{"id":117086,"date":"2023-06-23T09:58:20","date_gmt":"2023-06-23T14:58:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/?p=117086"},"modified":"2023-07-31T12:06:19","modified_gmt":"2023-07-31T17:06:19","slug":"filling-a-void","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/psychology\/filling-a-void\/","title":{"rendered":"Filling a void"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIf you don\u2019t see it, be it.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what his parents taught him, says clinical and prescribing psychologist Jerrod Handy-Robinson, Psy.D., who has four advanced degrees from The Chicago School, including master\u2019s degrees in general<\/a> and clinical psychology<\/a>, a doctorate in clinical psychology, and, most recently, a master\u2019s degree in clinical psychopharmacology<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was literally the black sheep of my family,\u201d says Dr. Handy-Robinson, who identifies as a cisgender Black gay male. When one of his white teachers adopted him at the age of 10, he couldn\u2019t help but feel \u201cothered\u201d by his surroundings.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs you can imagine, there\u2019s some cultural and environmental adjustments that come with being a black child in a white family,\u201d Dr. Handy-Robinson says. \u201cAlthough they tried their best\u2014whether it was trying to do Southern cooking, taking me down to see my biological family every once in a while, or just exposing me to more diversity outside of our immediate community\u2014my parents recognized that there were limitations to what they could provide me. They started seeking out ways to give me more support but soon realized that there weren\u2019t doctors or therapists or counselors in our community who looked like me. I needed providers who had an inherent understanding of my lived experience as a person of color, but that need unfortunately went unmet.\u201d<\/p>\n

When he came out as gay, he felt a similar hunger for inclusive care\u2014and a similar absence of it. \u201cMy intersecting identity as a Black gay child really magnified for me the lack of access to providers who could relate to me,\u201d Dr. Handy-Robinson says.<\/p>\n

When he took his first psychology class in high school, it ignited in him a passion for understanding people and behavior. And so, he decided to become for others the health care provider that he himself had lacked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI pursued this career to fill that gap,\u201d Dr. Handy-Robinson says. \u201cNot only for myself, but also for others in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cultivating cultural competence<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite his long-held interest in psychology, Dr. Handy-Robinson almost chose a different path. \u201cI initially started off in college as pre-med,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I quickly realized that the medical side of care pulled me too far away from human interaction, so I pivoted back to clinical psychology.\u201d<\/p>\n

So began a journey that culminated in fall 2022, when Dr. Handy-Robinson started his own practice in Chicago specializing in psychotherapy and psychological testing for clients of color, as well as clients who identify as LGBTQ+.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I started my training, I quickly realized that a lot of the information and knowledge in the field of clinical psychology is taught from a Eurocentric and patriarchal perspective that\u2019s antiquated and doesn\u2019t necessarily fit every client\u2019s background. As a result, a lot of clients from minority backgrounds end up being marginalized or stigmatized or misdiagnosed,\u201d Dr. Handy-Robinson says. \u201cSo, I\u2019ve tasked myself with taking the knowledge I\u2019ve accumulated about clinical psychology and contextualizing it based on my clients\u2019 uniqueness and their lived experience. That sort of cultural competence is lacking in our field, and it\u2019s the driving force in my practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a small thing that can make a big difference when it comes to a client\u2019s quality of care. \u201cI recently was speaking to a client, and there was a moment where they made a cultural reference and paused thereafter. They were waiting for me to have a puzzled look on my face, because they expected me to be confused. But then they remembered, \u2018Oh yeah. Because you\u2019re a person of color, and because you\u2019re a gay male, there\u2019s an inherent understanding of what I just meant,\u2019\u201d Dr. Handy-Robinson continues. \u201cLittle moments like that remind me what it means to be who I am in the space that I occupy. It doesn\u2019t mean that I have the exact same experiences as my clients just because I\u2019m Black or gay, but it does mean that clients who have similar intersecting identities can feel inherently safe with me and trust me to approach their therapy with the unique lens that it deserves.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bringing lived experience to clients\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

