Wellness That Matters: Black Health News & Community Care
- Center Black survivors with intentional, compassionate spaces that validate lived experiences and prioritize safety.
- Break the culture of secrecy by encouraging truth-telling, community solidarity, and visible support for healing.
- Use embodiment-based healing approaches like workshops, Body Rites workbook, and rituals rooted in African spiritual traditions.
- Support clinicians through consultation in holistic, decolonized frameworks to better serve Black women, femmes, and nonbinary survivors.
Written in collaboration with Dr. Shena Young
As news continues to unfold around the Diddy trial, many in our community—especially Black women and femmes—are sitting with a complicated, painful mix of emotions. For many survivors, this moment is more than a headline. It’s personal. It brings up deep wounds, ancestral pain, and the ever-present reminder of how violence against Black bodies—especially Black women’s bodies—too often goes ignored, silenced, or justified.
At Therapy for Black Girls, we believe that conversations like this matter. And we believe they must happen with care, intention, and a commitment to centering Black survivors in their healing.
In that spirit, we’re honored to share resources and reflections from Dr. Shena Young—an embodiment-focused psychologist, healer, author, and survivor—who has devoted her life to creating spaces for Black women and femmes to feel at home and free in their bodies again. She joined us on the podcast to share wisdom about what healing can look like following a sexual assault. Below are excerpts from her heartfelt message and offerings for our community, shared with permission.
“I want us to be done with the culture of secrecy around sexual trauma. It has held us, our bodies, and our communities hostage long enough… It’s time to revisit the me too and add on: I am healing from it too. To breathe in solidarity, and to snatch our freedom back together.”
—Dr. Shena Young
Resources for Healing & Support
🖤 Body Rites
Dr. Shena’s holistic embodiment workbook, Body Rites, is a powerful companion for Black women, femmes, and non-binary survivors of sexual trauma. The book offers four guided healing journeys rooted in embodiment, African spiritual traditions, and intuitive wisdom. It’s available wherever books are sold (with encouragement to support Black-owned bookstores!).
📜 An Open Letter to Black Survivors
In 2023, Dr. Shena penned an open letter to Cassie and other Black survivors that continues to resonate deeply. It’s a must-read for anyone seeking affirmation, validation, and kinship.
🎥 YouTube Series: Let’s Continue the Conversation
In partnership with the Me Too Movement, this dialogue series explores healing through community, storytelling, and truth-telling. Watch it here.
🧘🏽♀️ Healing on the Mat
A 10-week embodiment workshop and support group for survivors, led by Dr. Shena. The next cohort begins in September 2025. Learn more or share with clients here.
🤝🏾 Consultation for Clinicians
For therapists and clinicians supporting survivors, Dr. Shena offers both individual and group consultation centered in holistic, decolonized healing frameworks. Reach out here to learn more.
As therapists, advocates, and members of a broader community, we have an opportunity—and a responsibility—to hold space for survivors with tenderness, strategy, and truth. The culture of silence around sexual violence must be broken. And breaking it begins with us.
Let’s keep showing up. Let’s keep believing. Let’s keep building a future where every Black survivor knows they are seen, supported, and safe.
With care,
The Therapy for Black Girls Team
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