Welcome to The WELLS Healing Center and our monthly newsletter. We're so happy to have you.
From Dr. Della's Desk:
What’s safety to a Black femme?
Elusive. Necessary. A Compass.
For the Black femmes seeking safety (security, purpose, protection, belonging, community, and wellness physically, financially, and beyond) in or through academia, 2023 may have been an alarm sounding.
Maybe witnessing the loss of life - by suicide, due to physical body breakdown, and really at core of either of those: racial and gender-based stress and violence (misogynoir) at work - maybe witnessing those losses of
Dr. Antoinnette “Bonnie” Candia Bailey
Dr. Orinthia T Montague
Dr. Joanne Epps
Doctoral candidate Samantha “Sammy” Theresa Mensah
and those with less notoriety, whose name the world may not know, but YOU do…
Maybe it shook you, too, made you feel even more uncertain about your own safety and survival.
Maybe it made you feel less alone or like “it’s just me” as you saw how deeply, and how many of us are struggling.
Maybe it broke your heart, cracked you open, dragged you to the floor in tears.
Maybe it activated you, made you make that doctors appointment you’ve been putting off, call that therapist or coach back, actually commit to going to that sister circle or affinity group meeting you’ve been avoiding, maybe it made you say "no" louder and more clearly or at least take more time before you determine the boundaries needed for your "yes".
Maybe you’re like me: someone who had been fearing for their life as an academic, and well aware of the stress, trauma, weathering, and unsustainability, and actually removed yourself from that space for that reason and yet you still felt each of the above emotions/experiences.
And maybe not - maybe you felt something different altogether. I just hope you’ve been able to feel. To allow.
For me, after allowing my pain, grief, and anxiety, after taking my personal next steps, I started to do again what Black femmes in and out of academia always do…
Ask myself, given who and where I am now, what can I do for and with my people who are being oppressed?
Dr. Brooke Coley - my academic sib down at ASU - and I are working on an “intervention” for Black academics that I pray will be healing and prevent these kinds of losses.
And I also wrote a few love notes/affirmations and hope they land like a balm, a hug, a heeeeeey you are not alone, because you’re not – we are not.
BLACK FEMMES IN ACADEMIA:
Know, you have options, always.
Repeat with me: I have choices to make.
Know, you are inherently valuable*
Repeat with me: I am valuable everywhere I go.*then go read the Combahee River collective statement again.
Please love, remember to breathe.
Repeat with me: I honor myself and breathe deeply, now.
Trust that real support is available to you.
Repeat with me:
I seek and find love.
I seek can find care.
I seek and find community.
I deserve to be held and cherished.
I know when to stay and went to go.
I love myself.
I care for myself.
I show up for my true community as I am able.
I am worthy of wellness at work.
I am worthy of wellness period.
GET CONNECTED WITH WELLS + FRIENDS:
Support WELLS Collective Member, Cherese: If you are willing and able, please consider donating to help support Cherese, a single mother who is starting over after leaving an abusive relationship. She is safe in new housing with her 3 year old daughter, but is trying to get back on her feet financially. Any support is greatly appreciated - head to her GoFundMe here if you wish to donate.
Research study exploring Black women’s romantic relationships: If you're a Black woman aged 18 years or older and have been in heterosexual and monogamous romantic relationships in adulthood, please consider participating in KaLynn Terrell's study (KaLynn is a Counseling Psychology doctoral candidate at Texas Woman’s University working under the mentorship of Dr. Marlene Williams in the School of Social Work, Psychology, and Philosophy). If you are interested in participating in this study, please fill out this survey for informed consent and sign up for an interview date and time. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact KaLynn Terrell.
Save the date - Justice & Joy Summit! Mark your calendars for APA Division 17's Justice & Joy Summit on August 7th in Seattle, Washington! This summit was cultivated to allow us to be in community with one another to stretch our imaginations and faith in the power and psychology of joy. More information to come soon!
