ODESSA, Texas (KOSA) - July is Minority Mental Health Month, a time to recognize the unique challenges many people of color face when seeking mental health care-from cost and transportation to stigma and fear of not being understood.

Mental health counselor Veronica Moreno, M.A., LPC, with Intuitive Healing Therapy, said those obstacles can stack up quickly for minority patients."They encounter a diversity of challenges that include but are not limited to cultural stigma, trauma, language barriers, distress and fear of not being understood, which can make reaching out for help overwhelming and some just even impossible," Moreno said.

Counselors say starting the conversation is often the hardest step.