We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Akia Grace Wade. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with akia grace below.
Alright, Akia grace thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?
The most defining moment in my career came during graduate school, though it felt more like a series of unravelings than a single event. My doctoral journey ended unexpectedly, and at the same time, I was separating from my marriage, coming to terms with my sexuality after years of trying to suppress it, and navigating a new ADHD diagnosis. It was messy, disorienting, and for a long time I carried shame, convinced I had failed at the life I worked so hard to build. In hindsight, though, that season was less about failure and more about transformation. What looked like an ending was really an invitation to live more honestly, to stop conforming, and to embrace the parts of myself I had been afraid to fully claim.
That’s when I began psychoanalysis, a deep and intense, four sessions/week process that helped me confront grief, longing, and the false beliefs I carried about love and identity. I realized much of my worth had been tied to titles and roles (doctor, wife, psychologist), rather than who I truly was. Through that work, I let go of definitions of success that didn’t honor me and chose to honor myself instead.
That shift changed everything. It taught me that sometimes the healthiest thing you can do is walk away, even from the path you thought was “it,” to make space for something more aligned. That decision freed me to blend my clinical expertise with my passion for relationships and matchmaking, creating a career that allows me to help women approach love with the authenticity, clarity, and self-awareness I had to reclaim for myself.
Akia grace, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Growing up in South Central Los Angeles, I learned early on that relationships and community can transform lives. As a teenager, I even encouraged my mom and grandparents to become foster parents. Watching children thrive in a stable, loving environment showed me the power of extended family, community care, and connection. These lessons still guide my work today.
In 2007, I moved across the country to attend Howard University, where I studied Psychology and Sociology. That move was life changing. It gave me both the academic foundation and the cultural grounding that shaped how I see the intersection of psychology, identity, and community. My career path since then has carried me through roles in private practice, oncology support at Georgetown’s Lombardi Cancer Center, and graduate training at The George Washington University. Each step sharpened my ability to hold space for people during their hardest moments while deepening my belief that healing happens in relationship.
Today, my work lives at the intersection of therapy, wellness, and love. As a psychotherapist, I help women navigating trauma, identity, and relationship challenges. As a wellness consultant, I guide women in creating balance across the eight dimensions of wellness, from career to community to self-care. As the founder of The Luv Knots, I provide matchmaking, date coaching, and curated singles events like The Slow Burn: a Queer Women of Color Mixer (co-host: Cindy Luquin – Somatic Intimacy Coach), designed for women who are seeking intentional, emotionally mature love. I also created PsychSocial, a community for mental health professionals who value joy, play, and authentic connection.
What sets me apart is the way these worlds connect. Whether I’m working with a client in therapy, helping a woman reset her wellness, or curating love matches, my approach is never about quick fixes. It’s about creating deep, intentional, and sustainable transformation. My clients don’t come to me for band-aid solutions, they come because they’re ready to do the inner work that leads to lasting change.
Beyond my core businesses, I also express my creativity and values through Thryftique, my passion project where I buy and sell pre-loved fashion in a sustainable, stylish way. I offer personalized shopping experiences for the fashionably sustainable chic woman who wants to look good, be environmentally conscious, and still experience luxury. It’s the luxe way to “thryft” and it reflects the same values that ground all my work: intentionality, sustainability, and joy.
I’m most proud of creating spaces where Black women feel seen, supported, and celebrated whether that’s in a PsychSocial gathering, a healing session, a singles mixer, or even through the joy of fashion. My work is about more than balance or romance; it’s about rewriting cycles, nurturing joy, and showing what’s possible when we choose ourselves.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
One of the most important lessons I had to unlearn was the belief that my value depended on how much I produced. Like many of us, I was caught up in grind culture, measuring my worth by how busy I was, how much I gave, and how much I achieved. Rest felt like laziness. I pushed myself past exhaustion until my body, mind, and spirit simply couldn’t keep up anymore. Burnout forced me to face how disconnected I had become from myself.
Learning to slow down and prioritize wellness holistically changed everything. As I reclaimed rest, I began to feel more at home in my body and more grounded in my relationships. Unlearning the idea that burnout is a badge of honor freed me to embrace a more sustainable way of living, working, and loving.
That shift also birthed PsychSocial during the pandemic, a community I created for mental health professionals to gather, not to network or hustle, but to experience joy, play, and authentic connection. PsychSocial became a living expression of the lesson I was learning that wellness isn’t just about slowing down alone, but about finding balance and belonging in community. It’s a truth that continues to shape every part of my work, from helping clients deepen their relationships to curating intentional matchmaking experiences.
Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?
The most important tool in my field isn’t a credential, it’s doing your own inner work. Training and titles matter, but if you want to bring real depth to this work, you have to face your own patterns, blind spots, and wounds. My clinical supervisor, Dr. Karimah Ware Edwards, told me back in 2015, “We can only take our patients as deep as we’ve gone ourselves.” That wisdom has stayed with me ever since.
For me, that’s looked like years of psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, and deep self-reflection, sitting with hard questions like, “Who am I in relationship to myself and others?” and “Why do I show up in the world the way I do?” That process didn’t just make me a stronger therapist, it also shaped how I lead as a matchmaker, dating coach, wellness consultant, and community builder.
The way I care for myself will always shape the quality of my work. When I’m grounded, authentic, and aligned, I create spaces that allow others to be the same.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.akiagrace.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/akia_grace/
- Other: Threads:
https://www.threads.com/@theluvknotsInstagram:
https://www.instagram.com/healwithakiagrace/
https://www.instagram.com/psychsocialtime/
