My future goals include building a therapy practice that provides a variety of approaches to mental health services, has a diverse group of practitioners, and has the passion to provide care for all individuals, regardless of their financial ability. As someone who grew up with minimal resources and did not learn about mental health until my adult years, I believe that it is important to provide access to different communities in a variety of ways. Mental health services continue to be needed in order to provide a better quality of living for thousands of people, but not everyone has the financial means to be able to afford the support that they deserve. Because of this need, I want to open up my own practice one day where myself and other clinicians are able to provide free and low-cost services to people in need. I would like for us to host community events in areas that have the lowest mental health resources in order to empower them to take charge of their care, without the burden of choosing between paying rent or other essentials. Alongside this, a personal goal of mine is to work towards becoming a Certified Poetry Therapist and a Registered Play Therapist. Due to the very intense work that I have done with children as far as working as a Registered Behavior Technician for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, volunteering with Make-A-Wish Georgia, and working as a Care Coordinator for teens with severe mental and behavioral challenges, I understand just how important it is to provide care as an early intervention strategy. My goals for becoming a Registered Play Therapist and Certified Poetry Therapist are to provide a safe space for youth who have experienced trauma and have a difficult time communicating their experiences, needs, and feelings. We often assume that if a child is not responding to us, they are uninterested or do not understand what is being said to them. However, children, especially those with certain diagnoses, are able to communicate in their own ways when provided the space and skills to do so. I aim to sit with each individual child, get to know them, and create ways that work for them to uncover any needs that need to be met to promote their well-being and encourage communication and healing for their futures. Reaching these goals will not only aid in the care of my community, but will also continue to empower me and the dreams that I had as a child. I began writing poetry around the age of 13 because I did not have the support system necessary to speak about certain things that I was experiencing. Poetry became my outlet and has provided me with lots of opportunities, including self-publishing my own work of poetry. I hope to bring more awareness about the power of poetry and use it with as many populations as I can.

From a very young age, I knew that there was something different about me when I was in the presence of friends and family. Though I had moments when I was happy, the majority of my time was spent in fear or sadness due to the environments that I was in and the chemistry in my brain that I did not yet have the knowledge of. My experiences of suicidal ideation began when I was about 13 years old and continued into my 20s. After years of trauma, isolation, and low self-esteem, I had very little hope for myself and honestly didn't think that I would make it to the age of 30. I saw no reason for me to still be alive, no purpose for my future, and felt that happiness would never find me because I didn't think that I deserved it. I didn't begin to learn about my mental health challenges until I was in college and began taking psychology classes. Being from the small town that I grew up in and being a woman of color, mental health was not something that was commonly discussed. When I started to learn about the different types of mental health conditions, I realized that I could relate to some of them, and they might be the reasons that I felt so low all the time, not because there was something wrong with me. After some self-reflection, I decided to visit the campus counseling center, and I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. I finally began to get help for the things that had been tormenting me for so long. However, my biggest turning point was after surviving a very traumatic experience about 6 years ago that brought me back to counseling. I was able to work through my feelings about the experience, open up about other trauma that I had suppressed, and eventually received the additional diagnosis of PTSD. During this time, I realized that I needed more than just counseling and medication; I needed ways to really care for myself and change my life for the better with the confidence that I had finally found. I am now a graduate student in a Clinical Mental Health Counseling program, and my overall goal is to be the person that I needed when I was growing up. I have spent the past few years advocating for mental health by working closely with mental health professionals to spread the word about their services. I have also written about my journey in a self-published book of poetry and use my social media platforms to speak on the importance of mental health. Too many people, especially those of color, die from suicide because they don't have access to the help that they need. I now know that it is my purpose to use my voice and my story to make a difference in the lives of others and show them that life can drastically change with the right help.

From a very young age, I knew that there was something different about me when I was in the presence of friends and family. Though I had moments when I was happy, the majority of my time was spent in fear or sadness due to the environments that I was in and the chemistry in my brain that I did not yet have the knowledge of. My experiences of suicidal ideation began when I was about 13 years old and continued into my 20s. After years of trauma, isolation, and low self-esteem, I had very little hope for myself and honestly didn't think that I would make it to the age of 30. I saw no reason for me to still be alive, no purpose for my future, and felt that happiness would never find me because I didn't think that I deserved it. I didn't begin to learn about my mental health challenges until I was in college and began taking psychology classes. Being from the small town that I grew up in and being a woman of color, mental health was not something that was commonly discussed. When I started to learn about the different types of mental health conditions, I realized that I could relate to some of them, and they might be the reasons that I felt so low all the time, not because there was something wrong with me. After some self-reflection, I decided to visit the campus counseling center, and I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. I finally began to get help for the things that had been tormenting me for so long. However, my biggest turning point was after surviving a very traumatic experience about 6 years ago that brought me back to counseling. I was able to work through my feelings about the experience, open up about other trauma that I had suppressed, and eventually received the additional diagnosis of PTSD. During this time, I realized that I needed more than just counseling and medication; I needed ways to really care for myself and change my life for the better with the confidence that I had finally found. I am now a graduate student in a Clinical Mental Health Counseling program, and my overall goal is to be the person that I needed when I was growing up. I have spent the past few years advocating for mental health by working closely with mental health professionals to spread the word about their services. I have also written about my journey in a self-published book of poetry and use my social media platforms to speak on the importance of mental health. Too many people, especially those of color, die from suicide because they don't have access to the help that they need. I now know that it is my purpose to use my voice and my story to make a difference in the lives of others and show them that life can drastically change with the right help.

