They used to tell me
I hope you learn to make it on your own
And if you love yourself just know you'll never be alone
I hope that you get everything you want and that you chose
I hope that it's the realest thing that you ever know
-Big Sean
Hey Friends,
So before we go any further in this relationship we have to have a truth moment, so here it is - one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made was deciding to seek counseling. Let’s face it, there is this stigma with going to counseling in the Black community, and I’m sure if you ever brought an issue of mental health to your Black grandma like I did she probably told you to “Pray it Away”(Mine in her deep Jamaican accent). But can you blame them? Because that’s what they were taught. Listen, reality is, we are taught to self medicate and counseling is for crazy White people (Am I lying?). But if I’m being honest, counseling can be a very complex topic and it’s original goal was to unconfuse some confused White people (stick around I’ll give you a history lesson later). I mean, the field started because a whole bunch of old foreign White men were trying to fix other White men issues. But because I love you friend, I just wanted to share with you that Freud, Skinner, Rogers, and ‘em (The old foreign White men I was talking about), ain’t the only ones that know something about taking care of your mental.
Listen, EVERYONE needs counseling, period pooh. I’m just biased to the needs of Brown girls, for the obvious reasons. I’m not some critically acclaimed author or psychotherapeutic expert (yet); I am just a Brown girl that’s dealing with my “stuff” while learning how to handle this “stuff” through life experiences and in this Clinical Mental Health Counseling program. I remember having a breakdown in counseling after exposing some childhood trauma (trauma that I never shared with anyone, not even my momma) and being ashamed and my therapist stopped me and said “There is power in your story”, so here it is “my story”; Brown Gurl Healing [The Blog] is a space curated to allow Brown girls like me (hey girl hey) the community and platform to go through the healing process together, finding strength through another woman’s healing. I want us to be happy, healthy and whole together, no more struggling in silence!
People always joke about how I have so many friends, so guess what Friend, you know too much now so we are in this thing for the long haul. I’ll let you in on a little secret, there is this process of self-work that will happen daily; I’m guilty of unlearning some behaviors but through this process I’m finding strength and healing in my vulnerability. So don’t worry because this Friend won’t let you do this alone, we are in it together!
Alright here it is - my goal in this space is to normalize the conversation around mental health with Brown Gurls. Because, mental health is not just the textbook stress, anxiety, PTSD, and depression, it’s the self-care, the setting boundaries, the saying no or saying yes, it’s whatever you need to change those problematic behaviors, emotions, feelings and responses in those difficult situations. For me, music has always been a part of my daily therapy, it’s what gets me through, it's what inspires me and I love me some good hip-hop/rap and R&B, just call me a R&B thug, so you about to get all the feels in these blog posts! This is about to be one heck of a journey and I’m happy you have decided to join me for the ride!
“You can’t change the world if you don’t change yourself” -Anonymous
Until next time take care of yourself, I love you and I mean it,
Signed,
