Tell us a
bit about Black Brown Boston and your mission here.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
So Black Bron Boston is a social impact organization that
was founded in twenty twenty two, and it came about
because I'm a professional photographer who travels the country a lot,
and so a lot of people were always shocked to
find out that I was from Boston. There's this belief nationwide,
in my opinion, that there are no like black and
brown people here, and so I started Black Bron Boston
(01:33):
as a way to amplify the culture that we do
have here through curated events and programs. And so the
Bibershop Clinic is actually our first program that we're getting
ready to launch next month.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
So where did the idea for the barbershop Clinic come from?
Tell us a little bit for people who might not
know about why barbershops mean so much to black and
around communities.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Yeah, So the biber Shop Clinic came about because I
started a women's mental health program and I noticed that
something that was missing with a lot of like the
mental health spaces, like self help spaces, was were therapists.
There were no like therapists involved, and so I just
wanted to kind of switch it up a little bit
(02:15):
and involve a therapist in these spaces. But when we
had our when we launched our women's program, well when
we were trying to launch our women's program, I had
a lot of men reaching out to black brown Boston like,
well what about us? And so that I ended up
connecting with Rob. Rob and I met through Facebook. That's
how I started connecting with Rob about like ways that
(02:36):
we can possibly help the men of the community, because
I didn't really feel like that was my space. And
in interviewing like a lot of different men and finding
out what their mental health needs were, most men, I
would say like a good ninety percent of the men
that we surveyed said that they felt like the safest
or that they received some form of.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Therapy in barbershops.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Rob can speak to that because I've never actually been
in a barbershop before.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Okay, that's we're kind of sitting there and talking.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
But so that's what the men said, and so that's
where we came up with the concept for the Barbershop
Clinic of bringing therapists into barbershops to have these conversations
with men.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Yeah, Roll, could you expand on why that matters so much. Yeah,
go for it.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
Absolutely. Absolutely. Historically, for black and brown men within our community,
the barbershop has represented the safe space. It represents the
place where you're going to get an update on all
your current events politically, socially, entertainment. It was the one
place and still is by and large that guys will
(03:38):
go as a form of release. Where they're there, they
have an opportunity to share what thoughts are on their minds,
but you also have an opportunity to get groomed, so
you know, you come out of that space feeling a
little lighter than when you went into that space. So historically,
as I said, within our communities was the place. It
(04:01):
wasn't you know, the churches or community centers, because a
lot of a lot of different places you just kind
of filter your conversations and you know you're going there
for different types of things. But to go into a
space and feel good about yourself coming out on the
other side has always been the place where a lot
(04:23):
of men have felt, you know, that space for them. Historically,
I would go to the barber shop and you're you're
You're not just waiting for your cut, You're part of
the experience. While you're there, so you could be there
similar to women, you know, the beauty salon, you can
be there for a couple of hours. Yep, because you've
(04:43):
got a really good shop and everybody knows within the
culture you don't cheat on your barber. Once you find
a good barber, you stick with them, You wait in line.
And it's very similar to therapy. When you find a
good therapist, it's like, now, this is my person and
a three months to find them and we have a relationship.
(05:03):
So some of the similarities that definitely did now. Obviously
on the other end, you can get some of any
kind of information. Not all advice that you're going to
get at the barbershop is get advice fair. You know,
you might run into someone and say, hey, you know
what your wife did that leibam right.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
I mean that's cool, but no, right, it is.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
Some of everything. You just got to filter through it.
But the greatest thing that you will get is a
sense of community belonging and I feel good about yourself
coming out.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
And when it comes to mental health and black men,
I have done a couple segments on the show before
about how historically black men have not had access to
mental health resources and the way that many of us have.
Could you kind of expand on that a little bit,
and what sort of efforts are being done besides the
barbershop clinic to sort of bridge that gap in a way?
Speaker 4 (05:52):
Yeah, and I'll try not to go super far with it,
but the origin of just mental health within our country,
it was not made and modeled for people of color,
like that was not the target audience that they said, Hey,
you know, we're going to reach out to these communities
and help these individuals that just we weren't on the list.
