About the Fellowship
Who is the Fellowship for?
The Antiracism in Mental Health Fellowship is for anyone who wants to deepen their understanding of racism and build a more antiracist approach to mental health, healing, and care.
Fellows come from many different roles and backgrounds, including psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, community organizers, mental health advocates, peer mental health advocates, community health workers, behavioral health aides, and others working in and around mental health and healing. Students–college, graduate, etc–are also welcome.
Witness, in particular, is meant for everyone. You do not need to be a clinician or mental health professional to participate. The foundational ideas explored in Witness—how we understand racism, positionality, critical consciousness, racial identity, and the distinction between racism and race—extend far beyond clinical practice. As one recent Fellow said after completing Witness:
“Everyone needs to know this.”
Advocate and Advocate+ move more deeply into material that is especially relevant to clinicians and others working within mental health systems. But they are not restricted to clinicians. Community workers, advocates, peers, organizers, and others who want to engage deeply with these issues are welcome.
All three tiers are open to people across disciplines, professions, and lived experiences. The question is less whether you have a particular credential and more about how deeply you want to engage with the material. We intentionally cultivate a Fellowship community that brings together vibrant, diverse perspectives rather than keeping people siloed within disciplines or professions. This is an important part of the community we seek to build through the live discussions in particular.
Is the Fellowship relevant outside the United States?
Yes, with an important context to keep in mind. The Fellowship is taught primarily through a U.S. lens. The history, systems, policies, professional practices, and examples explored throughout the curriculum are largely grounded in racism and mental health care in the United States.
At the same time, my scholarship and teaching have resonated with audiences around the world in part because this work is grounded in a human rights approach and is willing to name colonization, slavery, and other foundational legacies of racial hierarchy as essential to understanding contemporary systems of health and mental health care.
Many of the Fellowship’s central frameworks—including positionality, critical consciousness, racism and whiteness, racial identity, and the ways institutions and systems produce harm—also invite participants to examine how these forces operate within their own historical, cultural, and geographic contexts.
International Fellows are welcome, and the perspectives they bring can deepen the learning community. I simply want participants outside the U.S. to know upfront that the Fellowship is not designed as a comprehensive examination of racism or mental health systems in every global context.
What will I learn in each tier?
Each tier includes five lectures/modules, with each level building on the one before it.
Witness helps you answer the call with the foundational components of an antiracist approach: understanding the difference between antiracist and nonracist, locating yourself through positionality and racial identity development, building critical consciousness, and learning to distinguish racism from race.
Advocate goes deeper into history—both the history of racism and the history of harm within the mental health professions—while giving you essential frameworks for understanding racism and whiteness and recognizing the common racialized tropes, stereotypes, and intersectional forces that continue to shape mental health care.
Advocate+ widens the lens beyond mental health care alone. It examines racism’s toxic impact on health, including racial health inequities in other areas of medicine that are often “comorbid” with mental health inequities. It also interrogates how some of our prevailing frameworks for understanding and addressing racism are themselves rigged to preserve the status quo, setting the stage for a different approach through the Protective Care Framework™.
Across the Fellowship, learning is designed to move toward action. Just about every lecture concludes with three concrete Antiracist Action Strategies focused on psychoeducation, documentation, and activism/advocacy—so that you’re not simply learning how to recognize racism, but developing practical ways to respond to it.
WITNESS (5 lectures)
- The Antiracist Dichotomy: Antiracist vs. Nonracist
- Positionality
- Critical Consciousness
- Racial Identity Development
- Racism vs. Race
ADVOCATE (5 additional lectures)
- Deep Historical Orientation
- How the Profession Has Harmed
- Triumph and Resistance
- Naming the Systems: Racism and Whiteness
- How Harm Shows Up: Tropes and Intersectionality
Advocate includes the complete Witness curriculum, for 10 lectures total.
ADVOCATE+ (5 additional lectures)
- Mental Health and the Carceral State
- Racism’s Toxic Impact on the Body
- Rigged Discourses
- Access to Care Is Not the Issue
- Racial Health Inequities Beyond Mental Health
Advocate+ includes the complete Witness and Advocate curricula, for 15 lectures total, and leads into the Protective Care Framework™.
What is the difference between Witness, Advocate, and Advocate+?
Witness is the foundation. It focuses on the self-work and conceptual grounding needed to understand racism and begin developing an antiracist practice.
Advocate includes Witness and moves into history, the harms caused by the mental health professions, racism and whiteness, resistance, and how racialized harm shows up in care.
Advocate+ includes Witness and Advocate and moves into deeper systems and clinical application. It also includes four private 1:1 sessions with me over your Fellowship year.
Dates and Access
When does the next Fellowship begin?
The next Witness and Advocate cohort begins November 1, 2026.
