Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ebony Williams. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Ebony 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?

I remember being a first time mother to my daughter navigating sheltering in place due to covid and our proximity to the Bobcat Fires. I remember preparing to move, boxes everywhere, and the sound of my screaming child who we were attempting to sleep train and transition to her crib. I remember laying on the sofa overwhelmed with a weighted blanket on me as my partner soothed our child. My thoughts and my anxieties were racing and all I could think is somehow I am hurting my child by making these very typical transitions. At the same time there was nowhere to go and no one to ask.

While the unique circumstances of covid increased this anxiety due to the lack of support and community at the time, however, anxiety would still be present for me and is present for so many postpartum especially child sexual abuse survivors.

Now as a mother of two and supporting new parents including CSA survivors, it is stunningly clear to me the need that exists in navigating family planning, pregnancy, postpartum, and parenting and the massive lack in trauma-informed/reducing care along the way. In addition, I have come to realize that not only do survivors themselves need more support, but so do care providers who are navigating how to support patients including those with trauma histories under many constraints. Care providers such as OBGYN practitioners, lactation consultants, fertility experts, doulas, etc need not just the knowledge but also additional tools to support their patients who are moving through their reproductive journeys.

As a result, Cactus In Bloom, has grown and emerged into its first PHASE. We are currently a project fiscally sponsored by Partners for Safe Families which is part of the Child Abuse Prevention Council of Ventura County. We also have a number of partnerships because to shine a light into this topic, everyone has to pull up a seat at the table.

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.

My journey to this work is a tapesty woven together by so many different people, spaces, values, and caring love.

Our work at CIB exists in three main parts: research, training and consultation, and direct service support. Our research seeks the insight and experiences of CSA survivors to help us build out curriculum to train and consult with care providers in best practice support to improve the outcomes for folks along their reproductive journeys. We also offer postpartum mental health check-ins that is available to all postpartum people as we want to be a leader in shaping how services for the most invisible and underserved can benefit everyone.

Cactus In Bloom wants to ultimately be offered in every benefits package, every hospital, fertility clinic, and OBGYN department or clinic everywhere. We want to create widespread access for every pregnant person while offering specialized events and services such as workshops and retreats for CSA survivors.

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

I can say I have always been drawn to mission driven work- work that has been so close to my heart and often my life. I have often approached many of these missions as if people who want to support is doing me a favor. That if I invited them to play a round of Anywhere but Here, they would choose to be doing something else instead of thinking about this tough stuff of life. As a result, I would often find myself thanking, in abundance, people who showed up to do mission driven work in community with me.

One day in speaking with a good friend and collaborator, about Cactus In Bloom, she offered to connect me with other like minded folks and my response was “well I don’t want to waste their time.” She so lovingly shared with me that no one is doing me a favor by being part of this work and that my work is benefiting everyone. I am still in the process of unlearning this tendency to hold this view however I show up in spaces to discuss Cactus In Bloom and challenge myself to remember my friend’s words and encouragement because how we enter and approach people-centered and reparative work can determine so much of the outcomes and experiences that take place.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

Cactus In Bloom emerged out of having personal and professional experience. This allowed me to see the need and the gaps that exist within the field of mental health and reproductive wellness. The ability to see these gaps combined with my eclectic career and interdisciplinary lens creates space for creative and innovative problem solving that brings a diverse group of people to the table. While training and knowledge are essential in the field of mental health, developing the skills for expansive, critical, and creative thinking which ultimately help move the field forward. Some ways to help develop these skills include taking courses, certifications, attending workshops on topics that incorporate or are fully art based which allows for building a practice of bringing in the right brain. You may also consider practicing developing interdisciplinary maps where you address a problem by thinking about the various disciplines that can contribute to the solution. Lastly, apply the importance of grounding and self-regulation and awareness to support you as you support others. All of these skills combined will help the field and help the practitioner.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.cactusinbloom.org/
• Instagram: cactus_in_bloom

Image Credits

Logo and Image (Ebony Williams)