(06:13):
And so from that, obviously not having access was one thing,
but then the other part was there was a stigma
that went along with it. And you know, when you
heard about a social worker coming into your neighborhood to
check into your house clinically, that meant something bad was
going to happen. And so we adopted the moniker what
(06:35):
happens in this house stays in this house, because if
it doesn't, they're going to take your children away, or
they're going to report some information that you don't want
to be reported. So when it comes to all the
kinds of issues that might be happening in the house,
I'm definitely not going to talk to a therapist or
social worker about those issues. So that obviously created such
(06:58):
a wide gap in terms of people feeling like I
can go talk to someone about depression, anxiety, you know,
all sorts of traumatic experiences that have happened. And so
it has been a tremendous work trying to close that gap.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
You know.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Obviously, I'm a man of color, a clinician, and I
got into the space largely because of that, where I'm like, Okay,
we could talk about, you know, all the things that
we don't have, or we can enlist and become a
face in the space and serve and support people. And
even me being in the space, it's still very challenging
to you know, build a roster of individuals who look
(07:42):
like me to get those type of services and supports right.
They're not just like, oh, we're just gonna let all
of our guards down because you're one of us. Now.
It doesn't work like that, So still trying to close
that gap. I think the clinic, the branding, the pitching
of it, the familiarity of it, that is definitely why
(08:04):
I joined this movement, you know, this organization, because I'm like, oh,
this is a great strategy. You take something that they
know within the culture, and then you bring something that
they might be afraid to connect with. So you create
this opportunity where I might be a little nervous about it,
but here's what I do know, right, and you combine
(08:25):
those two and then hopefully you know a success and
people feel like, all right, I got it, I want
to take another step forward.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Yeah, and Vauna putting all this together, what has the
process been like? Have you found any roadblocks so far?
Or have you found that people generally are willing to
help you make this happen.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
So it's been kind of a little bit of both.
There have been a couple of roadblocks just due to
me being a woman and you know, some men feeling
like this is not the space for me to be in.
But then I also have people like Rob and a
whole board of other men who have come together to
(09:05):
help build out this program. So Rob is he's created
the curriculum for the program that all of the therapists
will follow for the sessions that he's not able to.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Attend. And so it's been a little bit of both.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
But overall it's been a really positive experience and we've
been getting a lot of great feedback from the community.
We're already getting a lot of messages from a lot
of men, wives, sisters who want to sign up their brothers.
We've gotten a couple of DCF workers who have reached
out saying that it might be a good program for
some of their older teens or young adults that they
(09:42):
have in their group homes. So there's a lot of
excitement around being able to offer this type of mental
health resource two men of color, and the program is free,
so I think that also makes it easier that they
don't have to come out of pocket, and they'll be
able to to be in community with other men.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Who are seeking the same type of services.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Yeah, and you brought up a really good point, getting
to children while they're younger, teaching them these coping mechanisms,
teaching them that it's okay to talk about their feelings.
These young men, so it's almost kind of like breaking
the generational cycle in a way. It seems to me,
absolutely absolutely, these men clearly want to open up and
they want to share. And I am just loving the setting.
I'm loving the premise of all of this. And so
(10:27):
you said, Vanya, you are rolling out next month, give
us some information if you could, about where the clinic's
going to be, how people can get involved, so on
and so forth.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
Yes, so the clinic will be our first clinic. The
first barbershop that we're partnering with is in the cup
Biber Shop in Nubie and Square. They are an amazing barbershop.
They really community orientated, community focused, and so we're excited
to be partnering with them. It'll be on February eighth
from six pm to nine pm. So all of our
(10:59):
clinics are just want to let people know that they
happen when the barbershop is closed. And so we were
working our clinics are going to be a cohort of
ten men. So we're capping the cohort at ten to
keep it intimate for the men so that they're comfortable
with opening up and just you know, being able to
have this experience without feeling judged or overwhelmed. And the
(11:24):
way that it's gonna work is we're gonna we're gonna
send out a form.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
I think we're gonna open it up on this Friday.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Okay, We're gonna just put out a form and we're
gonna have the men apply and then from there we'll
have we'll choose whoever the ten are going to be
that are going to be a part of this first cohort. Okay,
so the first session will be in person at the
clinic for three hours, and then they meet every week
for the next four weeks for a total of five
(11:51):
sessions for the cohort.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
Okay, cohort you meet on the zoom, right, So we're
trying to give them a full therapeutic experience where the
initial clinic in person is kind of like the catalysts,
and then from there we do the follow up work
and kind of unpack things a little bit more, maybe
for about an hour session on a weekly basis.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Okay, all right, So the clinic itself, the in person
clinic is a one time thing and then you continue
the work online for a total of five weeks.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
Absolutely, Okay, Yeah, that.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Makes it pretty accessible, though, I'd say.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
For sure, for sure. Yeah, and it's definitely cutting edge
because as she said, they're getting this for a free
right and.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
Therapy is not cheap. Trust me, I know it is
not cheap. But let me also say that clinicians and
therapists deserve to be paid, you know, appropriately for your work.
