Dr. Gold’s unique interest in mental health storytelling and normalizing mental health through popular culture has led her to consulting across the entertainment and journalism industries. She believes very strongly that the images we see and stories we read about mental health inform our help-seeking behaviors. She wants to work with (not against) the creators of the stories and the celebrities disclosing.
Jessi serves as a member of the Expert Advisory Council for the Viacom CBS Mental Health Storytelling Initiative and was a co-author of the Mental Health Media Guide:
- This groundbreaking, comprehensive resource for entertainment content creators was designed to help expand positive mental health portrayals and best practices and aims to support storytellers at any phase in the production process, across topics to represent diverse communities.
- It has been used to inform shows including: The Bachelorette, The Girl from Plainville, One of Us is Lying, Teen Mom, Love, Hip Hop Atlanta, and Basketball Wives, among others.
- Dr. Gold can be found in the expert directory on this site and is available for consultation at any point in the storytelling process across film and television, across genres and scripted and unscripted.
- She also helped to launch the guide with a Storytelling Summit, Better Together (press on the summit here and here), the first-of-its-kind. At the event, she was on a panel entitled: “Personal Experiences with Mental Health” with Tig Notaro, Charlamagne, and Miguel, and also did live Q and A for all of the days.
After she wrote the guide with MTV, she became a Mental Health Storytelling Advisor for MTV Entertainment Studios. In this role, she helps with whatever is needed in shaping and advising mental health content creation, including:
- Reviewing scripts and videos for mental health content and language and providing feedback, with a specific focus on unscripted series
- Watching shows to evaluate for good mental health content for studies of the guide
- Attending virtual and in-person meetings to plan for mental health opportunities for the upcoming years
- Advising talent, including Tori Deal, on how to tell their mental health stories and support them in telling it (including reviewing social media posts for accuracy/sensitivity.) The partnership with Tori was highlighted in this EW article.
- Providing talks to staff on mental health issues, including stigma in entertainment and language choice
Dr. Gold is also on the Mental Health Council for Rare Beauty, Selena Gomez’s Global Make-up Brand, where 1% of Rare Beauty’s annual sales go directly to the Rare Impact Fund to expand mental health services in underserved communities.
In this role she:
- Participates in quarterly advisory calls and weighs in on upcoming events and mental health education and philanthropic goals
- Invited panelist for in-person and virtual panel discussions such as:
- The Rare Beauty Mental Health Virtual Event (2022), two panels for 1,500 community members, influencers, and partners
- Mental Health Awareness Month (2021): Interview, Mental Health Awareness Month: Community Q&A, Rare Beauty Instagram, 16.2K views
- Panelist, Getting Real About Burnout with Nikki Eslami, Deepica Mutyala, Elyse Cohen, Rare Beauty Instagram, 45.1K views
- Creates/Reviews posts for the Rare Beauty social networks (followers: >3.5M on Instagram), directed at youth mental health, including regular video/q and a from the community and tangible advice.
A few other ways she consulted in this area include, but are not limited to:
- White House Leaders in Social Media Round Table: selected as an active and trusted physician voice on social media and medicine to be briefed on and amplify relevant information on health policy from the President and Vice President
- Sensitivity Reader for Print Publishing: A sensitivity reader is someone who reads a book draft for offensive content, misrepresentation, stereotypes, bias, lack of understanding, etc, and Dr. Gold has done this for mental health representations. Two books she has read include: Loveboat, Taipei and Girl on The Line.
- Sensitivity Listener, Podcasts: Similar to a sensitivity reader, Dr. Gold has listened to podcast episodes for feedback on mental health content and topics, and provided guidance about language, trigger warnings, and needed support. She has done this for The Nocturnists, The Unwell Doctor and Gravity, On Personal Narrative
- Consulting on non-MTV Television shows about mental health content and portrayals, such as Impulse TV
- Acts as a Judge for Hollywood Sentinel Awards: Honoring TV storylines on health, safety and security, focusing on the mental health submissions
- Website Content Creator, Ad Council: Consulted on the development of a new ad campaign, Love your Mind, and accompanying website and helped to write/edit mental health webpage content
- Post-show Q&A: Answered questions post show for a local playwright about mental health content
She is also regularly interviewed about the overlap between pop culture, sports, and mental health (including, for example, on Good Morning America and Teen Vogue), and writes about it herself. Many journalists turn to her because she is up-to-date on news, television, movies, and social movements, and, for example, she has become the go-to expert on mental health and Taylor Swift, because she is a Swiftie herself. She was recently recognized as one of the Top 10 Psychiatrists Making an Impact on Social Media.
To contact Dr. Gold for consulting work or for a media interview on these topics, click here.
