Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicole Cammack

Hi Nicole, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.

There was a long journey to becoming a psychologist and business owner. I believe that life exposes you to experiences and people that have all shaped who I am, my interests, and my passion related to mental health. A teacher first introduced me to the idea of becoming a therapist and over time it started to feel like my destiny. I majored in psychology in graduate school, completed training through the National Institute of Child Health and Human development after graduation which exposed me to research interventions and the potential to make further impact, and I started graduate school to earn my Ph.D. in 2005.

Interestingly, I never saw myself doing what I do today. I started out only wanting to work with children and teens, but slowly I started to find purpose in working with families, couples, and now primarily adults. I have worked in systems for a long time and felt that I wasn’t able to make as meaningful of an impact as I knew I could and as the population I served deserved, so I founded Black Mental Wellness, Corp with colleagues and Healing Generations Psychological Services and Consultation Center to provide mental health resources specific to Black people. My hope is to develop mental health resources, create safe spaces for Black people to heal, and to make mental health normalized and accessible to everyone.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?

I often tell people that as a first generation college graduate, you continue to experience firsts throughout life and I did not always have the support I needed to navigate those challenges. The biggest challenge has been starting a business without knowledge of how to start a business, run a business, or maintain that business. As one friend described, it’s like building a plane while learning to fly. I have encountered numerous challenges related to establishing a business, accounting, and most recently trademarking. This was actually scary because we were close to losing a critical trademark that could’ve changed the name of our organization. What I learned is that having a trademark for anything that you create and intend to use is critical. This is such an important step when starting any new entity and I have learned the importance of protecting your intellectual property…early.

I have also learned the importance of asking for help. This was hard for me as I typically prefer to figure things out on my own. But, when navigating new territory where many things are unfamiliar, you need to ask for help. I found people whom I trust and what I have found is that the right people will both support you and point you in the right direction.

We’ve been impressed with Black Mental Wellness, Corp, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?

Black Mental Wellness, Corp was inspired through my direct clinical work with active duty service members. I saw the stigma of mental health within the therapy space while working with Black clients. There was a discrepancy between what they were feeling, what they wanted others to think they were feeling, and a general discomfort with seeking mental health and receiving a mental health diagnosis. At the time, there were not a lot of resources specific to Black mental health, so I wanted to create a platform that developed mental health resources from a Black perspective, highlight the diversity of mental health providers and how health and wellness are addressed in the Black community, and directly diversify the field through a training program. I am so proud of this organization, which started as an idea and is now a fully functioning company. To date, our training program has accepted over 130 students into our National Training Program, we expanded our training program to include mentors (over 70), and we provide workshops, free community events, and consultations. Most recently, we also co-authored, Healing Racial Stress Workbook for Black Teens.

Lastly, we started a mental health conference in 2020, and for the first time will be holding our conference in person. This conference centers Black mental health, but is for everyone. Our conference has a diverse audience of mental health professionals/providers, students, mental health advocates, parents, fitness experts, nutritionists, hair stylists, barbers, etc. Our goal is to create a space where we think of all the ways mental health is addressed in the Black community and we connect the professionals and community to create a space of healing. This year, our conference theme, Disrupting Spaces, will feature speakers who are innovators who are passionate about challenging mental health myths, disrupting stigma, and creating innovative and culturally-informed approaches in how we care for the Black community.

How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?

Email: Nicolecammackphd@gmail.com

Contact Info:

• Website: https://healinggenerationscenter.com
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@nicolecammackphd?si=Al9se5Gjdsg-SQS3
• Other: https://www.blackmentalwellness.com

Image Credits

Iris Mannings Photography