Speaker 4 (12:41):
We talk about it.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
So look, yeah, we need more mental health assistance. We
need you know, properly paid clinicians. And thank you for
donating your time to help your community like that, both
of you. I mean, this is really, like Rob just said,
cutting edge stuff and I'm really excited to see it
show up in our community for sure.
Speaker 4 (13:00):
And I think you know, she can speak to this more, hope.
The vision is definitely to take this nationally, where we
start in Boston, but we don't end here and just travel,
you know, as much as we can make this available,
you know, bringing in other clinicians and practitioners who will
(13:21):
be able to tag team and lead the sessions. And
so it's definitely this is this is definitely the infancy stage,
but the vision is to do this as many places
as possible, Northeast, southeast, West, across the globe.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
For sure, Vanya. If people want to connect with you
in the clinic, how can they do that?
Speaker 2 (13:41):
They can find us right now for social media.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
We have Instagram, so we have We're at Black Brown
Boston on Instagram. Also at the Barbershop clinic on Instagram, okay,
or they can find us at our website blackbron Boston
dot com CE Oh.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
All right cool, and that's where they can you know,
the form will be released there. They can sign up there,
they can get involved that.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Way, right, Yep.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
They can find it on our site and they can
also find it on our on both of our Instagram pages.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
All right, cool? And Rob, how can people get a
hold of you if they want to find out about
your services, what you offer, so on and so forth.
Speaker 4 (14:16):
Yes, it's Rob Badget B A, d G, E T
T all social media platforms and the website Robbadget dot
com as well B A, d G E TG.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
So vognya. Before we wrap it up, what else is
happening at Black Brown Boston you might want to talk about.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Yeah, So we are in the process of planning our
We have a signature event called the Freedom Cookout.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
It happens on Juneteenth.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
So we're in the process of planning our third year
and we partner with the Shirley USTA's House in Roxbury.
I don't know if you're familiar with the organization, Yeah,
but they're an incredible organization.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
They're doing incredible work preserving the history of.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
Some of the people who were enslaved on that property
and so we do as a lot of people don't
even know that that what the Shirleyas's House is. They
don't know why it's there, they don't know the history
behind it. So we partner with them. We offer free
tours to the community. We have about four hundred community
community members that come out a year and it's free
(15:15):
and it happens on June nineteenth. This year is going
to be I think on a Thursday, so there's no
school or work for most people, which is where we
just keep it on Juneteenth, and it's a really fun event.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
We have a lot of things that happening.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
We're doing free caricatures, we have free food, we have
what we call Riley's Playground, which is an area just
for kids.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
We have live music, we have a DJ, and we.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
Also have the free tours of the Shirley Usless House.
So there's like that you know, hit the history piece
to it, so that so that's really exciting. And then
we're getting ready to launch the Barbershop Clinic, and right
now we're just focused on men's mental health because I
feel like there's so much available for women right now.
(16:00):
There's so many resources available for us and so that's
why it's important for us to put most of our
focus on the men of our community because they.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Deserve to have more options.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
So yeah, we're really focused on just rolling out this
program and our signature event that will be happening June
nineteenth at thirty three Shirley Street in Roxbury.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
It's open to the community from eleven am to six pm.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Vanya and Rob, thank you so much for the work
you're doing to uplift our men in our communities and
just to have the best of luck with this first
official clinic. I guess you could say if yours and
all the best as you move forward with it.
Speaker 4 (16:36):
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
I appreciate it so much.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
All right, have a safe and healthy weekend, Please stay
warm and join us again next week for another edition
of the show. I'm Nicole Davis from WBZ News Radio
on iHeartRadio.
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