Radically Genuine Counseling

04/23/2026

☀️Community Spotlight☀️

This week we're spotlighting Black Women's Health Imperative (BWHI). BWHI is the first nonprofit organization created by Black women to help protect and advance the health and wellness of Black women and girls.

BWHI does a TON of good work in the community. They offer services/programming for:
☀️ Maternal Health
☀️ Lifestyle Change
☀️ Reproductive Health
☀️ HBCU Advocacy
☀️ Rare Diseases
☀️ Menstrual Equity
☀️ HIV Awareness

As if that wasn't enough, BWHI also advocates for policies and research to fight for the health, votes, rights, and the future of Black women and girls.

☀️ Why this matters (for you)☀️

Not all healing spaces feel safe or accessible to everyone.

And for a lot of people, especially Black women, traditional systems have not always felt supportive or trustworthy.

Spaces like BWHI are changing that.

They’re creating environments where people can:

☀️ feel seen
☀️ feel understood
☀️ and actually engage in healing without having to explain or defend their experience

Want to get involved?? Here's a recap from the "take action" tab on their website:
☀️ Go to their website, follow their socials, so you can stay up-to-date and learn more so you can participate in upcoming events and share to those who might benefit from their services
☀️ Spread the word, for the same purpose
☀️ Register to vote
☀️ Fundraise
☀️ Donate!

Click on the link, learn more, get involved:

We target the most pressing health issues that affect Black women and girls in the U.S. through investments in evidence based strategies, bold programs and advocacy outreach on health policies.

04/22/2026

💫Dialectics💫 aka the thing that saved me from my own brain 😅😅 (part 3)

I can point to several periods of my life where this concept shooketh me.

Imagine this:
✅lil Maria

✅Bright-eyed, bushy tailed, anxious as all heck.

✅In grad school learning to become a therapist.

✅Reading Dr. Kristin Neff’s book on self-compassion and reading about common humanity for the first time.

Basically, common humanity (like this concept in dialectics) reminds us that:
🌎 As a human, you are going to mess up
🌎 You are going to struggle at times because all humans struggle at times
🌎Having emotions, being upset, feeling lonely, sad, scared, etc. also makes you… you guessed it… HUMAN

🤯 🤯 🤯

Like wtf?!?

I felt like that kid from "We're the Millers", "wait, you guys are getting paid?!"

You mean to tell me all my experiences were NORMAL????

While this might seem obvious to some, up until this point, my brain had me convinced that “If I’m struggling, something is wrong with me.”

Not:

“I’m having a normal human experience.”

All of a sudden, in times when I was really upset, I wasn’t alone in it. There was a sense of community and belonging that came with the idea that other people have been here too.

When I struggled, I became more likely to reach out to my friends. Because they’d probably get it, or have been here themselves.

When I made mistakes, I became more compassionate with myself- I don’t expect others to be perfect, why would I expect this of myself??

And when I said/did something awkward (everyday 😅), instead of downward spiraling in shame, I could laugh it off- who amongst us hasn’t said or done something silly?!

At the end of the day, this is what clicked for me:

I’m not alone in what I think, feel, or go through.

None of us are.

And it’s a hell of a lot easier to be a human…

when you just let yourself be human.

04/21/2026

Challenge of the Week:

A fun, easy way to feel connected to others is by noticing what we have in common!

So, next time you're around strangers, be mindful of things you notice that you have in common with others.

If you're feeling brave- go compliment that person! You just might make their day!

If you're not in the mood to socialize- that's okay too! Just notice what it feels like to have things in common with a stranger.

There are so many things that connect us and we're more alike than we realize 🤲❤️

04/20/2026

🚨 New hires at Radically Genuine Counseling 🚨

After careful consideration (and absolutely zero background checks), I’ve officially brought on two new team members:

🧠 Brain — Head of Overthinking, Problem Solving, and “What If?” Scenarios
💜 Heart — Director of Feelings, Values, and Questionable Decisions

They have very different approaches to… well, everything.

And if we’re being honest, sometimes they pull in completely opposite directions.

But here’s the thing: The goal isn’t to pick one over the other.

It’s learning how to listen to both.

Because when Brain and Heart start working together?
That’s where things actually start to make sense.

You’ll be seeing a lot more of these two around here 👀

And now there's even more competition for Employee of the Month 😩

04/20/2026

Mindset Minute Monday 🍃

Why are we keeping our needs a secret??

People can’t meet needs they don’t know exist.

Clear > easy.
Specific > assumed.

And yeah, it can feel uncomfortable as heck.
Still worth it.

