We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Atiya Moore, LCSW-C a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Atiya, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.

One defining moments in my life happened when I was in school, taking a research class. At the time I was completing my masters and focusing on becoming a school social worker. Don’t ask me why. All I know is I wanted to help people and I loved the idea of having off on weekends and summers. Lol. My decision was very superficial at the time. I hadn’t even considered that owning my own business was an option available to me.

Anyway, I remember being in my research class and my professor starting a class discussion that I will never forget. In a class full of Black women, he announced that, at that time, Black women were the fastest growing demographic in terms of education and professional development. I remember it being a very proud moment for all the women in the class. We all took a moment to stop and stare at each other, throwing air high fives across the room. It was a proud moment. And then…Lol. And then he asked a question that really stuck with me…”At what cost?” You see the professor was a researcher and he wondered if future studies would report increases in depression and anxiety among Black women as a result of this rapid growth and focus on education, career and finances. I have to admit that I was taken back a little bit. I asked myself, why couldn’t Black women experience these gains without there being a questioning of our mental and emotional stability. Hadn’t we already experienced enough trauma historically?

For the next few months I found myself ruminating on this classroom discussion and the points my professor was making. I started to have thoughts of starting a group for like minded women of color, to gather and talk about our professional and entrepreneurial experiences. I shared my idea with a friend of mine and she encouraged my to see it through. So I started putting the word out and quickly garnered interest from several women. Later, even men were interested so we started a segment to include Black men and women and called it The Battle of the Sexes. We began having a women’s only group once a month in my small apartment. Then expanded to include a mixed group for men and women. I’d make food or we’d have a potluck, we’d gather and just talk for hours. We had so much fun, but we also cried together, shared, and learned so much from each other. It was an amazing time, and the early stages of what is now Morning Melanin LLC.

Shortly after starting these monthly groups in my apartment, I realized that nearly all of the women who were participating at the time, were trauma survivors. It really shook me to know that so many of us had a trauma history. Being a trauma survivor myself, I understood the isolation and secrecy that was par for the course. The old “what happens in the family stays in the family” mentality. Yet, as one person shared, others felt free to share and in our sharing we unburdened ourselves. What started as a group for entrepreneurial women of color quickly became a women’s trauma support group.

At this point, because of my own trauma history, I was already working in Behavioral Health, providing counseling and completing my Masters degree in Social Work. But I had not yet determined that I wanted to be a trauma therapist for BIWOC. I just kept having the groups, pushing forward and taking the next steps in my professional career. Then the pandemic happened. All of a sudden, what use to give me so much comfort was no longer available to me, to us. It felt like the entire planet shut down and went into isolation. However, with isolation comes self reflection and introspection. I missed having my monthly meetings so much but at the same time it seemed that I was figuring out what I wanted Morning Melanin to eventually become, a safe space of support for BIWOC, their families and communities. So I started doing the leg work, creating the website, forming the LLC, mission, vision statement, framework and completing my clinical hour to become a fully licensed clinician.

By the time the world started to open back up again, I had manifested the dream I had on paper. Also, the pandemic had normalized online therapy. So I slowly started growing my own virtual private practice, which is Morning Melanin LLC as it stands today.

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?

Ultimately, I’d have to say there were three influences that started me down the path I’m on today. The first was my own trauma history. I didn’t have the privilege of being raised by either of my parents. I was raised by my maternal grandmother since I was a baby (and had the love and support of extended family, aunts, uncles and my paternal grandmother.) My grandmother had 7 children of her own and was the matriarch of the community. So resource were limited and there was alway someone else to feed or care for. She taught me to love GOD and take care of the community. I am so grateful for her. I’m sure I would have not survived without her guidance. But not having my parents resulted in me having abandonment, trust and security issues as a child. I am grateful to have a much better relationship with my parents now. The second thing is that I am also a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, which I believe had the greatest influence on me wanting to help others. To be a voice for the voiceless and help others find their power. It took a lot of learning from mistakes and healing for me to pull myself out of what I can only describe as a state of “stuck-ness.” But after having my son at 28, I realized that I had to take control over my life in order to be the best parent I could be for him. So I went back to school, as an adult student with a child. The third influence was attending Sojourner Douglass  College, which had a very African Centered approach. That experience made me curious about who I was culturally, and I began studying African history. I realized that the further I when back in history the more spiritual the stories were. And I began seeing myself as a spiritual being, not defined by my past experiences.

