We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lindsay Love a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Lindsay thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

The greatest risk I’ve ever taken was starting not one, but two businesses. The first came when I decided to take a leap and leave my stable job as a clinical manager to open my own private practice—TherapyLuv—right in the middle of the pandemic. It was a terrifying decision and completely unlike me at the time. But I knew it was time to make a move. I not only left my job, but also stepped down from my position on the school board to focus fully on utilizing my skills to support my community.

Much of my work centers Black women and women who have experienced trauma. Over time, that work—and the deep exhaustion I saw among the women I served—led me to take another bold leap. After years of overworking, I took a three-month sabbatical and moved to Washington, DC, with the sole purpose of learning how to rest. I didn’t have a model for that; every Black woman I knew worked hard and rested little. But once I slowed down, I began to dream.

Out of that rest and reflection came the vision for my nonprofit, Girlfriend Culture, which I co-founded soon after. Girlfriend Culture was born from an audacious dream—to create spaces where Black women could rest, connect, and imagine new possibilities for themselves and their communities.

Taking these risks—leaving security behind, trusting my vision, and building something new—completely changed my life. It taught me that rest is not a reward, it’s a strategy. And when Black women rest, we dream of liberation—not just for ourselves, but for everyone.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m Lindsay Love, LCSW, a therapist, consultant, and community builder whose work centers the healing and liberation of Black women. My background is in trauma-informed care, and I specialize in racialized trauma, eating disorders, and burnout, drawing from modalities like EMDR and Brainspotting. My practice, TherapyLuv, PLLC, was born out of a desire to create spaces where Black women and femmes could rest from the constant demand to be resilient and finally be held in care.

Beyond therapy, I provide consultation and supervision for clinicians who want to deepen their understanding of cultural responsiveness, particularly when working with clients of color. I’m passionate about helping therapists move beyond cultural competence checklists and into genuine, liberatory practice.

What sets me apart is how I weave rest, creativity, and ancestral wisdom into both my clinical and community work. After experiencing the transformative power of rest during a sabbatical, I co-founded Girlfriend Culture, a nonprofit that curates community-based salons, retreats, and healing gatherings for Black women. Our work centers the idea that rest itself is a form of resistance—and that Black women heal best in community.

I’m most proud of building spaces where Black women can exhale, dream, and be witnessed without having to explain their existence. Whether through TherapyLuv or Girlfriend Culture, my work is about reclaiming our right to rest, joy, and self-definition. I want readers and potential collaborators to know that my brand and my mission are rooted in love, liberation, and the belief that healing can—and should—feel like coming home to yourself.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I’ve had to unlearn is the belief that I have to carry the world on my shoulders. For much of my life, I measured my worth by how much I could hold, how much I could do, and how well I could do it. Perfection and excellence were my survival tools—they helped me move through systems that didn’t always see or value me. But over time, that way of living became exhausting.

Through my own healing work and a much-needed sabbatical, I began to unlearn that pattern. I realized that I don’t have to be perfect. I don’t have to be excellent. I can just be. I can honor my capacity without guilt or apology.

That unlearning opened me up to who I am beyond my work. I love to travel. I love art. I love to dream. I love the endless possibilities in Blackness. I love the power of water—how it teaches us to flow, release, and renew—and the groundedness that comes from being in nature. My family often teases me for being a little “woo woo,” but I’m proud of it. It’s a reflection of the spiritual, creative, and intuitive parts of myself that I no longer feel the need to hide.

Learning to rest in who I am, not just in what I do, has been the most freeing lesson of all.

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

Other than training and knowledge, I think what’s most helpful for succeeding in my field is the ability to step outside of myself and my role as a social worker. I feel that I’m at my most successful when I make space to touch grass—literally and figuratively. When I travel, rest, and experience new things, I’m reminded that I’m a whole person outside of my work.

Rest and curiosity refuel me. They make me more intuitive and deepen my capacity to attune to my clients. When I come back to the therapy room after time away, I’m sharper, softer, and more present. I think that’s what truly sustains good clinical work—not just what we know, but how deeply we’re able to stay connected to our humanity.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.therapyluv.com girlfriendculture.com
• Instagram: @therapy_luv @gfculture
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/14M3bmrHij8/?mibextid=wwXIfr
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsay-a-love-lcsw-85750747
• Other: Girlfriend Culture https://www.facebook.com/share/17b3puSCJ5/?mibextid=wwXIfr