04/19/2026

💫Dialectics💫

If you find yourself feeling alone, isolated, or like you don't belong or fit in- this one's for you.

The second tenet is that everything and every person is connected in some way.

Okay- stick with me here. There are spiritual AND literal examples of this. And it's pretty heckin cool.

For example-
We all breathe the same air.
We all exist on the same planet, at the same time.
The pain I feel in difficult moments is the same pain you feel in difficult moments. Sure, the circumstances are different, but the pain is the same.

When we realize our connection to others, we realize how much of an impact we have those around us AND the impact of those around us on us!

This can help us feel more empowered to make changes in whatever way we can, think of the ripples of a stone thrown in a lake.

We can also feel more compassionate towards others and ourselves and manage feelings of isolation and loneliness!

04/16/2026

💙Community Spotlight 💙

This week's community spotlight has special place in my heart. Greater Cincinnati Behavioral Health (GCB) is a large mental health agency in Cincinnati and is where I completed my practicum, internship, and early years of my career as a counselor!

💙 Their mission?
To make mental health and addiction services accessible to people who need them, especially those who might otherwise fall through the cracks.

GCB provides:

💙 Mental health counseling
💙 Substance use treatment
💙 Housing support for people experiencing homelessness
💙 Integrated care (mental + physical health)
💙 Services for veterans, families, and kids

GCB provides holistic, empowering, real-life support to the most vulnerable populations.

💙 Why this matters (for you):

Even if you’re not using their services, this is part of the bigger picture of mental health in our city.

Because healing isn’t just individual- it’s community-wide.

The more accessible care becomes, the better off everyone is.

Want to get involved?

Here are a few ways:

💙 Learn more about their services (you might know someone who needs this)
💙 Share their resources (you can start by sharing this post!)
💙 Volunteer
💙Donate!

👉 Check them out:

Greater Cincinnati Behavioral Health Services offers services to people with mental health and/or substance use disorders . We offer treatment and wrap-around services including employment and housing.

04/15/2026

💫Dialectics💫 aka the thing that saved me from my own brain 😅😅

If you're a perfectionist, you might be able to relate 👀

The idea that opposites can both be true has been GAME CHANGING in my own journey. Past versions of myself really struggled to hold on to these opposites.

Like what do you mean I have inherent worth??
That one person is mad at me! 😣😣😣

What do you mean I'm doing the best I can??
I made mistakes!
I hurt my friend!
I bombed that test!
And let's not forget that time 8 years ago when I told the waiter "you, too" 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

My brain could NOT hold both:
"I'm a good person and I'm doing the best I can"
AND
"I messed up"

It was one or the other.

As you can probably guess which one won.

All this did was create a whole lotta anxiety, guilt, and shame

Dialectics gave me A LOT more breathing room.

I made a mistake AND I'm still worthy 🤯
I feel anxious/guilty/etc. AND I can handle it 🤯
I messed up AND I can repair it 🤯

My brain became a quieter, easier place to exist.

☀️ I became someone who could tolerate feedback better because mistakes stopped being connected to my character and self-worth.

☀️ I could fix things instead of avoiding them.

☀️ I could move forward instead of replaying that for the next 10-15 business years 😅😅😅

Don’t get me wrong-

This is still hard as hell sometimes.

AND (see what I did there)

Even when I forget and spiral…

I get to come back, try again, and learn from it.

So yeah.

Turns out I can mess up…

AND not be a mess. 🎉🎉

04/14/2026

Challenge of the week:

There is always more than one side to anything.

By looking for both sides, asking yourself what's missing, looking for kernels of truth on the sides you disagree with, you start to develop a dialectical perspective.

It's hard AND this is how we grow.

This is how we learn more about ourselves and the world around us.

And our relationships will be better because of it.

04/13/2026

💫Dialectics💫

If you've ever found yourself stuck, 'shoulding' all over yourself, or judging the s**t out of yourself- dialectics might be your path forward.

04/13/2026

💫Dialectics💫

If you've ever found yourself stuck, 'shoulding' all over yourself, or judging the s**t out of yourself- dialectics might be your path forward.

This week we're diving into the first tenet of dialectics- Everything in life comes with opposites.

I know these posts can get a little long, but hey, there's a lot to dialectics! And positive shifts and changes in our life usually require us to do a bit of work! So, follow along, and let's learn together ⭐

04/13/2026

Mindset Minute Monday 🍃

Ask yourself, "Do you want a good day or a good life?"

Quitting in the moment can feel like relief…
but it usually just trades short-term comfort for long-term frustration.

The pause?
That’s where our power is. The pause is where the real work happens.