July is BIPoC Mental Health Month! Originally named Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, this month highlights the unique struggles that Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPoC) have experienced, and continue to experience, regarding mental health access.
Eating Disorders and the BIPoC Community
Eating disorders within the BIPoC community present unique challenges and considerations. It is important to recognize that eating disorders can affect individuals from all racial and ethnic backgrounds, and the experiences of BIPoC individuals with eating disorders may differ from those of other groups due to various factors such as cultural norms, societal pressures, and systemic racism.
BIPoC individuals may face additional barriers when seeking help for eating disorders, including limited access to culturally competent and inclusive treatment options, lack of awareness and understanding within their communities, and the impact of racial stereotypes and body ideals. These factors can contribute to delayed diagnoses, reduced treatment-seeking behaviors, and increased stigmatization surrounding eating disorders in the BIPoC community.
Mental Health Resources
To support the mental health community, we have put together a working resource list for engaging BIPoC Mental Health Month. While this list is certainly not extensive, it seeks to provide a variety of starting points for embracing the month.
Loveland Foundation: The Loveland Foundation is committed to showing up for communities of color in unique and powerful ways, with a particular focus on Black women and girls.
Therapy For Black Girls: Therapy for Black Girls is an online space dedicated to encouraging the mental wellness of Black women and girls.
Brown Girl Therapy: The first and largest mental health and wellness organization for children of immigrants, and it aims to destigmatize mental health and promote bicultural identity exploration.
Mental Health America: To support BIPoC Mental Health Month, you can check out Mental Health America’s toolkit.
NAMI: To support BIPoC Mental Health Month, you can check out NAMI’s toolkit.
Specific Directories of Therapists
- Association of Black Psychologists: Founded in San Francisco in 1968 by a group of Black Psychologists from around the country. They united to actively address the serious problems facing Black Psychologists and the larger Black community.
- Latinx Therapy: Founded in 2018 with the mission to destigmatize mental health in the Latinx community.
- Melanin & Mental Health: Melanin & Mental Health connect individuals with culturally competent clinicians committed to serving the mental health needs of Black & Latinx/Hispanic communities.
- National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network: NQTTCN is a healing justice organization that works to transform mental health for queer and trans people of color.
- South Asian Mental Health Initiative and Network: SAMHIN, was formed in 2014 to address a broad range of mental health needs of the growing South Asian community in the United States.
- Asian Mental Health Collective: AMHC aspires to make mental health easily available, approachable, and accessible to Asian communities worldwide.
- Clinicians of Color: A directory that makes finding a therapist of color easier.
Books to Read
- Maybe I Don’t Belong Here: A Memoir of Race, Identity, Breakdown and Recovery by David Harewood
- My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem
- Crying in H Mart: A Memoir by Michelle Zauner
- Therapy Isn’t Just for White People by Kiara Imani
- But What Will People Say?: Navigating Mental Health, Identity, Love, and Family Between Cultures by Sahaj Kaurkohli
- Iveliz Explains It All by Andrea Beatriz Arango
- Eating Disorders Don’t Discriminate: Stories of Illness, Hope and Recovery from Diverse Voices by Dr. Nwuba, Chukwuemeka (Editor), Bailey Spinn (Editor), Janet Treasure (Foreword)
- Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia by Sabrina Strings, PhD
- Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti‑Fatness as Anti‑Blackness by Da’Shaun L. Harrison
- The Body Is Not An Apology: The Power of Radical Self‑Love by Sonya Renee Taylor
- Reclaiming the Black Body by Alishia Renee’ McCullough, MS, LMHC
- The Body Liberation Project: How Understanding Racism and Diet Culture Helps Cultivate Joy and Build Collective Freedom by Chrissy King
- Black Women with Eating Disorders: Clinical Treatment Considerations by Charlynn Small and Paula Edwards-Gayfield
- This book will be available on July 15th
Podcasts to Check Out
- Therapy for Black Girls Podcast
- Listen on Apple Podcasts
- So We’ve Been Told
- Listen on Apple Podcasts
- Between Sessions Podcast
- Listen on Apple Podcasts
- AFFIRM
- Listen on Apple Podcasts
- Stories of Stigma: South Asian Mental Health
- Listen on Apple Podcasts
- Latinx Therapy
- Listen on Apple Podcasts
Individual Podcast Episodes to Check Out
Guest: Sabrina Strings, PhD
Show: Food Psych
Episode: Diet Culture’s Racist Roots with Sabrina Strings
Guest: Virgie Tovar
Show: The Laverne Cox Show
Episode: Fatphobia and Diet Culture w/Virgie Tovar
Guest: Paula Edwards Gayfield, LCMHCS, LPC, CEDS-C, BC-TMH
Show: Therapy For Black Girls
Episode: Some Thoughts On Body Image
Guest: Dr. Judith Joseph, MD
Podcast: She’s So Lucky
Episode: Dr. Judith Joseph On Understanding High-Functioning Depression & How to Reclaim Your Joy
Specific Events
- BIPoC Eating Disorders Conference
- Fourth annual BIPoC Eating Disorders Conference from July 16 to July 19, 2025.
- More Information can be found on their website.
Renfrew Specific Events
Comfortably Uncomfortable: Continuing the Conversation
Date: Thursday, July 24, 2025, from 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm ET
Our discussions on diversity, equality and inclusion in the treatment of eating disorders, which have occurred as a part of the last few Renfrew Center Foundation Conferences, were so inspiring and motivating that we’ve made the decision to continue them throughout the year. As a result, we are inviting you to join us in our efforts to continue the conversation and examine together the aforementioned topics, as well as the racial disparity experienced by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) and others who have been marginalized and continue to experience racial disparity.
In this lively networking event, participants will discuss a variety of topics affecting BIPOC individuals, with the intention that providers of care will be able to move from cultural competency to cultural humility.
Virtual BIPOC Support Group for Eating Disorders
Date: Held weekly on Tuesdays at 6 p.m. ET
This weekly group addresses the emotional and physical impacts of the current cultural climate on recovery and is ideal for BIPoC individuals with disordered eating patterns, or those questioning if they have an eating disorder, who are looking for additional support. To learn more about this virtual support group, call 1-800-RENFREW.
Virtual Spanish-Speaking Support Group
Date: Held Bi-Weekly on Mondays at 3 p.m. ET
Those who are impacted by a loved one with an eating disorder—siblings, parents, spouses, friends, partners, significant others, or caretakers—often need additional support during the treatment process. This group is offered weekly to anyone viewed as a Support Person who speaks Spanish. To learn more about this virtual support group, call 1-800-RENFREW.
Have a resource to share with us? Contact [email protected] to let us know!
