iHeartPodcasts and Joy Harden Bradford, Ph.D.
500 episodes listed below
Dr. Joy Harden Bradford pairs therapy insight with Black TV recaps, maternal health, and history.
Therapy for Black Girls is a warm, expert-led space for conversations about Black women’s mental health, bodies, relationships, and choices. Episodes move from postpartum care and medical bias to hair politics, sober curiosity, sexuality, parenting, gut health, and Black feminist history.
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Therapy for Black Girls is primarily a one-on-one interview show, with host Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, a licensed psychologist based in Atlanta, leading conversations with therapists, physicians, and scholars. A recurring alternate format is a panel discussion in which Harden Bradford is joined by another therapist or the show's own producers to recap episodes of television series like Insecure and Bel-Air, using character storylines (substance use, boundary-setting, interracial relationships) as case studies for mental health concepts. Other episodes move into health equity territory, covering Black maternal health, postpartum risk, and the history of medical racism, citing figures such as J. Marion Sims and Henrietta Lacks, typically alongside a physician guest. The show also brings on academic guests to discuss Black history, including scholars researching the Black Panther Party and the numerical majority of women within it who are often left out of popular accounts. Recurring guest Dr. Donna Oriowo, a sex and relationship therapist, addresses colorism, texturism, and interracial relationship dynamics. Producers Elise Ellis and Frida Lucas periodically join as panelists for the pop-culture recap episodes. Episodes run roughly 35 to 80 minutes and mix clinical explanation with narrative recap and historical framing rather than sticking to a single structure. The show is aimed at listeners seeking mental health education grounded in Black women's specific social and medical context, as well as fans of Black-led television looking for a therapist's-eye analysis. It is produced with iHeartPodcasts on a weekly release schedule. Guests and hosts speak from professional expertise and, at times, lived experience, keeping the tone conversational rather than strictly clinical.
Made for: Black women interested in mental health education, relationship dynamics, maternal health equity, and therapist-led analysis of Black television and history.
What sets it apart: Unlike general mental-health interview shows, it grounds clinical concepts specifically in Black women's experience, using Black TV recaps and Black history as recurring case studies alongside physician and therapist interviews.
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 version of ourselves.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · August 2026
Therapy for Black Girls brings mental health into Black women's culture, relationships, bodies, and daily decisions with practical clarity.
Therapy for Black Girls belongs in Health & Fitness because it treats mental health as part of Black women's ordinary lives, not as a sealed clinical subject. Dr.
You want therapy-adjacent talk that moves from Bel-Air to Black maternal health without blinking.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A grounded Black maternal health conversation linking postpartum risk to bias, stress, access, and food systems.
Dr. Joy Harden-Bradford and Dr. Sharon Malone frame Black maternal health as a set of lived conditions, not a story about individual failure. The episode connects medical bias, preeclampsia, cardiovascular risk, chronic stress, health insurance, access to care, and food…
A grounded look at how Black hair becomes identity, visibility, and choice.
Dr. Joy keeps the focus on Black women and the rules they are often asked to follow around hair, health, and what counts as acceptable. The episode also uses Lauryn Hill and India.Arie as clear markers of natural-hair visibility, which gives the discussion a grounded sense of…
A grounded guide to desire, consent, and community for Black women and fems.
Therapy for Black Girls treats BDSM and kink as something worth talking about plainly: desire, boundaries, and emotional safety for Black women and fems.
A thoughtful Therapy for Black Girls conversation on Erica Huggins, Black feminist history, incarceration, and survival as a practice of care.
Session 415 of Therapy for Black Girls uses Mary Frances Phillips' Black Panther Woman to look at Erica Huggins through the overlap of activism, Black feminist thought, incarceration, and emotional survival. Dr.
A warm Bel-Air conversation that treats pressure, family, and care as the main story.
Therapy for Black Girls uses Bel-Air to unpack pressure, drug use, and family strain without rushing past any of it. Dr. Joy Harden-Bradford, Elise Ellis, and Frida Lucas keep the conversation calm and grounded, and the episode works best when it names Carlton's trouble directly…
A calm recap about Molly, Nathan, and the cost of saying where you stand.
Session 159 focuses on Molly's choice to tell Nathan where she stands, and it uses that moment to sort through timing, boundaries, and the line between honesty and impulse.
Jonquilyn Hill chases one listener question per episode to the experts who can answer it.
Three hosts and psychologist Dr Emily talk vulnerability, therapy, and imperfection with guests.
Fearne Cotton interviews guests like Boy George and Bryony Gordon about mental health and identity.
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This episode explores the concept of sober curiosity, discussing how Dry January has evolved into a lifestyle change as research reveals alcohol's impact on health.
This episode features a group chat with the advisory council discussing spring break experiences at different college stages, covering topics like safety, social media pressure, and mental health reset.
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Lisa Price shares her journey as a mother to a transgender child, discussing parenting challenges, mental health, and advocating for love and acceptance.
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A licensed psychologist discusses mental health and personal development for Black women, featuring an interview with a well-being educator about deep healing.
A special bonus episode promoting a podcast about black parenthood and reproductive justice.
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This episode explores the nature of cultural criticism, discussing what makes good criticism and why people react strongly to it, featuring journalist Jay Wortham.
This episode provides strategies for business owners to maintain their mental health and practice self-care while pursuing professional success.
This episode features Wendy and Jess discussing their new digital platform, Diabetes Digital, on the Therapy for Black Girls podcast, focusing on mental health and personal development for Black women.
This episode of the Therapy for Black Girls podcast discusses domestic violence and coping with triggers, focusing on mental health and re-traumatization.
This bonus episode features an interview with actress Natasha Rothwell discussing her new self-created show 'How to Die Alone' on Hulu and her career.
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Molly takes center stage.