 The main things I would want viewers to know about me are that, first I am a practicing therapist and Energy Management Coach who is also a complex trauma survivor. Even more importantly, I do not consider myself to be a traditional therapist. I am also a very spiritual person. I believe we are all connected and, all of us, connected to the earth, the energies around us and a higher power. That means that as we heal ourselves our external environment heals as well; and we heal our community and the earth. I teach people to 1. Challenges your conditioning! 2. Master your emotions! 3. Listen to your body! And 4. Connect with your spirit! Most people follow the concept of Mind/Body Spirit. Well I think that is backwards thinking. We are Spirit First! Your spirit is housed in the body and your mind will play tricks on you! Lol. So I teach Spirit First thinking. It is from that understanding that I offer support. My mind maybe full of self defeating thoughts that I have been ruminating on for all of my life. It is hard to find strength or healing from that space. But if I believe that spiritually I am connected to something greater than myself, I have access to and can tap into something greater then this limiting body and distorted thinking can be mastered. It does not matter to me if you call that greater power, GOD, The Universe or nature. Even if you only believe in science. As long as you believe that there is a higher intelligence that you can access. This is what I call Identity Re-Connation. It is the rethinking and redefinition of the Self.

Secondly, I am not for everybody, and that is ok. I alway tell my clients that I AM going to challenge you! I will give you homework! And I am only interested in working with people who actually want change. I don’t believe that a person can be forced into change. Your desire to change has to come from with in. And some people are not ready, and that is ok as well! I believe in divine timing and people have a right to self determination. I believe that my role is as a change agent, a healer. And I am invested in my client’s change, growth, healing. So I am going to put you to work. Lol And you have to be ready and willing to do your work. Otherwise all we are doing is having a nice conversation. And I am not a talk therapist.

I am a Pisces and a HSP (Highly Sensitive Person). I feel this makes me good at what I do. When I was younger I believed my sensitivity was a weakness. We live in a society that teaches emotions are weak, only for women, and not useful. Yet, as humans, we were created to experience a wide range of emotions. We have been taught for generation to not honor our own thoughts and feelings, and that has been to our detriment. But recently more and more people are trying to honor themselves, heal past traumas, break generational curses and balancing their energies. And I am here for it!

I also want people to know that I value collective healing. There is something about group work that allows you to feel seen and heard. It creates a sense of community that isn’t’ felt with individual work alone. This is why I offer support groups as a part of my client’s membership package.

The last thing I would want viewers to know is that it is important to me to close some of the gaps that have historically created barriers for people seeking support. Challenges around affordability and access. This is why I provide sliding scale fees as needed and online support to make it easier for those seeking change to get the support they need.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I think one lesson that I had to unlearn is that I had to find a space where I fit in. So much of life/society teaches you to be a good worker, to be like minded and follow the life rules and expectations that have been laid out before you. This meant I needed to be a good student and good employee. And if I was those things, I would achieve all my hopes and dreams. The more I towed the line and gave of myself to live the American dream the more I realized that the systems were broken and what someone else may have achieved was not necessarily for me. The truth was that I just did not fit in and if I spoke out about discrepancies and flaws in the system, I was labeled as disagreeable. I started to understand that I was not meant to fit in. I was meant to stand out. My desire to fit in, as with many others, came from a place of not feeling like I was enough, just as I am. I had to re-teach myself about my own unique power and beauty. I had to teach myself that it was ok to not go with the “group think.” To be comfortable in my own energy. And that all I could comfortably do was to be my authentic self. The more I showed up authentically, the more I attracted people that think like me and appreciate me for who I am. I think outside the box and that is ok. So I learned that if there was no place for me, where I “fit” then I had to create one on my own. And I am happy I did. My responsibility is to be me! To express my own unique voice and energy. To live my own life’s purpose and encourage other to do the same.

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

If I had to go back I would choose the exact same path. Where I am today did not come easy. I was stuck in my trauma for many, many years. But with each step I gained greater understand about my self and the world around me. I grew into myself and I would not change the growing pains that came with it. Everything happens for a reason. So to change anything about my path would mean potentially not receiving the blessings that came along the way. The steps I had to take put me in position to touch so many life’s. I have seen people step into their power right before my eyes. And I have also grown into an amazing person, more powerful then I ever imagined possible. It was hard. But I can do hard things….and I’d do it all again!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.morningmelanin.org/
• Instagram: @Morming_Melanin
• Facebook: @MorningMelaninLLC
• Linkedin: Atiya Moore
• Youtube: @MorningMelanin
• Other: Online course and YouTube Channel dropping soon!! Be on the look out!