When it comes to strength, sometimes the most powerful approach can be a gentle one. It’s something Rwenshaun Miller, a psychotherapist, learned through experience—and that he has alchemized into resources and care for underserved Black and Brown communities in North Carolina seeking support for their own mental health.
“My granddad actually told me when I was younger that I would be a preacher,” Miller says. “I feel like I am fulfilling his prophecy in a certain sense—but not from the pulpit.”
Miller ministers instead via Eustress, Inc., an organization he founded that is dedicated to raising awareness, ending stigma, and providing resources on mental health to Black and Brown communities throughout North Carolina, and through his private practice, the Good Stress Company.
“I’m not a minister of religion,” he continues, “I’m more so a minister within the streets and the community—to be able to help people address their own mental health challenges.” These are challenges Miller is himself intimately familiar with—more on that in the video—and ultimately what served him was his vulnerability, a supportive community, and finding the strength to be gentle with himself. He has grown to become the person he needed when he was younger—a guiding principle for his work.
Click play below to watch Beautiful People with Rwenshaun Miller below and click here to learn more about Eustress, Inc.
[TW: this feature contains a brief mention of attempted suicide.]
Developed, produced, and interviewed by Alyssa Shapiro
Directed and photographed by Alex Kim Kenealy
Art direction by Kimmie Torgerson
