I Run This is a weekly interview series that highlights Black women and femmes who do dope shit in entertainment and culture while creating visibility, access and empowerment for those who look like them.

Nina Westbroook is on a mission.

Some may know her as Russell Westbrooks wife and college sweetheart, but Westbrook has been doing some serious work helping others as a licensed marriage and family therapist. For years, the Chino Hills, California, native has been working to destigmatize therapy and mental health services, and shes continuing to spread her message this Mental Health Awareness Month.

Just before the pandemic, which brought on a mental health crisis, Westbrook wanted to reach beyond her immediate clientele to help others cope with the ugly reality of a changing and more challenging world. She created Bene , a digital wellness platform for those seeking help to get mental health and wellness information. And with the psychological implications of the pandemic carrying on into present day, Westbrook recently released Do Tell! , a card game meant to ask yourself and others questions that lead to reflection and vulnerability.

Westbrook is working to make her mental health services and tools more accessible to others, especially in communities where mental health is stigmatized and help is inaccessible.

I think especially in communities of color, weve been a little bit slower to come along to, she said. Theres still a lot of stigma attached to it, and so I hope that with my work with Bene by Nina and with Do-Tell!, to be able to create this understanding that mental health is happening every single day in our lives and helping people to identify what it looks like and how to improve upon what they already have and whatever coping skills that they have already to make it more impactful and intentional.

For I Run This, Westbrook talked about the work shes doing around mental health, how her own mental health journey informs her work, and the ups and downs of being the wife of an NBA all-star.