Mental Health Awareness Month: What It Actually Means to Take Care of Yourself

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. And every year, around this time, your social media feeds fill up with green ribbons, infographics about self-care, and posts reminding you that it is okay to not be okay.

And all of that is true. But I want to go a little deeper than that.

Because for a lot of us, especially those of us who are Black, Brown, from marginalized communities, or who have been taught that strength means silence, mental health awareness is not just about knowing that therapy exists. It is about unlearning the belief that you do not deserve it.

Mental health awareness has come a long way. And we still have work to do.

We talk about mental health more openly than we ever have. That is real progress. But awareness without access is only half the picture. And awareness without cultural relevance can actually leave the people who need it most feeling like the conversation was never really about them.

When every mental health post features the same stock image of a woman meditating in a sunlit room, it is easy to feel like healing is for someone else. Someone with more time. More money. Fewer responsibilities. Someone who did not grow up being told to pray it away, push through it, or keep family business in the family.

I started Healing Spaces because I knew that kind of care: culturally responsive, affirming, deeply human care, needed to exist for our communities in St. Louis. Not as a luxury. As a right.

So what does taking care of your mental health actually look like?

It does not always look like weekly therapy sessions, though that is a powerful place to start. It looks like a lot of different things depending on who you are and where you are in your life.

It looks like finally telling someone what you have been carrying instead of carrying it alone. It looks like recognizing that the anxiety you have had since childhood has a name and can be treated. It looks like deciding that you are done being the strong one all the time. It looks like asking your child's school for an evaluation instead of waiting and hoping they will grow out of it. It looks like going to couples therapy before things get to a breaking point instead of after. It looks like admitting that the trauma from your military service did not stay overseas.

It looks like deciding that you matter enough to get help.

A note for those of us who still feel like therapy is not for us

I hear you. I understand the hesitation. Maybe you grew up in a household where mental health was not talked about. Maybe you have had experiences with providers who did not understand your culture, minimized your experiences, or made you feel like you had to educate them while you were trying to heal. Maybe you simply cannot afford it, and no one has ever told you that there are options.

All of that is real. And none of it means you are not worthy of support.

At Healing Spaces, every single one of our therapists holds a minority identity. We were built for communities that have historically been left out of mental health conversations. We accept some EAP providers. A few of our clinicians accept Medicaid. We offer reduced fee options and free services through grant programs, because we believe access matters as much as awareness.

This Mental Health Awareness Month, I want to ask you one question:

What have you been putting off?

The evaluation you keep meaning to schedule. The therapist you looked up six months ago and never called. The conversation with your partner that you have been avoiding. The appointment you keep canceling because something always comes up.

What would it mean to finally do it?

May is a good month to start. And if you are in St. Louis and looking for a place that will truly see you, we are here.