02/02/2026
✨read below why🤌🏾✨
Let me be clear: if my client needs time off work to protect their mental health, I’m signing that s**t. No hoops. No “let’s try other interventions first.” Because I know what it’s like to work in environments that are actively harming you while being told to just push through.
Here’s why Black and Brown folks especially need access to FMLA without the guilt trip:
1. We’re often not believed when we say we’re struggling. We’ve been conditioned to be “strong” and suppress our pain. By the time we’re asking for help, we’re already past the breaking point. Don’t make us prove our suffering to you too.
2. Our workplaces are often hostile AF. Microaggressions, being the only one, code-switching daily, carrying the “diversity” burden—that’s not just stressful, it’s traumatizing. Sometimes you need time away from the thing that’s actively harming you to heal.
3. We don’t have the same safety nets. Missing work without protection can mean losing everything. FMLA is one of the few legal protections we have. Gatekeeping it because you think they “should manage it differently” is classist and ignores the reality of who gets second chances in this country.
Your job as a therapist isn’t to be the workplace’s gatekeeper. It’s to support your client’s wellbeing.
