As a black woman and mother of black boys, I experience a constant lack of oxygen as I hold my breath daily when they are not in my care.
As a licensed mental health counselor, this phrase has been used to describe the state in which many clients find themselves when they are experiencing symptoms of anxiety or PTSD.
What is the risk to our children’s health and mental health when there is a constant lack of oxygen; when we cannot breathe life into them because we are in constant fear that it will be taken?
It will provide the rhythm needed to find our way back to a place of consistent breathing and air to our mind, body and spirit.
Russia Collins is a licensed mental health counselor with a professional background in child welfare and integrated behavioral health.