Advocate+ is currently offered on a rolling basis as an individualized experience. You can enroll at any time and begin right away. In early 2027, Advocate+ will return to its full cohort format, combining live group discussions with private 1:1 sessions with me.
How long will I have access to the Fellowship?
November 2026 Witness and Advocate Fellows have access to their course materials from November 1, 2026 through May 1, 2027.
Advocate+ Fellows receive one year of course access.
Live Sessions
Are there live sessions?
Yes, and the format depends on your tier.
Witness includes one live facilitated group discussion with Dr. Legha.
Advocate includes four live facilitated group discussions with Dr. Legha.
Advocate+ is currently an individualized experience. Instead of group discussions, it includes four private 1:1 sessions with me, scheduled at your pace over your Fellowship year.
In early 2027, I expect to offer Advocate+ again in a cohort format with live group discussions. Fellows who enroll in the individualized experience may have an opportunity to join a future cohort for an additional fee. Participation in live Advocate+ groups is by approval because the depth and sensitivity of this work require a group that is well suited to learning together.
What are the live-session dates for the November cohort?
Witness
- December 2, 2026 at 4 PM PT
Advocate
- November 4, 2026 at 4 PM PT
- November 18, 2026 at 4 PM PT
- December 9, 2026 at 4 PM PT
- December 16, 2026 at 4 PM PT
Advocate+ Fellows schedule their 1:1 sessions directly with me and do not follow the cohort calendar.
Do I have to attend the live sessions?
The Fellowship intentionally combines self-paced learning with live reflection and discussion, and the sessions are where much of that integration happens.
Live group discussions are not recorded. This is intentional: the conversations can involve sensitive material and personal reflection, and protecting participants’ privacy helps create the conditions for open and meaningful discussion.
If you have a scheduling concern about a live session, please reach out before enrolling so we can talk through whether the Fellowship will work for you.
Time, Credit, and Recognition
How long does the Fellowship take?
The Fellowship is designed to be manageable alongside a busy schedule. All lectures are asynchronous—you watch them on your own time, whenever it works for you, during your course-access period. The quizzes and end-of-tier assessments are also completed on your own schedule. Only the live group discussions occur at scheduled times; Advocate+ 1:1 sessions are scheduled individually.
Witness and Advocate Fellows have six months of course access, so you can spread the learning out over time. Advocate+ Fellows have one full year of access.
The estimates below reflect the time needed to complete the core Fellowship experience. Many Fellows choose to watch lectures more than once, so your actual engagement may be longer.
WITNESS
Plan on approximately 3–3½ hours total for the core Witness experience. This includes the video content, assessments, and live learning.
Here is the breakdown of those components:
Video content
- Fellowship Introduction — ~1 minute
- The Antiracist Dichotomy: Antiracist vs. Nonracist / Answering the Call — 16 minutes
- Positionality — 22 minutes
- Critical Consciousness — 22 minutes
- Racial Identity Development — 20 minutes
- Racism vs. Race — 17 minutes
Total video time: approximately 1 hour 38 minutes
Assessments
- 5 short lecture quizzes — ~5–10 minutes each
- End-of-tier assessment — ~10–15 minutes
Live learning
- 1 facilitated group discussion — 50 minutes
If you choose to earn CME/CE credit: allow approximately 5 additional minutes per lecture to complete the corresponding Learner+ reflection, or about 25 additional minutes for Witness.
This is in addition to the core Fellowship experience, bringing the estimated total time for Witness + CME/CE reflections to approximately 3½–4 hours.
ADVOCATE
Advocate includes the complete Witness experience. Plan on approximately 9¼–10¼ hours total for the complete Witness + Advocate experience. This includes the video content, assessments, and live learning across both tiers.
Here is the breakdown of the additional Advocate components:
Video content
- Advocate Introduction — 5 minutes
- Deep Historical Orientation — 28 minutes
- How the Profession Has Harmed — 42 minutes
- Triumph and Resistance — 17 minutes
- Naming the Systems: Racism and Whiteness — 28 minutes
- How Harm Shows Up: Tropes and Intersectionality — 28 minutes
Total additional Advocate video time: approximately 2 hours 28 minutes
Assessments
- 5 additional short lecture quizzes — ~5–10 minutes each
- Advocate end-of-tier assessment — ~10–15 minutes
Live learning
- 4 facilitated group discussions — 50 minutes each
The Advocate tier therefore adds approximately 6¼–6¾ hours beyond Witness.
If you choose to earn CME/CE credit: allow approximately 5 additional minutes per Advocate lecture to complete the corresponding Learner+ reflection. Across Witness + Advocate, that adds approximately 50 minutes for all 10 Learner+ reflections.
This is in addition to the core Fellowship experience, bringing the estimated total time for the complete Witness + Advocate experience with CME/CE reflections to approximately 10–11 hours.
