This Black History Month, we are spotlighting a provider who is leading the charge for culturally competent behavioral health care. We spoke with Dawn Davenport, Ph.D and Vice President of Child and Family Services at Mental Health Center of Denver, to learn more about the organization's work to support families. This interview has been edited lightly for length and clarity.
What does a typical day look like in your role?
A typical day is filled with meetings. I have meetings with staff, including supervision and team meetings, as well as meetings with management and the community. Now, with COVID, as well as our focus on ending anti-Black racism, we have additional targeted meetings to address those areas. My meetings with the community are focused on our partnerships—whether it's around trying to set up services in an underserved community or figuring out additional food resources. Mental health shows up everywhere; it’s all encompassing. Whether it’s food inequities that impacts someone’s mental health, the violence happening in the community, racism, to COVID—all of what we're experiencing now is having an impact on our mental health. We have to show up however the community needs us to, and we're working really hard to make sure we're doing that.
How can a culturally informed approach better support clients and their healing?
In light of the murder of George Floyd, we have become more active in combatting anti-Black racism and making sure that we are recognizing what that looks like. That includes the inequities that are embedded in the way our system was set up. As we evaluate our processes and structures, we are very intentional to use an equity lens as we dismantle some of the white supremacist notions and philosophies that permeate how we have done business so that we continue to change for the better moving forward.
We, unfortunately, do not have enough therapists of color to be reflective of the population that we serve. We have to work really hard to make sure that those White clinicians who are providing those services are culturally responsive—that they’re understanding and able to amplify the client’s background, their ethnicity, their race, their belief system, not just at the macro-level, but also within the family system. Just because you think you know something about the Black culture or the Latina/x culture, you don't necessarily know that person who's sitting before you. You’re taking the time to ask those questions and be open and understanding of how all layers of their culture have impacted them and be willing to listen to that and respect those differences. Throughout the process, you want to make sure that whoever is sitting in front of you, their voice is heard, throughout all aspects of their treatment.
OBH has found significant disparities in behavioral health access and outcomes among Black and White Coloradans. What changes are needed to close this equity gap?
For me, it goes back to dismantling the systems. They were built upon inequities, right? We have to be able to dismantle those and look at things through an equity lens to make sure that everybody has the opportunity to have access. I think part of that requires those who have power and privilege to actually lean into that power and privilege and work for health equity. It’s really going to take a critical eye and sitting in those uncomfortable emotional places to do the work - thinking about how you are benefiting from those systems of injustice and oppression that allow this to continue. People have to choose to do something different in order to promote health equity and opportunities for others. If we don't take action and do things differently, regardless of how uncomfortable, it's just going to perpetuate the problem.
Why is it important to have more Black providers in behavioral health care?
Communities of color experience racism, are overrepresented in the criminal justice system and have health, socioeconomic, and education disparities. All of these disparities have a significant impact on our physical and mental health outcomes. Given the history of racism and implicit bias in healthcare, there undoubtedly is often mistrust of those systems. There are times when Black people have negative experiences when they attempt to seek treatment with a professional who doesn’t look like them. Considering that Black people are more likely to identify with each other, especially around our shared history and racial trauma, it can be easier for a connection to be made with a Black therapist. There’s familiarity, there’s comfort, there’s understanding. You start at a different level in terms of relationship building. Relationships are healing, and one of the most important parts of a therapeutic alliance. That being said, we need more Black therapists, AND as previously mentioned, for those white therapists currently providing services to African American and Black communities to be more culturally informed, responsive, and intentional about how they show up for communities of color.
As we approach the one-year mark of the pandemic, what’s something that makes you proud or hopeful?
The department has done some incredible things to pivot and do our work via telehealth. They’ve gotten incredibly creative with engaging children, adolescents and families. Clinicians have been forced to use play in different ways, including starting a Minecraft group so they are able to connect with kiddos through video games. The flexibility and creativity that my department has shown has been phenomenal. This work is not easy in general, let alone in the midst of a pandemic. I am blessed to work with such a talented and committed group of individuals.
Dr. Dawn Davenport is the Vice President of Child and Family Services at Mental Health Center of Denver. Over the past 18 years at Mental Health Center of Denver, Dr. Davenport has held the role of psychologist, program manager, and clinical director. In her current role as Vice President, Dr. Davenport champions culturally responsive service delivery, program development and implementation, as she also provides vision and leadership to a diverse staff and establishes and maintains community-based partnerships. She is passionate and driven to provide the best holistic services available to children and families.
A Colorado native, Dr. Davenport obtained her BA from the University of Colorado at Boulder and her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Alabama. She sits on the board of Directors for the Juvenile Services Planning Committee and has participated in several taskforces related to behavioral health for children. Dr. Davenport enjoys spending time with her husband and two children, ages 13 and 11, who are involved in a variety of academic and athletic activities. Together they enjoy family time, traveling, playing games and being outdoors. She also enjoys cooking, listening to music, and dancing.