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

Jason, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.

A defining moment in my professional career as an author and therapist is when a good childhood friends daughter purchased my book from a holistic shop not knowing it was me with disbelief. As they both came to my house, she was sincere, and I could see how proud we were to be friends for this moment. Being the author, I could tell that she assumed I was some author living in L.A. This really ignited my ambition to continue to write more books. To be from Denver and having grown up in Park Hill during the “Summer of Violence” speaks to my resilience and core motivation behind being an author and therapist in my community.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

I am the CEO/Founder of Inner Self and Wisdom, LLC (Private Therapy Practice) and Owner of Book King Publishing, Inc. and author under the pen names Black Ausar (Black God) and Jason Shankle. I have won numerous community service awards and I am so humbled to walk in my destiny. As an author I am known for my three books: Soul Searching Poetry, Crowns and Shattered Dreams and my recent release Suffer Less. I have been a mental health professional over 10 years as a cognitive behavioral therapist which I love. I am a firm believer that in order to heal one must sit down with their shadow and latent trauma. It is so rewarding to help others with their mental health and personal growth. I want people to know both sides of me which created my book Suffer Less: Meditations for Transforming Trauma into Healing. It is a hybrid author combination of the therapist Jason Shankle and the poet Black Ausar in the form of meditative quotes with writing prompts at the end to dig deeper. Suffer Less is one of my most impactful books I’ve written because my lived experiences bled through the pen on the paper to blend art and mental health modalities to ignite healing in anyone drawn to read any of my books.

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

A valuable lesson I’ve had to unlearn is the criticism of self. Granted criticism can be a good thing to excel for excellence it may create roadblocks within yourself. I began to realize a lot of my survival techniques helped me thrive but became non-applicable for the man I had grown to become. Once I unlearned toxic self-talk I discovered higher consciousness to put myself through a spiritual review of my true self aiding me in more mental clarity and philosophies that makes me more adaptive to life circumstances.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

My ambition to succeed and desire to help my community heal is what fuels my reputation. As a Black therapist I am de-stigmatizing the lies about the importance of mental health in the Black community. The numerous podcasts, community panels and workshops I have hosted around family inherited trauma and racial battle fatigue is a passion of mine and I am a firm believer that healing is contagious.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.innerselfandwisdom.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/innerselfwisdom/ and https://www.instagram.com/black.ausar/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Book.King.Publishing/ and https://www.facebook.com/InnerSelfandWisdom/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-shankle-ma-ccbt-08247712/
• Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/Authors-Page

Image Credits
Jason Shankle