In early 2023, Dr. Handy-Robinson added yet another dimension to his practice when he received his license to be a prescribing psychologist<\/a>\u2014making him only the second African American male psychologist in Illinois to obtain prescribing authority.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s huge,\u201d he says of his achievement. \u201cI\u2019m already combining my knowledge of clinical psychology with cultural competency. Knowing that I can now bring that medicinal and pharmacological piece as well is tremendous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because he has previously availed himself of pharmacological interventions as a patient, Dr. Handy-Robinson knows firsthand how his prescribing credentials can make a difference. \u201cI\u2019ve had a number of clients\u2014me included\u2014who wait months to get access to a competent clinician. And then, when they finally get that access, they can\u2019t work with that clinician because there isn\u2019t rapport or because they don\u2019t trust that person to understand their presenting concern or their lived experience. That\u2019s a big thing for clients of a marginalized or minority background, because if clients aren\u2019t able to see someone in a timely manner, they often let their concern fall by the wayside. And that can be a major detriment to their mental health in the long run.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Overcoming adversity<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although his destination was clear\u2014culturally competent care for underserved communities\u2014Dr. Handy-Robinson says his journey getting there wasn\u2019t always easy.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom childhood through high school, college, my graduate education, and even now, being a person of color in a predominantly white environment has always been my biggest obstacle,\u201d he says. \u201cIn fact, my dissertation was about Black gay males in predominantly white institutions, because I was living that experience day after day after day.\u201d<\/p>\n

That obstacle manifested in myriad ways. Because he had trouble financing his education, for example, he nearly had to drop out of graduate school. \u201cI didn\u2019t qualify for certain scholarships. And because I come from an underprivileged background, I didn\u2019t have credit, which means I didn\u2019t qualify for a federal grad PLUS Loan,\u201d Dr. Handy-Robinson says.<\/p>\n

In addition to financial barriers, there were social barriers. \u201cWhile Chicago is a diverse city, I didn\u2019t run into very many Black gay men. And even less so, Black gay therapists. That felt very alienating because I wasn\u2019t seeing myself in my day-to-day interactions. So much so that at one point I even considered changing careers and not pursuing my doctorate in psychology,\u201d Dr. Handy-Robinson says.<\/p>\n

Still, he persevered with the help of his parents\u2019 wise words: If you don\u2019t see it, be it. \u201cMy family has always been my rock, pushing me to keep going as long as I felt passionate about what I was doing. So I said, \u2018You know what? If I don\u2019t see my community, I\u2019m going to create it.\u2019 And little by little, I began to find others who were either like-minded or who identified similarly as me,\u201d Dr. Handy-Robinson says. \u201cAlong the way, I found friends and a partner\u2014now my husband\u2014who supported me and helped me get over my biggest hurdles.\u201d<\/p>\n

His teachers and mentors at The Chicago School also were instrumental. \u201cIts mission statement is one of the things that drew me to The Chicago School,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s where I began to really understand that psychology doesn\u2019t have to be about rote memorization and what the book says. The faculty members at The Chicago School challenged me to say, \u2018Manualized treatment says one thing, but what does it mean to me and my client in the room together?\u2019 That\u2019s one of my biggest takeaways from The Chicago School: that we can challenge data and challenge preexisting knowledge. Not discard it, but incorporate it in a way that\u2019s useful for our clients and for us as clinicians given our uniqueness and our own lived experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A safe space for all<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although his younger self never did find the culturally competent care that he craved, Dr. Handy-Robinson says he\u2019s comforted by the opportunity he has to provide that care for others\u2014especially now. With racial tensions boiling over across America and anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment reaching a fever pitch on social media and in state legislatures, he says his clients need his services and support more than ever.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause the bulk of my clients are racial and ethnic minorities, I unfortunately am hearing a lot of concerns right now about racial violence. Making space to process what it means to be a person of color in this country\u2014the intergenerational impact, the systemic impact, the institutional impact\u2014is really important because it\u2019s impacting my clients\u2019 overall well-being,\u201d Dr. Handy-Robinson explains. \u201cLikewise for my clients who identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community. How the world sees them right now is not necessarily how they see themselves, so I want to create a safe space where they can explore their unique identity and find the validation and appreciation and care that everyone deserves.\u201d<\/p>\n

