Session 422: The Work of Mental Health Co-Responders
Therapy for Black Girls
iHeartPodcasts and Joy Harden Bradford, Ph.D.
4.8 • 5.7K Ratings
🗓️ 30 July 2025
⏱️ 44 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week’s guest is Renée Bryan, a Licensed Professional Counselor and educator with a Master's in Education from Mercer University and a Master's in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Richmont Graduate University. What makes Renée's work particularly compelling is her role as a mental health co-responder with law enforcement. This growing field many mental health professionals may not even know exists. In today's conversation, we explore what it's like to ride alongside police officers daily, responding to mental health crises in real-time.
Renée takes us inside the day-to-day realities of co-response work, from gas station interventions to family crises, sharing the de-escalation strategies that work in the field and the safety protocols that protect both clinicians and community members. We discuss the challenges of navigating different professional languages between mental health and law enforcement, the current state of community mental health resources, and how this collaborative model is achieving a 98% diversion rate from incarceration to treatment.
About the Podcast
The Therapy for Black Girls Podcast is a weekly conversation with Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, a licensed Psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia, about all things mental health, personal development, and all the small decisions we can make to become the best possible versions of ourselves.
Resources & Announcements
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Therapy for Black Girls podcast, a weekly conversation about mental health, personal development, and all the small decisions we can make to become the best possible versions of ourselves. |
| 0:23.8 | I'm your host, Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, a licensed psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia. |
| 0:30.0 | For more information or to find a therapist in your area, visit our website at Therapy for Blackgirls.com. While I hope you love listening to |
| 0:40.4 | and learning from the podcast, it is not meant to be a substitute for a relationship with a licensed |
| 0:47.1 | mental health professional. |
| 0:56.6 | Hey y'all. |
| 1:01.2 | Thanks so much for joining me for session 422 of the Therapy for Black Girls podcast. |
| 1:04.9 | We'll get right into our conversation after a word from our sponsors. |
| 1:11.2 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 1:23.9 | This week's guest is Renee Bryan, a licensed professional counselor and educator with a master's in education from Mercer University and a master's in clinical mental health counseling |
| 1:28.7 | from Richmond Graduate University. What makes Renee's work particularly compelling is her role as a |
| 1:34.3 | mental health correspondent with law enforcement. This growing field many mental health professionals |
| 1:39.5 | may not even know exists. In today's conversation, we explore what it's like to ride alongside police |
| 1:45.5 | officers daily, responding to mental health crises in real time. Renee takes us inside the day-to-day |
| 1:51.8 | realities of co-response work, from gas station interventions to family crises, sharing the |
| 1:57.6 | de-escalation strategies that work in the field, and the safety protocols that protect both clinicians and community members. |
| 2:04.2 | We discussed the challenges of navigating different professional languages between mental health and law enforcement, |
| 2:09.9 | the current state of community mental health resources, and how this collaborative model is achieving a 98% diversion rate from incarceration to treatment. |
| 2:19.6 | For any mental health professionals curious about crisis work are wondering how to get |
| 2:23.4 | involved in co-response programs, this conversation offers practical insights into training |
| 2:28.4 | requirements, the emotional toll of the work, and why Renee believes this collaboration represents a crucial evolution in both mental health care and community policing. If something resonates with you while enjoying our conversation, please share it with us on social media using the hashtag TBG in session or join us over in our Patreon to talk more about the episode. You can join us at |
| 2:51.9 | Community. Therapy for Blackgirls.com. Here's our conversation. Thank you so much for joining |
... |
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