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And the Emmy Goes to … My Therapist
Sep 24, 2020
When the television writer Cord Jefferson was awarded the Emmy Award for HBO’s “Watchmen ,” his speech included the usual thanks to fellow writers, the director, the actors and his parents. But in accepting his first Emmy , Mr. Jefferson may be most remembered for a thank you to someone who normally stays far behind the scenes in Hollywood — his therapist. “Thank you to my therapist, Ian,” Mr. Jefferson said, initially eliciting laughs from the group of “Watchmen” supporters in the room. “I am a different man than I was two years ago. I love you. You have changed my life in many ways. Therapy should be free in this country.’’ Mr. Jefferson’s nod to his therapist and the need for greater access to therapy generated widespread comments on social media and numerous media requests for interviews. Mr. Jefferson said he wasn’t expecting such a big reaction.
“I had jotted down some names of people that I felt gratitude for, and I was thinking, ‘You know, I feel gratitude for Ian and the work we’ve done together. I should say his name,’” Mr. Jefferson said in an interview, adding that he didn’t want to publicly share his therapist’s last name. “I did not expect it to be received the way it’s been received. People have really liked it and appreciated it.” Image Cord Jefferson Credit... Matt Sayles Mr. Jefferson said the comment about the need for free therapy was unplanned and “off the cuff,” but he believes greater access to therapy is needed, particularly in the Black community. “I think Black men are taught that stoicism is important and that in order to get along in America, it’s important to be stoic and keep a stiff upper lip and not know when things affect you and keep that bottled inside,” he said. “I think it has been important to me to abandon all those lessons and understand that stoicism isn’t a virtue, and that it’s OK to be in touch with your emotions and OK to think about these kinds of things. That it resonated with so many people I think speaks to the stigma people have about therapy and mental health care and admitting you are imperfect in those ways.” Among the many racial disparities in health care , research shows a wide gap between white and Black patients when it comes to mental health services. Although rates of mental illness in the Black community are similar to those of the general population, the percent of Black adults receiving mental health care in 2018 was 8.7 percent, which is less than half the rate of white adults, 18.6 percent of whom receive care, according to 2018 data reported by the Office of Minority Health in the Department of Health and Human Services. And while 15 percent of white adults received a prescription medication for mental health in 2018, only 6 percent of Black adults were prescribed medication. Only one in three Black people who need mental health care receives it, according to the American Psychiatric Association.
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