Ashley McGirt: Destigmatizing Mental Illness in the Black Community with the Worldwide Wellness Tour

Ashley McGirt is a psychotherapist, international speaker, and author. Ashley has received a Masters of Social Work from the University of Washington.

She also holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. Ashley has over ten years of extensive experience working with vulnerable populations in prisons, medical and psychiatric hospitals, homeless shelters, schools, and long term care settings, where she served as the Director of Social Services.

Ashley currently works as a full-time hospice therapist while owning and operating her own private practice. In her practice, she focuses primarily on racial trauma, depression, and anxiety. Ashley has been appointed a board director for the International Women’s Resource Network where she focuses on global wellness.

In an effort to advocate for mental health she has created a worldwide wellness tour focusing on the importance of self-care. Ashley actively works toward de-stigmatizing mental illness and reducing high rates of recidivism in American prisons in an attempt to create a more socially just society for all.

Ashley offers presentations, workshops, group facilitation, and consultations specializing in crisis response, racial trauma, social justice and racial equity.

Ashley strives to help others find happiness and healing within themselves through unpacking their baggage, resting, reflecting, and restoring themselves to be who they were intended to be on this earth.

Dangerous Lee: Tell us the “backstory” about what brought you to this specific career path?

Ashley McGirt: As a young child, I aspired to be an attorney. I was obsessed with the O.J. trial and I wanted to be just like Johnny Cochran. I still have a love for the law and often work with clients in the judicial system.

During my youth, my grandmother passed away leaving me in a state of grief that turned into major depression with episodes of suicidal ideation. I visited with the school counselor who was present to aid in my grief process. While talking with her, I found that I had to explain several things to her regarding African American culture, including the role of a grandmother in Black families.

It became difficult to work on healing from my grandmother’s death, while also educating my counselor on African American life. It became more of an educational session on race relations and Black culture than a session of healing for a grieving child. No child should have to take on that responsibility while working on their own healing.

My mother searched for a Black therapist who could understand our culture, but there weren’t any available as we lived in a predominantly White community. I knew, at that moment, that I would become a therapist because there had to be other Black children suffering just like me who were also in need of someone who looked like them and could understand their culture, as well as, the symptomology behind their pain.

It was then, that I knew I had to become the person I needed. From then on I began reading every book on psychology and race that I could find, and the rest is history.

Dangerous Lee: Tell our readers about how you are helping to de-stigmatize the focus on mental wellness?

Ashley McGirt: I am working towards destigmatizing mental illness by serving my community and providing group and individual psychotherapy.

I have also created the Worldwide Wellness Tour: Treat Yourself Unapologetically. The Worldwide Wellness Tour is an exclusive empowerment and healing experience for men and women looking to truly care for themselves.

Worldwide Wellness seeks to destigmatize mental illness while promoting the importance of mental health with a special emphasis on minority mental health concerns. As we recognize that, after existing in survivor mode for so long, Black and Brown bodies, in this country, have been barred from learning the language of thriving, including, but not limited to: financial literacy, emotional health literacy, and mental health literacy.

This global wellness experience aims to reverse these effects. The Worldwide Wellness Tour aims to provide a safe and empowering environment for men and women to have conversations with licensed mental health therapist in their communities, who can answer questions they have about mental health.

Through having these open conversations, the Worldwide Wellness Tour hopes that individuals can begin to overcome the vicious cycle of intergenerational traumas that have caused mental, physical, spiritual, and financial stagnation.

Dangerous Lee: Is there a story behind why you decided to launch this initiative?

Ashley McGirt: Prior to starting my wellness tour, I found myself at a number of empowerment brunches. These brunches were all designed to motivate individuals to start businesses and take their lives to the next level. Soon I noticed that, at each of these events, the women and men would share their traumas, but the mental health aspect was missing.

You can’t empower someone without healing them from their traumas. At each event, I wished they had a therapist available as a resource. I often found myself speaking up and providing resources and education around mental health services. At that point, I felt it necessary to create a brunch/empowerment event focused solely on mental health.

Thus, the Worldwide Wellness Tour was created out of the desire to empower individuals from all walks of life, with an emphasis on people of color, through mental health education, radical self-care, and tools to accelerate positive manifestations.

We believe that amazing things happen when we understand how to access the power we already have and optimize our mental, emotional, and physical health. The mission of the Worldwide Wellness Tour is to provide mental health awareness, support, skills, and tools to help empower individuals to become better through the healing of the mind.

Dangerous Lee: What are your favorite books, podcasts, or resources that inspire you to be a mental health champion?