Beyond Awareness: Why Mental Health Care Must Finally Catch Up To Real Life

As conversations around mental health become louder, one truth remains quietly persistent: not everyone is being heard. For Ashley McGirt-Adair—licensed psychotherapist, founder of the Therapy Fund Foundation, and author of The Cost of Healing in Silence—that gap is exactly where the real work begins.

“While conversations about mental health have become more visible, many voices, especially those most impacted, are still unheard,” she says. “It’s not enough to normalize the conversation—we have to normalize care, understanding, and accountability in how we show up for one another.”

At the centre of her work is a powerful reframing of how we understand mental health—not just as an individual experience, but one shaped by systems, access, and lived reality. “Mental health is deeply personal, but it doesn’t exist in a vacuum,” she explains. “We can’t talk about mental health without also talking about equity, access, and the environments people are expected to survive in.”

That perspective is especially critical when it comes to racial trauma—a central theme in her new book. “Silence becomes part of the harm when it forces people to carry experiences like racism, grief, or trauma without validation,” she says. “It can internalize the message that what happened to you isn’t worth naming—or worse, that it’s yours to carry alone.”

So what does better care actually look like? According to McGirt-Adair, it starts with being seen—fully. “Culturally responsive care means your therapist sees you fully—your identity, your lived experiences, your community context—and doesn’t ask you to separate those from your healing,” she says. “It looks like not having to explain racism as if it’s hypothetical.”

For many, that kind of care still feels out of reach. Cost, long waitlists, and a lack of culturally responsive providers continue to create barriers. “There’s also stigma within communities that have been historically harmed by healthcare systems,” she notes. “And a lack of sustained support—people may get a few sessions, but not the long-term care they need to truly heal.”

But change doesn’t only happen in clinical settings—it starts in everyday conversations. “Pay attention to how mental illness is talked about … challenge stereotypes when you hear them,” she says. “Small, consistent actions matter.”

And while Mental Health Awareness Month shines an important spotlight, McGirt-Adair is clear: awareness is only the beginning. “Change requires action, investment, and accountability… truly looking at what we’re doing differently after the month is over.”

Ultimately, healing—especially when grounded in identity and community—isn’t about erasing what’s happened. It’s about reclaiming yourself in spite of it. “It looks like being in spaces where your identity is affirmed… where you can experience both rest and expression,” she says. “It’s community care, not just individual care.”

Because when people are truly seen, supported, and understood—that’s when healing can actually begin. —Noa Nichol