ADVOCATE+ — ROLLING ENROLLMENT
Advocate+ includes the complete Witness and Advocate experiences. Plan on approximately 14½–16 hours total for the complete Witness + Advocate + Advocate+ experience. This includes the video content, assessments, live learning, and private 1:1 learning across all three tiers.
Here is the breakdown of the additional Advocate+ components:
Video content
- Advocate+ Introduction — 5 minutes
- Mental Health and the Carceral State — 25 minutes
- Racism’s Toxic Impact on the Body — 23 minutes
- Rigged Discourses — 22 minutes
- Access to Care Is Not the Issue — 33 minutes
- Racial Health Inequities Beyond Mental Health — 47 minutes
Total additional Advocate+ video time: approximately 2 hours 35 minutes
Assessments
- 5 additional short lecture quizzes — ~5–10 minutes each
- Advocate+ end-of-tier assessment — ~10–15 minutes
Private learning
- 4 private 1:1 sessions with Dr. Rupi Legha — approximately 30 minutes each
The Advocate+ tier therefore adds approximately 5¼–5¾ hours beyond Witness + Advocate.
If you choose to earn CME/CE credit: allow approximately 5 additional minutes per Advocate+ lecture to complete the corresponding Learner+ reflection. Across all three tiers, that adds approximately 1 hour 15 minutes for all 15 Learner+ reflections.
This is in addition to the core Fellowship experience, bringing the estimated total time for the complete Witness + Advocate + Advocate+ experience with CME/CE reflections to approximately 15¾–17¼ hours.
A note about these estimates
These estimates represent approximately how long it takes to complete the Fellowship. They aren’t intended to prescribe how long you should spend with the material.
Many Fellows return to lectures more than once. You may also choose to spend additional time reflecting, taking notes, discussing the material, or putting the Antiracist Action Strategies into practice.
This isn’t material to race through. The Fellowship asks you to reflect, notice, question, and apply what you’re learning. With six months of access for Witness and Advocate and a full year for Advocate+, you have time to sit with the material, return to it, and make the learning your own.
Can I earn CME/CE credit?
Yes. Eligible participants can earn up to:
- Witness: 5 CME/CE credits
- Advocate: 10 CME/CE credits
- Advocate+: 15 CME/CE credits
CME/CE credit is administered separately through Learner+. Participants interested in earning credit should review Learner+ directly for current eligibility requirements, fees, accreditation information, and other details.
Will I receive a certificate or credential?
Fellows receive a completion badge for each tier completed:
- Witness: Witness completion badge
- Advocate: Witness and Advocate completion badges
- Advocate+: Witness, Advocate, and Advocate+ completion badges
Completion badges recognize completed coursework. They are not a professional certification or credential. Badges are valid for two years, and during that period you will be included in a directory of people who have completed the training.
Is there a Fellowship community?
Yes. Fellows receive access to the private AntiracistMD LinkedIn community, a space to stay connected with others doing this work.
Cost and Funding
Are payment plans available?
Yes. Flexible payment options are available at checkout. Interest-free options are highlighted below, and additional options may be available to spread payments over a longer period with interest.
- Witness ($500): PayPal Pay in 4 — four payments of approximately $125 every two weeks.
- Advocate ($1,000, includes Witness): Pay in 4 through PayPal, Klarna, or Affirm, or approximately six monthly payments through Klarna or Affirm.
- Advocate+ ($1,977, includes Witness and Advocate): Payment-plan options are available through PayPal, Klarna, and Affirm.
Payment-plan availability and terms are set by each payment provider and may vary based on eligibility.
Can my employer pay for the Fellowship?
Yes. Your employer may have professional-development, CME/CE, or continuing-education funds you can use toward the Fellowship. Several fellows have successfully had their fellowship tuition covered.
Because benefits and reimbursement policies vary, check with your employer about what funding is available and what documentation they require. An invoice or receipt is available on request.
Do you offer scholarships, work-study, or paid Fellowship positions?
At this time, I do not offer scholarships, work-study arrangements, or paid Fellowship positions.
The Fellowship is an independently created and funded educational program. I have invested significant personal resources, time, and professional expertise into developing and sustaining it, and participant tuition makes it possible for me to continue offering this work.
I recognize that the cost will not be accessible to everyone. Flexible payment plans are available at checkout, and I encourage participants to explore employer professional-development, CME/CE, and continuing-education funds when available.
What is your refund policy?
All Fellowship sales are final.
Still Deciding?
I’m still not sure which tier is right for me. Can I talk with you?
Absolutely.
If you’ve read through the Fellowship information and aren’t sure which level is the best fit, schedule a conversation with me. We’ll talk through your questions and see whether there is a Fellowship experience that aligns with what you’re looking for.