Mental Health Journal for Black Women: Prompts and Practices to Prioritize Yourself and Nurture Your Well-Being

Our Mental Health Matters
For myself and I’m pretty sure for any others, the last two years have been very difficult on my mental health. In the area where I live it has been hard to locate a therapist that resembles myself, where I am comfortable enough to divulge in the issues that are causing me harm mentally. I came across this book and have been extremely elatated, it as it is something that I knew I needed but didn’t have immediate access to. There are five sections, the first section teaches you how to take stock of your mental health, being honest about your emotions, treating yourself, finding supporting your community, and finally investing in your well-being.You are able to take notes after answering questions that lead you to think deep into your mental issues or mental concerns. Question such as, ‘Have you responded to current traumatic events in the news and social media pertaining to experiences of violence towards black women or other injustices?’ The journal includes activities that you’re able to do it with issues on your journey. Like there is a meditation on Eyedentity page for example it instruct you to sit or lay down in a comfortable position with your eyes clothes and take deep breaths. There is a section that teaches you how to connect with your emotions and see how they are linked with your physical reactions. For example there are list of emotions and sentences such as, when I feel blank my body feels blank and I think blank. And you take the words from the list of emotions and place them in the sentence that he matches. There is another one that I like where it’s changing the script on how you think about yourself, the example sentence is my sadness is blank. You have to create an alternative thought for the word that you would use for example, ‘My sadness makes me weak.’ the alternative is ‘My sadness let’s me know I need to slow down and rest.’ The book is full of these, and to be able to verbalize how I’m feeling has been very great and rewarding. In addition, I can put things in a journal that I can’t tell any of the people because a shame of dealing with depression and anxiety. I do recommend this journal, not as a replacement for professional help but for additional support while on your journey. Give it a try. Journaling has been therapeutic for me and having exercises to assist is great.

Really thoughtful book teaching self compassion.
I’m on a journey to find healing from old trauma. I’ve found some workbooks helpful to get me thinking. I am not a black woman, but I am a woman seeking mental health and when I looked at this book I saw I could adapt most of the questions and use the book thoughtfully. The book makes one face the stress, isolation and frustrations. I like the focus on self acceptance and care. I don’t expect to fill in every question in this workbook, but the development of my thoughts has been worth the time. I see the additional challenges of being a woman of color. This book opened my mind and was very thoughtful.

Highly recommend!
I received an advanced copy of the journal and I can’t put it down! I’m navigating a challenging career transition and the prompts have been so helpful as I work on unlearning the belief that worth is tied to productivity and what I can do for others. I would recommend this for Black women who work in demanding fields like nursing, teaching, social work, and so on.The journal is split into 5 sections but you don’t necessarily have to complete the prompts in order. I’ve been “choosing my own adventure” and responding to prompts that speak to what I need most.This journal is definitely worth it! Don’t hesitate—add it to that cart!