Queer Black Therapy Fund

Refuge Worldwide are happy to announce we are supporting the Queer Black Therapy Fund, donating a share of the revenue from our Patreon account between the dates of January 1st and June 30th 2021.

The Queer Black Therapy Fund is a Berlin-based initiative started by Kemoy Jemmott, a Psychodynamic Counsellor and Sex Educator. 

Kemoy, who is also the host of The Queer Black Therapy show on Refuge Worldwide, set up the the fund in order to pay for psychotherapy for 10 Black, Queer people who live in Germany for up to one year.

Why the Queer Black Therapy Fund?

Both Black people and Queer people have difficulties in accessing mental health services which are competent and understanding of how lived experience is impacted by identity, while the COVID pandemic has disproportionately impacted Black communities. 

A GoFundMe page set up by Kemoy on behalf of Gladt e.V., outlines the issues Black communities are facing, “The racial injustices happening in the US and around the globe has had a compounding impact on the mental health of Black people. Living with the generational trauma of our ancestors, the racial trauma that we still have to face and systemic racism, which makes things like accessing appropriate health care a challenge, can leave Black communities at risk to a range of Mental health issues including Depression and Anxiety.”

The Gladt. association, who will help distribute the funds, is a self-organization of Black and of colour lesbians, gays, bisexuals, trans *, inter * and Queer people in Berlin. They are involved on various levels against racism, sexism, trans * and homophobia, hostility for the disabled and other forms of discrimination.

Call For Counsellors and Psychotherapists

A statement from Kemoy explains that the Fund is also searching for more health professionals to join the project. It reads, “Although we are raising funds for 10 people’s therapy, it is anticipated that there will be many applications. We would like to put an arrangement in place for those people who apply to our fund but are not selected to have an alternative way to access therapy.”

“We are searching for Counsellors and Psychotherapists who are able to be reimbursed by health insurance companies to work with applicants to the fund. We would like to be able to refer applicants to specific Therapists within this network so that the client can begin working with the Therapist and have the cost of Therapy covered by their health insurance. We are still in the process of raising funds and anticipate that we will be allocating clients to Therapist in Spring 2021.

“Because Black and Queer people will be applying to access this fund we ask that Therapists be aware of how racial and sexual identities can impact a person's lived experience. We do not need you to be an expert in these fields but ask that you have some experience working with these kinds of clients and are open to learning.”

“Therapists who are willing to work with the fund will have access to a Therapy room in Berlin at no cost, group supervision, as well as membership to an online platform so that you may see clients remotely. If you are interested in seeing clients from this fund please let me know and I would be happy to discuss this with you more. Please email us at queerblacktherapyfund@gmail.com.”

Follow Kemoy Jemmott on Instagram or her website.

Header image by Miikka Luotio