Blog - Cheerful Heart Mental Health Counseling PLLC

Faith, Ambition, and Christian Guilt: A Therapist’s Perspective

Unpack why high-achieving Black women struggle to balance professional drive with Christian faith, and learn how to release the spiritual guilt of wanting more.

Fibroids, Faith, and the Woman with the Issue of Blood

For Fibroids Awareness Month, I wrote a piece for S.W.I.M. Inc on the physical, mental, and spiritual toll uterine fibroids take on Black women through the story of the woman with the issue of blood. Here’s why I wrote it, and where to read it.

Church Hurt: How Therapy Helps You Heal and Return to Church

Wounded by a church, a leader, a belief or a teaching? Here’s what church hurt does to the mind and body, why therapy helps, and how to decide, on your own terms, whether to return to a faith community.

Why Your Therapist Friend Won’t Be Your Therapist

Why won’t your therapist friend just be your therapist? It’s not personal, it’s ethics. Here’s the boundary behind it, and how to repair the friendship if you’ve leaned on it too hard.

The Ethics of Faith-Integrated Therapy

There is a myth that clinical therapy and personal faith should never cross paths. Discover why client-led faith-integrated therapy i ethical and it’s exactly what good, culturally responsive care looks like.

Therapy for Therapists White Plains: Dismantling Stigma

Getting help is not the opposite of being strong. It is what strong people do when they are being honest.” Shakira O’Garro, LMHC-D, shares a transparent reflection on breaking down the specific mental health stigmas high-achieving Black professional women and women of faith still carry; complete with a practical 5-step guide for helpers looking for their own support.

EMDR for Medical Trauma: R-TEP FAQs

Some endometriosis experiences land hard and fast. A sudden ER visit, a surgery that found more than anyone expected, a provider who dismissed you again. EMDR for medical trauma, through the R-TEP protocol, helps you work with a recent event before it settles into something more stuck. Here’s what to know.

So You’re Chronically Ill, Now What?

With chronic conditions like Endometriosis, PCOS, and autoimmune issues skyrocketing among adults in their 20s and 30s, learning to navigate the medical system is important. Written by a therapist managing her own chronic diagnosis, this practical guide cuts through the overwhelm to give you a clear roadmap. Discover how to effectively audit your treatment options, advocate for your legal rights at work (including FMLA and ADA accommodations), maximize your health insurance benefits, and protect your finances from surprise medical bills.

The Benefits of Group Therapy for Women with Chronic Pelvic Pain

Navigating chronic pelvic pain has a way of making you feel overwhelmed and alone. This post looks at how group therapy helps BIPOC women living with endometriosis, PCOS, and other sources of pelvic pain find real support and relief, with the research to back it up and a 12-week group program.

Trauma-Informed Endometriosis Communities That Actually Work

Women with endometriosis repeatedly cycle through the same pattern in support groups. They engage deeply during pain flares and diagnostic crises, then quietly withdraw as symptoms stabilize. This crisis-connection-disconnection cycle is a predictable trauma response to living with chronic illness and navigating medical dismissal. BIPOC women with endometriosis face additional barriers that are highlighted in detail in the post.

Why a Therapist With Lived Experience Helps You Heal

When you find a therapist with lived experience of chronic illness and a faith shaken by suffering creates a deep and meaningful connection. You share your pain because someone finally understands. This post explores the connection between your therapist’s lived experience and your healing.

EMDR Group for Single Christian Women with Dating Anxiety (GREP2 + G-TEP)

If dating has started to feel overwhelming and stressful instead of a pathway to connection, you are not alone. Read this post to learn how we can help.