Terrie Williams: Mental Health Pioneer, Media Maven

Terrie Williams does not walk on water. It only seems like she does. She has been called “the modern day Harriet Tubman.” She helps free people from their fear of talking about their undiagnosed depression and general mental health.

“I was born to do this,” she says ever so humbly. “It is my personal mission to educate everyone, and in particular the African American community, about undiagnosed and untreated depression and its impact on our communities,” says Williams, author of the critically acclaimed book, Black Pain: It Just Looks Like We’re Not Hurting.

The licensed medical social worker is a champion for mental health awareness — therapy, talking it out, taking off that grinning mask that covers tear-filled eyes.

Williams has a B.A. (cum laude) in Psychology and Sociology from Brandeis University, and an M.S. in Social Work from Columbia University.

That’s the technical. The actual factual is that here is a woman determined to bring to light out of the crushing darkness — the issue of depression in the Black community.

Perhaps William’s greatest mantra, and she does have more than one, is that people sharing their stories, and allowing others to see their pain, can help cure the inner turmoil.

William’s philosophy is to let people know that it is liberating and life-saving to let go of the deeply-held personal pain that she says is killing us all softly.

“Depression has got us all walking with masks. It is a slow suicide. So we self-medicate with alcohol, with drugs, with unprotected sex, with promiscuity, with violence, with over-eating…”

Williams says that the misconceptions and stigmas about depression stop folk from getting much needed help, and lead to unnecessary pain and confusion. She says, “But talking about it is very necessary. If you saw someone crossing the street about to get hit by a car, you would yell for them to stop. Depression — and holding it in — is the same thing. All those people walking around not talking about it are dying inside. We must get people to share their stories and free themselves.”

After she shared her own personal journey with Essence in 2005, she reminisces, “I felt it was mission accomplished. I felt that I had woke something inside us. It was extraordinarily great. It was divinely inspired.”

“Dr. Annelle Primm, Director of Minority and National Affairs at American Psychiatric Association, said I was a ‘modern day Harriet Tubman,’” she recalls as she tries to sum up her raison d’etre. “I wouldn’t say that about myself, but she was referring to what I am doing in terms of freeing our people, in terms of mental illness and achieving mental wellness.”

Standing by the Harriet Tubman statue on Frederick Douglass Blvd. and 123rd Street, Williams said the thought “just popped in my head that Harriet Tubman used to say that she freed hundreds of people, but she could have freed thousands more if only they’d known they were slaves. She inspired me to tell people to share their story to have the nerve to speak about what depression looks like, sounds like, feels like. Depression is a leading cause of disability in the United States. It can interfere with daily life and cause pain for not only the person who is suffering, but also for the friends, family, and community that care about him or her.”

She is optimistic, as she spreads her motherly energy to all she encounters. Those who know her are not surprised to receive gifts, cards, issue-specific articles randomly — or receive an out-of-the-blue call that might just come right on time. She has that gift.

Williams continues to work — even as she looks after her mother, who is going through her own health challenges, and as she grieves over her father’s death one year ago.

Despite all the public engagements — radio and TV stints, life-coaching, and public relations for the stars — Williams is incredibly shy

In action, Williams is efficient and in-charge, comfortably delegating or taking over the stage when needed.

She reveals, “I am an introvert by nature. But it is like I have opened this can of worms. But it is a blessing. Sometimes people need to know that they matter, and we have to take time to let them know. It might just be by saying, ‘Good morning,’ or, ‘How are you doing?’ People matter. You never know the details of someone’s journey, and it might be remarkably similar to your own.”

She has a passion for encouraging Black folk to consider therapy to unlock pain that she says can make people dysfunctional, as they wrangle with issues that they do not usually talk about.

“We are dying because we want to keep our pain to ourselves. When a message pops into my head — I believe that it is the voice of God. Not for one freaking second did I doubt that I should do this work. This is what I was supposed to do. It is my divine assignment –It warms my heart when I get mail and email from people from all over the world who have read Black Pain — and say, ‘Thank you for helping me understand the way I feel.’”

