On Aug. 1, Simone Biles, who was raised in Spring, Texas, vaulted into history in Paris by earning her eighth Olympic gold medal.
Even as the 27-year-old nimbly navigated balance beams and uneven bars, defying gravity and even ankle injury as she leaped and spun midair, being in peak physical condition wasn’t her only challenge. The just-released Netflix docuseries Simone Biles Rising reveals that the most daunting obstacle she’s had to navigate was her mental health.
As Biles revealed in the Making Space With Hoda Kotb podcast, incorporating daily therapy sessions as part of her routine has positively impacted her outlook and performance.
There are multilayered barriers that can prevent access or diminish the willingness to address mental health in communities of color: For African Americans, bearing the genetic legacy and generational trauma of slavery, Black Codes and Jim Crow laws, along with battling for basic recognition as human beings and for civil rights, with ever-present threats of violent law enforcement, economic turbulence and a lack of trust in medical institutions, as well as an abysmally low rate of black psychologists, can make arriving at a diagnosis and proper care seem insurmountable.
The ever-present need for local access to services is why Dallas’ preeminent provider of mental health services, Metrocare, has created the Health Transitions Program. Focused on transitioning the area’s youth (ages 15 to 21) with social skills, housing, job readiness and other life essentials, Metrocare endeavors to further sustain a vulnerable and growing population with tools and training while expanding their reach beyond Dallas-Fort Worth.
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