That safe space is as valuable for him as it is for his clients. \u201cAs a Black gay man in this country, I have the same concerns that my clients have. I experience the same stigma and the same bias. That\u2019s something I will never let myself forget. I have to target, treat, and manage my own feelings first, because I\u2019m no good to others if I don\u2019t do that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIf you don\u2019t see it, be it.\u201d That\u2019s what his parents taught him, says clinical and prescribing psychologist Jerrod Handy-Robinson, Psy.D., who has four advanced degrees from The Chicago School, including master\u2019s degrees in general and clinical psychology, a doctorate in clinical psychology, and, most recently, a master\u2019s degree in clinical psychopharmacology. \u201cI was literally the black sheep of my family,\u201d says Dr. Handy-Robinson, who identifies as a cisgender Black gay male. When one of his white teachers adopted him […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":117089,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[191,113,1],"tags":[933],"coauthors":[1033],"class_list":["post-117086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-psychology","category-uncategorized","tag-psychology"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFilling a void - Insight Digital Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Because he grew up without doctors of color, The Chicago School alumnus Jerrod Handy-Robinson, Psy.D., decided to become one.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/psychology\/filling-a-void\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Filling a void - Insight Digital Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Because he grew up without doctors of color, The Chicago School alumnus Jerrod Handy-Robinson, Psy.D., decided to become one.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/psychology\/filling-a-void\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Insight Digital Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-06-23T14:58:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-07-31T17:06:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/TCSPP-Blog-Header-with-Headshot-scaled.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Matt Alderton\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Matt Alderton\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Filling a void - Insight Digital Magazine","description":"Because he grew up without doctors of color, The Chicago School alumnus Jerrod Handy-Robinson, Psy.D., decided to become one.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/psychology\/filling-a-void\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Filling a void - Insight Digital Magazine","og_description":"Because he grew up without doctors of color, The Chicago School alumnus Jerrod Handy-Robinson, Psy.D., decided to become one.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/psychology\/filling-a-void\/","og_site_name":"Insight Digital Magazine","article_published_time":"2023-06-23T14:58:20+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-07-31T17:06:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1280,"url":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/TCSPP-Blog-Header-with-Headshot-scaled.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Matt Alderton","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Matt Alderton","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/psychology\/filling-a-void\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/psychology\/filling-a-void\/"},"author":{"name":"mjohnson","@id":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/#\/schema\/person\/e9669cba7a1d9b4e2b1f21116ee076e5"},"headline":"Filling a void","datePublished":"2023-06-23T14:58:20+00:00","dateModified":"2023-07-31T17:06:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/psychology\/filling-a-void\/"},"wordCount":1607,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/psychology\/filling-a-void\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/TCSPP-Blog-Header-with-Headshot-scaled.jpeg","keywords":["psychology"],"articleSection":["Community Articles","Psychology"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/psychology\/filling-a-void\/","url":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/psychology\/filling-a-void\/","name":"Filling a void - Insight Digital Magazine","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/psychology\/filling-a-void\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/psychology\/filling-a-void\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/TCSPP-Blog-Header-with-Headshot-scaled.jpeg","datePublished":"2023-06-23T14:58:20+00:00","dateModified":"2023-07-31T17:06:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/#\/schema\/person\/e9669cba7a1d9b4e2b1f21116ee076e5"},"description":"Because he grew up without doctors of color, The Chicago School alumnus Jerrod Handy-Robinson, Psy.D., decided to become one.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/psychology\/filling-a-void\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/psychology\/filling-a-void\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/psychology\/filling-a-void\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/TCSPP-Blog-Header-with-Headshot-scaled.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/TCSPP-Blog-Header-with-Headshot-scaled.jpeg","width":2560,"height":1280,"caption":"Image of Jerrod Handy-Robinson"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/psychology\/filling-a-void\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Filling a void"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/","name":"Insight Digital Magazine","description":"The Chicago School","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/#\/schema\/person\/e9669cba7a1d9b4e2b1f21116ee076e5","name":"mjohnson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117086"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117529,"href":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117086\/revisions\/117529"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117086"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=117086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}