Williams relates to the “anger, rage, despair on our faces, of people who may feel that others think that they don’t matter — perhaps they have been stop-and-frisked, or racially profiled… These things happen to us, and we don’t have any recourse and we take it out on everyone else.

“Hurt people hurt people in all walks of life,” surmises Williams.

She speaks of a young man in a workshop who said, ““I stabbed a kid seven times and he wasn’t even the one I was mad at.’ So it pays not to be mean to people. You never know where they are. So many of us are walking around traumatized. Children might have seen someone killed on their block, and then go back to school the very next day. They are suffering from PTSD that many of us suffer from. So they become disruptive in class, and get sent to Special Ed, and get diagnosed with ADHD.”

“A lot of black women to say that they have got so much to do, that they don’t have time to be depressed — well you are, and it is affecting everything around you, ” says Williams.

Hearing a young mother scream at her young child and call him out of his name in the worst way, shook Williams. But it made her think about how much pain the mother must have been in. “Perhaps she’s a single mom. She’s so tired and she’s working two jobs, and she’s mad at something else, but her son is right there and she takes it out on him.”

When asked if she is aware of how impactful she has been over the years, Williams gasps, “I am so aware sometimes it is so overwhelming. I am walking down the street and people want to tell me their story, or give me a hug, or want me to give them a name of a therapist. Everyone wants to tell their story.

“We all have unresolved pain, wounds and trauma, and when we become parents we pass on it all on to our children.”

She states, “As adults, we do a pretty decent job of hiding our emotions when we are hurting — we wear the mask to let the world think we are okay — but kids are smart as a whip and know when a parent is going through something. No matter how much you would like to protect your child from life’s difficulties, if you are depressed, addicted, not around a lot or violent — we are creating a direct legacy of pain.”

Depression has such debilitating power. It can strip a person of rational thought, and the tools to cohesively interact with loved ones, friends, and family It can destroy all facets of a person’s life if it is not acknowledge, diagnosed and treated. And depression does not discriminate against race, gender, or age — anyone can be susceptible to its talons.

“Approximately 32 to 35 million U.S. residents (16 percent) will develop a depressive disorder at some point during their lifetime… I speak nationally and internationally — a lot of times it is at corporations, because depression is the leading cause of disability in the workplace — second to heart disease. People get up and go to work and can’t function. Mental illness affects people in all aspects of their lives,” says Williams.

Williams suggests that African American churches and community-sponsored programs in respected institutions, should speak to the recognition of depression, thereby decreasing the related stigma.

Ms. Williams is big on self-empowerment. She has written four best-selling books: The Personal Touch: What You Really Need to Succeed in Today’s Fast-paced Business World; Stay Strong: Simple Life Lessons for Teens — utilized in school curricula; A Plentiful Harvest: Creating Balance and Harmony Through The Seven Living Virtues; and the earth-moving Black Pain: It Just Looks Like We’re Not Hurting. In the latter, Williams speaks on the often unrecognized story of depression in African American communities, bravely detailing her own chronic and crippling depression. This emotionally raw tome has the most resistant, dedicated-to-being-hard-nosed individuals, hugging her in the street.

Multiple award-winning Williams spoke at the United Nations’ World Mental Health Day where she provided a global perspective on mental health and depression. Not surprisingly, she has received accolades from mental health professionals and media organizations, including making theGrio’s 2013 100 list, Ebony magazine’s “Power 150 for Activism” and Woman’s Day magazine “50 Women On A Mission To Change The World.”

If your first clients for your company are Miles Davis and Eddie Murphy, chances are that being a media maverick is working for you. Williams started the Terrie Williams Agency in 1988 — with a roster of big names in entertainment, sports, business, and politics — including Prince, Janet Jackson….Time Warner, HBO, and Essence Communications Partners.

“Since then, Williams has parlayed her mental health degrees and years of experience into community, civic, educational, and award-winning entertainment action. From social justice, to business, politics, and community relations, Williams is a nationally-known and in-demand speaker in corporate America and colleges and universities.

Currently, aside from saving the world one fully restored person at a time, Williams is working on a follow up to Black Pain and Personal Touch.