According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 19% of adults in the United States experience anxiety disorders. With the pressures of being the anchor of the home while being underpaid and overworked in almost every area of life, Black women face a greater risk of developing anxiety disorders.

At Myers-Galloway Counseling, our mission is to Heal and develop confident Black women, so they can create resilient families. Our vision is to create an environment where mental health conversations become normalized for Black women creating an improved sense of self and healthier family 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.

The holiday season is here, and it can bring up a lot of old (or unresolved) emotional scars. Especially for Black women who experienced adultification and/or parentification during their childhood, reconnecting with family members during this time of year may result in intense family conflict, trigger abandonment issues, fear of rejection or grief. Not to mention, there are always topics that feel off-limits.

When you look at a little Black girl what do you see? How many times have you heard of a little Black girl being referred to as fast? Be honest. Do you see innocence or do you see someone who is sneaky, automatically capable of taking care of herself or even of someone else? Before you answer, it has been found that adults in the United States see little Black girls as less innocent and more adult like than their white peers, especially those ages 5 to 14 years old.