‘Black Men on the Couch’ events have run for approximately 10 years across the country hosted by Rotimi Akinsete. For context this is information about Rotimi: and Black men on the Couch is: The aim of Black Men on the Couch is to help combat mental health stigma and to encourage all, but particularly men who identify as Black, to openly discuss their mental and emotional health and think about counselling and therapy as a form of support.
Rotimi has hosted at a number of institutions and a wide range of Black men have agreed to be interviewed, examples include: Lord Simon Wooley, Prof Jason Arday, George the Poet and I have added links to a couple of the events and information so you can get a flavour of what these events are and aim to achieve:
- At Cambridge:
- UAL:
- A piece on Black men on the Couch by the Bridge Foundation:
BMotC will be hosted at DMU on Wednesday 6th November from 5-8.30 and will include edutainment, DMU and community health awareness and resource stands and will showcase DMU staff research related to mental health and wellbeing, pre and post event refreshments will also be available.
The event will be led by Professor Ivan Browne and the discussions will be hosted by Rotimi Akinsete with the guests identified as Black men who all have a connection to DMU or Leicester. Due to the range and number of guests we wanted to include we discussed an alternative format with Rotimi and agreed rather than one guest at a time on the couch, Rotimi would host a round table discussion with all of the guests we identify.
Guests include:
- Professor Ivan Browne (DMU)
- Byron Dixon (Microfresh)
- Mel Thomas (Leicestershire Police)
- Jamal Jeffers (Barrister and Judge and DMU alum)
- Lloyd Luther (Music Artist and DMU Alum)
- Deano Presto (Music Producer and DMU Alum)
The event will finish with a drinks and networking reception.
Ticket sales will close 1 hour before the event starts on each day.
Please contact the DMU Events Office on if you have any questions.