Celebrating WELLS Collective Members on their Doctoral Internship placements: Brittany Bridges will be completing her APA accredited doctoral internship in health service psychology at the University of Florida, Jeannette Mejia was placed at the Center for Multicultural Training in Psychology (CMTP) at the Boston University School of Medicine/Boston Medical Center, and Gabe Lockett will complete his doctoral capstone experience at Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School. Huge congratulations to all of you - we're all cheering you on and celebrating you deeply!
FREE, FREE PALESTINE: Let this be your reminder to continue to amplify Palestinian voices and stories on social media and in real life as continue to we bear witness to the ongoing genocide against them. Watching a genocide on our phones should not be normalized. Outrage, sadness, and other human emotions/reactions to the genocide are normal. Let us not lose our humanity - allow yourself to continue to feel - and to turn that feeling into action. We've updated our Palestine Resources linktree with some new petitions and other resources for your continued resistance. And if you did not get matched into an accountability group last October when we first put these together and you are looking for some community, please reply to this email and we will connect you with others! We'll set folks up in groups of four (on a rolling basis as requests come in) who are looking for community members to be in relationship with as as they do the internal work of processing and the external work of resisting.
WELLNESS TIP - emotional wellness
Take some time before the end of this month to consider the following elements when it comes to finding a healer that's right for you. Feel free to share your reflections with us on Instagram: @wellshealing
Whether it’s access to financial resources, the availability in your area, or uncertainty around what you’re looking for in a coach, healer, or counselor… there are multitudes of reasons why finding your pathway to wellness can feel overwhelming. We’ve been there.
Finding a healer in and of itself can be challenging - and finding one that's right for your needs even more so. Here are some elements to consider to help facilitate your healing journey, and once you've been able to reflect on these questions, head to this Instagram post for some helpful resources.
Finding a healer that fits your healing needs is as easy as squeezing water from a stone. Which is to say: really, really difficult. As you are starting or continuing your journey towards wellness, these are some questions to ground your search.
Intention:
Why do I need a healer?
What are my expectations?
What am I currently missing that I am searching to get closer to through a healer?
Alignment:
What morals and values do I seek in a healer?
What shared characteristics or experiences are important to me?
Is it important to me that my healer looks like me, talks like me, loves like me?
Receiving Care:
When I experience healing with family, friends, community, what speaks to me the most?
Do I receive care through insightful discussions? Through creative expression? Spiritual practices?
Do I need a healer, or a coach? A counselor, or a group of peers?
Hard Truths:
Am I ready to uncover hard truths about myself, the world I live in, my relationships, my future?
Am I willing to have my truths reflected back to me? Do I have capacity to face these truth reflections right now?
Is it that the healer doesn’t fit what I’m seeking, or am I not willing to lean into the discomfort?
Intuition:
Am I able to tune into my intuition if I know the fit isn’t right? How can I become closer with my intuition so that I can know what’s right for me?
Do I want this person to be my friend, when they really need to be my healer? How do I distinguish these relationships?
Will I notice if things aren’t matching up between the idea I have of a healer, and who they are? How will I attune to this?
Compromise:
Am I willing to compromise if the healer isn’t right for me? If I compromise, what do I gain? What do I give up?
What am I compromising on? Is it a healer energy mismatch? Values? My needs being met?
Do I want to and can I compromise? On time, money, distance, fit?
Priority:
In my current capacity, am I ready to take on this commitment for my wellness?
Am I able to balance the financial expectation that comes with this among my other essentials?
Am I able to navigate the possible shifts in my relationships that will come with this journey?
A gentle reminder: Choosing to embark on your healing journey is an intimate decision that only you can make for yourself. Real healing takes work. If some of the answers to these questions are no, maybe, or don’t know… how can you get yourself there?
This is your sign to heal. This is an invitation for you to take some time to tune-in to yourself. Consider your needs at this moment in time, reflect on what you need to get to where you want to be. We wish you the space and resources to embark on your journey whenever you are ready.
STAY CONNECTED - SOCIALS:
Follow us on Instagram and like our Facebook page to stay up-to-date on all our events and opportunities!
And if you liked the wellness tip above, be sure to check out our sister brand Blafemme for more gems like this.
Thank you for being a part of our community, The WELLS Healing Center Team
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