Mental health and therapy experiences vary significantly across ethnic backgrounds nationwide.
Within the Black community, therapy can carry an unfortunate stigma. Some may view therapy as only meant for white individuals, while others may view therapy as associated with being “crazy,” or “mentally ill.”
In Sacramento, Deeper Cuts Therapy is actively challenging these stigmas in the Black community. The organization provides mental health services in community-centered locations such as barbershops and salons, and at 5K-10K runs, ensuring therapists are present.
Deeper Cuts Therapy was based and created by its chief operating officer, Dr. Troy Williams’ doctoral research on the opioid crisis in Madison, Wisconsin. The research revealed Black people overdosed at twice the rate of white people due to loneliness.
Williams’ research told him that addiction thrives in isolation and the answer to that is connection. He later moved to Sacramento and tested the idea in an initiative called “Cut to the Chase,” where he partnered with Aron King, and brought nurses and mental health providers to “third spaces,” where people felt safe.
“Your first space is your home, your second space is your job, and the third space is a place where you could just come and be, and for many Black communities, that is a barbershop and beauty salon,” Williams said. “Aron is my business partner and we work together with them to provide health information and mental health information.”
They’ve partnered with Tapers Barbershop & Salon in Oak Park, Five Starr Fades on Del Paso Blvd, and DreamGirls Hair Salon in Elk Grove.
Breaking the stigma of therapy
Travis Nelson is a licensed marriage and family therapist and founder of Real Talk Therapy and Consultation in Sacramento. He said his mission is to make mental health services more accessible in the Black community.
Nelson said he is one of the few Black therapists in California. According to the California Black Health Network, only 3.1% of therapists in California were Black in 2018.
“My goal is breaking the stigma about mental health and the need for mental health services in our community and our underserved population as well in Sacramento,” he said.
Nelson said he shares his efforts to normalize therapy through community events and social media. He said last year a 13-year-old told him that her mother said therapy is for white people.
“I told the young lady that I understood what mom may have meant. Because, I think maybe it was more about the resources, which is one of the barriers, I think, to accessing mental health needs for underserved populations,” he said. “So that really, that just lit a fire under my feet, to continue trying to work on breaking the stigma and making it more normalized, to understand that we have mental health needs as much as we have physical health.”
Nelson’s advice to Black individuals—especially men—is to realize that it’s ok to not be ok.
“We’re taught these different things in our society: just keep on going and don’t worry about it. Quit crying, pick yourself up,” he said. ”That’s a hard lesson that’s really hurting us from our journey to healing.”
Running as a form of therapy
Deeper Cuts Therapy has many initiatives, including retail therapy, which included a private shopping event for their clients at a Nike store. They also offer mental health journals and affirmation cards.
One of their most notable initiatives is the R&B running series they created last year, which combines 5K and 10K runs with access to mental health resources. Their first run drew over 500 participants and 48 people left with therapists, according to Williams.
The running series mixes community and music with movement, and the combination helps destigmatize therapy, making it feel like a broader wellness lifestyle rather than a last-resort service.
Running therapy can significantly improve anxiety and depressive symptoms after 16 weeks, according to a recent study from the National Library of Medicine.
Their next R&B run is scheduled for May 16 at North Natomas Regional Park at 8:30 a.m.
Another running group working to support mental health in the Black community is Black Girls Run It, a Sacramento run group created two years ago aimed at fostering mental, physical, and emotional well-being for Black women.
The club organizes social activities like paddle boarding, golfing, hiking, and conducts community service initiatives like clothing and canned food drives.
Members of Black Girls Run It during the 2025 Shamrock Run in Sacramento.Courtesy of Black Girls Run It
Founder Michaela Stewart said the club started as an idea to bring Black women together.
“I would say the sisterhood is really the core of the club,” Stewart said. “When I first started the organization, it was kind of like a reflection of my personal journey with mental health and wellness. I think there’s a stereotype that’s become reality for a lot of Black women, of having to do it all and be all to everyone else, except for themselves.”
Ashley Kelley, the social director, said the club is a safe space where Black women can come and not only seek sisterhood, but also mentorship.
“It’s also just a place where you can come and commune with like-minded individuals, which is sometimes like a lacking space in Sacramento for the Black demographic,” Kelley said. “So we really just wanted to help solve that problem.”
Deeper Cuts Therapy is launching a mental health impact award to recognize unsung heroes. The community is invited to nominate an individual, nonprofit, volunteer, or organization they think is doing well in helping mental health in the Black community. Nominations will be accepted until Monday, April 6.
“We’re not always acknowledged for the work that we’re doing in communities,” King said. “So it really is good for the community to really congratulate and give our flowers to others in the community that are doing the work.”
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