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

Aujanae, appreciate you joining us today. How’s you first get into your field – what was your first job in this field?

It was 2016, I was working on a ship in a blue room, tracking radars and ships in the cold and I found no fulfillment in what I did. I found out about my current job from two previous co-workers and it interested me because I had family background in it. So I did my research and I applied. When I finally got accepted to go and do my interview it was very nerve-wracking because they asked a lot of personal background questions and I actually cried during my interview, but it wasn’t a bad thing it was them seeing if I was “human” or not. Fast forward to a few months later I found out that I was accepted into the program and I was going to be starting school soon. The school was 13 weeks long, I never cried so much every single day for 3 months of my life! It was liberating though, and it was needed, my closet needed to be cleaned in order to do this job. I have now been a substance abuse counselor since 2017 and I absolutely love what I do. It is a parallel process. As I help my patients, I am helping myself. I learn from them as they learn from me, it is a beautiful and fulfilling thing and I believe that I am walking in my purpose.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

As a substance abuse counselor and mental health advocate I assist my patients in getting to the root of their addictions. I don’t like to focus too much on their substance, but rather why they are utilizing that substance. I help them gain emotional intelligence and heal those wounds that have healed over infestation and allow them to clean it out so it can heal healthy and properly. I teach my patients the importance of self-care, I model to my patient’s boundaries, I model to my patients healthy and effective communication. I assist my patients in learning how to balance their day-to-day lives while putting their mental health first and spreading this knowledge to others around them.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn was that “you have to be strong no matter what”. Growing up in a black household I was always taught that I have to be strong, I have to show face, and I can never show emotion because that means I’m weak. Now knowing what I know I can never go back to that same mindset. I now know that it is okay to not be okay. I now know that it is okay to not be strong all the time and to have support is okay. I now know that I don’t have to do everything by myself. I now know that I can put my pride to the side and request assistance without feeling embarrassment. I am now comfortable being soft and showing my emotions to others without feeling as if I’m weak. This is something that I teach to my patients and to let them know that that stigma is false, that stereotype is false. That’s not something we have to live by anymore.

If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?

I would absolutely choose this route time and time again. I’ve learned so much in this journey.

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