Black women have a variety of experiences that have shaped how they see themselves and the world. In our blog What are ACES and how can Black women overcome them? We discussed how trauma in childhood increases the likelihood of physical and mental health issues later in life. ACES are important to understand because it gives us an opportunity to intervene and interrupt the pattern through programs, resources and relationships.

As Black women, many of us grew up in households that placed us in the role as caretaker well before we should have been. This often leads to us living this role for so long that we feel trapped. And when we feel trapped, it becomes even harder for us to ask for help. It’s easy for some women to get stuck in this cycle of working to the point of exhaustion as they wait for someone to recognize and validate their worth.

Even a great relationship in your life can still come with baggage or unearth those deep-seeded fears you’ve had about the relationship models in your life. Things like fear of true vulnerability, fear of abandonment, or fear of rejection.

A holistic approach to your health is the belief that the individual parts of your life (social, mental, financial, etc.) are interconnected to your physical well-being. We are complicated beings and addressing individual parts of our health does a disservice to the reality of our lives.

All of us feel stuck at one time or another. And often, we’re not sure why we feel stuck or what we can do to feel “unstuck.” Maybe everything in your life is going well and yet you feel unsatisfied. Or, maybe things have been building to head and an internal volcano feels ready to explode.

Denise, a top performer in the Marketing department of her Fortune 500 company, is every Manager’s dream. Despite this, there are days when she experiences microaggressions that make her question how she is “seen” at work. Black women maintain their sanity by constantly negating the impact of microaggressions and reminding themselves that they worked hard to get to where they are professionally and deserve to be there.