Black Space: Group Therapy Experience (WOMXN)

Black Space in partnership with Milwaukee Art Museum, American Family Insurance and Brewer Community Foundation. Black Space is a community organization that provides free group therapeutic experiences for Black and Brown communities. In an effort to destigmatize mental wellness, Dr. Lia A. Knox, Corey Fells, and Darius Smith have come together to create beautiful and safe spaces, designated for healing communities that have been burdened by economic suppression, racial disparities in and limited access to quality health care, and a lack of culturally competent mental health providers.

The organization operates in an inclusive infrastructure with sessions being tailored specifically to individuals who fall in the categories of Black and Brown women, the Black and Brown LGBTQ+ community, and Black and Brown men as the true eradication of systemic oppression is found in addressing problems that are specific to these communities. These group sessions, led by licensed mental health practitioners, are designed to facilitate meaningful dialogue amongst participants in which inclusivity is at the forefront, honoring their respective identities while providing free group therapeutic experiences. Creating a space for these experiences, designated for people of color, is something that Dr. Knox, Fells, and Smith are passionate about, even outside this space.

Dr. Knox, a licensed clinical professional counselor, has teamed up with Fells, brand architect, and Smith, an experienced curator, to build a space of healing, mental wellness, and culture. In a world where therapy is often seen as a luxury afforded to anyone who sits in the rigid confines of respectability and privilege, these three cultural savants are resisting that narrative by providing free group therapeutic experiences to the most vulnerable.