Everyday Hero Myra McNair

MADISON, Wis. — Myra McNair started Anesis Therapy Center in 2016 with a mission to ensure everyone can access mental health care that works for them.

Back then, it was a one-woman operation.

“Something almost magical happened,” she said. “Team members started to join.”

Now, Anesis has two locations and about 60 team members, most of them people of color.

“The ladies at the front desk were saying how emotional it was when we moved to this building, and all three of them are Black women,” McNair said. “[They were saying] ‘I’ve never gone to a health clinic, and it was all Black women.’”

Data shows Black people are less likely to seek out mental health care than white people. According to Harvard’s McLean Hospital, 25% of Black people sought mental health care, compared to 40% of white people. That can be for a wide variety of reasons — and likely a combination of them — including: economic inequality, proximity to care, previous racial trauma interacting with the health care system, cultural stigma, and cultural incompetence from providers.

It doesn’t help that only about 4% of the psychology workforce is Black, according to a 2018 study by the American Psychological Association. Research shows that when people are looking for someone to care for them when they’re vulnerable, they tend to be drawn to people who look like them.

“When you’re a Black or brown person in Madison, or in Wisconsin, you can’t find someone [of color],” she said. “You’re looking through and you’re like, ‘I don’t know if this person is gonna get me, I don’t know if this person is gonna get it.’”

Having culturally appropriate care can be key. A provider can understand someone’s norms, identity, and their lives without having to explain it.

“I’ve had people stop me in the hallway and they’re like, ‘Myra, I have to let you know the minute I walked through the door, I felt welcome,’” McNair said.

The business is currently working on a nonprofit arm of Anesis, so they can collect donations and offer more services to people who otherwise couldn’t afford them.