25 | Creating a Foundation of Mindfulness with Nkenji Clarke, M.Ed, N.C.C.

Mar 19, 2019

Nkenji Clarke, a Bronx native and Nationally Certified Counselor, is dedicated to breaking mental health stigma in Black communities. She highlights the importance of mindfulness practices for Black and brown youth, advocating for self-awareness and emotional support. Nkenji discusses creating safe spaces for empowerment in educational settings and the unique mental health challenges faced by Black youth. She also emphasizes self-care through the eight dimensions of wellness, sharing practical strategies to promote holistic well-being and community connection.

Ask episode

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

Intro

00:00 • 2min

Engaging the Audience Through Reviews and Merchandise

02:19 • 2min

Empowering Minds: Mindfulness in Education

04:33 • 16min

Understanding Mental Health in Black Youth: Beyond Behavioral Labels

20:52 • 6min

Creating Safe Spaces for Empowerment

26:39 • 9min

Holistic Wellness and Self-Care Insights

35:33 • 14min

Embracing Individuality in Mindfulness and Community

49:22 • 2min

Today, we’re talking to Nkenji Clarke, a Bronx, New York native pursuing her calling in the helping field of Counseling.

An HBCU graduate, from Spelman College, it was there that she fully embraced her purpose and connected it to her passion of working with youth and women in Black communities. She is committed to service and understands the importance of eradicating mental health stigma in the Black community. She pursued her graduate degree in Counselor Education (M.Ed) and is now a Nationally Certified Counselor (N.C.C) with a Professional School Counseling certification.

In the present moment, her purpose has her working with middle school scholars in New York City, where she works with them to learn mindfulness tools and increase their Self-awareness identity. She promotes the importance of Self-care through the 8 dimensions of wellness in both her personal and professional life. She is working toward creating more safe spaces for Brown and Black youth and women through education.

In this episode, we talk about…

Working with youth to change the stigma of mental health in Black and brown communities.
Mindfulness tools and techniques for Black and brown women and youth.
Creating safe spaces for Black and brown women and youth.
How mental health conditions are displayed differently for Black youth and young adults.
The importance of self-care through the 8 dimensions of wellness.

Mentioned in this episode:

Follow Nkenji on Twitter: @kenjikahmali
Follow Nkenji on Instagram: @__kenjikahmali
Test Used to Diagnose Depression May Not Work on Black People
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