Dr. Edith Langford, PhD
Psychotherapist, Writer, Advocate
Edith Langford is a psychotherapist licensed in New York and Alabama. Her practice includes generalized mental health issues and addictive disorders. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Virginia in Research, Statistics, and Evaluation. Prior to her private practice, she developed an in-patient hospital detox unit to include at-risk Native Americans on the U.S.-Canadian border, and directed crime and drug prevention efforts for the U.S. Department of Justice.
As a writer, she has published essays on problem gambling amongst seniors for The Guardian and the links between alcohol and cancer and her personal family history for USA Today. As an advocate, she serves on the boards of the Brooklyn Art Incubator, Muslim Free Burial Association, and the Birthing Sanctuary Gainesville. She has volunteered as a crisis debriefing counsellor during Hurricanes Katrina and Michael. Through community organizations, she advocates for increased access to medical and mental health treatment.
Born in Chicago and raised in Cleveland and New York City, she currently lives with her husband in Brooklyn’s Clinton Hill and on the Gulf Coast of Alabama. A life-long fashion enthusiast, she knits and crochets in her spare time.
Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC, LMHC)
Writer, Ethnographic Researcher & Clinic
Addiction Specialist (CASAC-G, ADC)
Dr. Langford is available for media interviews and as a source for journalists working on stories about mental health, and related issues.
Can average Americans fix a deeply broken system?
Our systems of justice, education, politics, health care – including mental health, and many others are systematically killing Americans of color. These systems were simply not designed—and currently do not function—to support the existence of Black and Brown people as human beings.
More Americans are waking up to these facts and feel a compelling urge to relieve the pain brought on by their recent awareness of systemic mental health injustices.
Dr. Langford supports a common belief that we all need to grasp and understand mental health disparities in the health care system as one of the main issues that threatens the success of our efforts to define, identify and end systemic racism in America. The writer is determined to tell a clear, concise, true, and credible story. One that cites what, when, where, and how systemic bias has been sewn through the lives of many people of color. She wants to put an end to people saying, “Oh my God, I had no idea.”
Get info on the latest posts and news.
Understanding Mental Health Bias and the Impact on Our Physical Health
The days of using “holistic practices” and still separating mental health are in the past. We need to think of mental health as part of our overall health.
We are concerned about the constant use of federal funds to support this most notorious expression of segregation. Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and the most inhuman because it often results in physical death.
The issue of racism in health care is widely known in America. People of color experience significant health disparities in the United States. In fact, these health inequities have persisted for centuries, and they are only getting worse. This is due to the pervasive reach of systemic racism on Black communities and other communities of color. Healthcare organizations must act now to address these root causes and mitigate the negative impacts of racism in achieving mental health equity.
Here are a few resources that provide more detail about the crisis we face as a country.
Bias in Healthcare
Jelan Agnew, LCSW — Black Folk Mental Health: Generational Trauma, Traditions & Truth
Jelan Agnew, LCSW is a psychotherapist, professor, facilitator and public speaker, with 16 years in the mental health field. She is the founder of Nalej of Self, LLC, a private practice dedicated to addressing Black generational trauma, identifying cycles/patterns and creating new ways of being through healing Mind, Body, Spirit.
Dr. Curtis Jasper, PhD, MEd
Dr. Curtis Jasper talks about the current state of The Mental Health industry and how it does not address, support, or sustain the current state of Black Mental Health— specifically Black Males and the struggles and challenges of receiving effective, culturally specific, accessible mental services from qualified mental health practitioners. Dr. Jasper addresses how these deficiencies sustain the prolonged struggle faced by Black Men regarding their unique-lived experiences filled with grief, trauma, injustice and abuse.
Dr. Thema Bryant-Davis, PhD
Dr. Thema Bryant is currently a tenured professor of psychology in the Graduate School of Education and Psychology at Pepperdine University, where she directs the Culture and Trauma Research Laboratory. Dr. Bryant-Davis shares pearls of wisdom from her deep knowledge of science, faith, and art in this interview from Mt Sinai Health System in New York.
Contact Dr. Edie
Questions? Stories? I’d love to hear them. Some of your stories might even make it into the book.