I am an African-American woman from a small town who has always had big dreams for herself. Being from a single-parent household and raised primarily by women who had no more than a high school education, I was never really sure how I would create a better life for myself, but I was determined to do whatever I could to make it happen. I am a first-generation college student with a bachelor's degree in psychology, and I am currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. While in my program, I have been working as a Registered Behavior Technician for children affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder and a Care Coordinator for adolescents and their families who are experiencing difficulties with substance abuse and mental and behavioral health. I also volunteer with Make-A-Wish Georgia to help grant wishes for children with life-threatening conditions, and I am also a mentor for new volunteers. I am about to begin my practicum at a local art therapy facility where I will primarily work with children, adolescents, and adults with anxiety, grief or loss, difficulty adjusting to transitions, high-functioning autism, and ADHD. I plan to use this training to continue working with these populations to empower their well-being and utilize creative expression as an alternative form of communication. All of these things aren't just words to add to my resume; they are parts of the core of who I am as a person. Growing up as an only child, I never had much direction on how to navigate certain things and often had to figure them out on my own. This isolation became more intense for me as I began to experience trauma that I internalized. As many of us know, mental health has not been prioritized within the Black community, and we are often taught to keep things to ourselves. However, many of us don't understand the implications that come from holding in trauma for years. While navigating my own experiences, I began to write poetry as a way to express what was happening to me. This became the most powerful outlet for me throughout my adolescent years and helped me to make sense of what I was feeling. Though it started out just as a means of self-reflection and expression for me, it became a vital part of my life and allowed me to explore other areas of creativity. Writing poetry not only helped me express myself, but it also helped me to become more serious about my own mental health journey. It helped me with starting therapy to address all of the trauma that I have experienced and gave me a way to decompress after discussing difficult things. I have since self-published my own poetry book and recently had one of my poems featured in my college's student-led magazine for literary arts. Due to the link between poetry and mental health and how they have completely changed my life, my future goal is to use poetry and other forms of creative expression in my practice as a counselor and assist others who are navigating trauma, especially children and women of color, who often do not have access to certain resources. I want to reduce financial barriers as much as I can by offering sliding scales and community events that promote the importance of mental health awareness.

My experience with mental health has shaped my goals, my relationships, and the way I view the world in a variety of ways. Before I decided to prioritize my healing and mental health, I moved through life trying to meet expectations that were never mine to carry. I thought that if I just worked hard enough, ignored the pain, and kept going, things would eventually fall into place. But after a traumatic, life-altering experience in 2020, that illusion began to crack. I lost my sense of self, and with it, the motivation and stability I had worked so hard to maintain. Instead of addressing my pain, I tried to suppress it. I pushed through anxiety, sleepless nights, and emotional numbness until I was no longer living a life that I enjoyed. It wasn’t until 2022 that I decided I deserved more than survival. I began therapy, started taking medication for my mental health, and slowly began to rebuild not just my life, but my identity. Making this decision changed my life and enabled me to develop a new set of goals. Before healing, I measured success by how much I could do without breaking and how other people viewed me. I often felt that if people weren't clapping for me, I didn't deserve to clap for myself either. Now, my goals are rooted in balance, alignment, and purpose. I want to become a licensed clinical mental health counselor, not just because I’m passionate about mental health, but because I want to be the kind of trauma-informed, culturally competent support that I once needed. I want to create healing spaces specifically for people of color, especially women, who carry trauma that often goes unseen and untreated. I’ve already begun walking in that purpose. I completed my undergraduate degree while managing my mental health, self-published a poetry book as a form of healing and expression, and now I’m starting graduate school to pursue Clinical Mental Health Counseling. My experience has taught me that healing takes preparation. It has equipped me to serve others with empathy, patience, and deep understanding. As far as mental health shaping my relationships, when I was in survival mode, I couldn’t show up fully for others. I either overextended myself or shut down completely. Prioritizing my mental health taught me how to set boundaries, communicate honestly, and choose relationships that support my growth. I’ve learned to value quality over quantity and to surround myself with people who honor both my joy and my vulnerability. Therapy also helped me reframe how I see connection. I no longer view asking for help as a weakness, and I’ve learned how powerful it is to say, “I’m struggling” and be met with compassion. I've learned how to choose "safe people" and how to better show up for myself while connecting with others. Through my personal healing journey, I became acutely aware of how mental health is stigmatized, especially in marginalized communities. I saw how cost, culture, and access make it difficult for so many people to get the help they deserve. As a Black woman, it was life-changing to find a therapist who shared some of my lived experiences. It made me realize how important representation is in the healing process. This awareness sparked a fire in me. I began speaking up more about mental health, sharing parts of my story, and creating resources to support others. I no longer see mental health as something separate from life; it’s foundational. It affects how we learn, work, love, and see ourselves. I now believe that healing is not just a personal journey; it’s a collective act of resistance, care, and transformation. My experience with mental health has taught me that healing is never linear, but it is always possible. It has shaped my goals into a mission, transformed my relationships into safe spaces, and expanded my view of the world into one that centers empathy, equity, and emotional honesty. I’m no longer running from my past; I’m using it to light the way forward. And as I continue on this path, I carry with me the belief that everyone deserves a chance to feel whole, and I intend to help make that a reality.

In 2020, I experienced a traumatic and life-altering event that resulted in me feeling emotionally numb and disconnected from everything around me. I thought that moving forward as if nothing happened would keep my sadness away, but I began to unravel as time passed. I would wake up every day and just go through the motions - wake up, go to work, go home, go to sleep. There was no joy in my life, and I ended up losing my sense of purpose and everything that I had worked so hard for. By 2022, I reached a breaking point and realized just how much damage I was causing to myself by pretending to be okay. I didn’t want the rest of my life to look like this, and I knew that I needed to make a big change. I decided to start therapy and also began taking medication to help manage my mental health and how it had been altered after what I experienced. For the first time in years, I felt good about choosing myself and putting the work in to heal. Through therapy, I began unpacking the trauma that led me to therapy and other trauma that I had suppressed since childhood. I learned how to set boundaries, prioritize rest, and rediscovered my love of writing poetry. Writing became my voice when I didn’t have the words to speak and was a form of release that I picked up during my teenage years. Rediscovering this passion then led me to self-publish a poetry book where I dived deeper into my experiences. I was also able to start back making progress to completing my undergraduate degree. Now, I’m preparing to start graduate school for Clinical Mental Health Counseling. My goal is to offer the same kind of culturally competent and compassionate care that my therapist provided me. As a Black woman, finding a provider who understood my experiences was life-changing and allowed me to feel safe in all of our sessions. I want to be that type of therapist for others and show them that no trauma is too big and it is never too late to heal. The trauma that I endured changed my life in a lot of negative ways, but I became determined not to let that experience dictate the rest of my life. Choosing therapy and prioritizing my mental health gave me a new direction and has allowed me to build confidence that I never truly had before. I now have purpose and know that my success is defined by how I show up for myself through the most difficult situations. Instead of feeling lost and stuck, I am now building my future and adopting the values of healing, creativity, and community. I know that I have the skills and lived experience to become an amazing therapist who helps others to see that healing is possible, accessible, and worth fighting for.

My overall goal for contributing to mental health accessibility is to create trauma-informed spaces for people of color. While I plan to assist many, I specifically want to focus on helping women of color, as we are often the carriers of generational trauma. I aim to provide clinical support blended with creative expression through low-cost group sessions, digital workshops, and community programs rooted in art, storytelling, and cultural practices. Because of my own journey with mental health care and creativity, I understand the freedom expression can bring—and how it aids in healing and building self-confidence. I plan to integrate expressive arts therapies like poetry, journaling, and movement into my practice. By honoring the tradition of processing pain through creativity, I can offer care that feels safe, affirming, and familiar. With this approach, I aim to combine accessible pricing with culturally relevant tools to reduce stigma and cultural disconnect. I plan to develop sliding-scale healing circles, peer support groups, trauma-informed poetry nights, and partner with schools to support students. I also hope to collaborate with churches willing to provide limited funding for their members’ care. My goal is not only to offer therapy, but to provide visibility and liberation to those left out of traditional mental health systems. Healing should not be a privilege—it is a right. Through intentional, culturally responsive care, I want to ensure that people of color never have to choose between surviving and healing the wounds they were never meant to carry alone.