The stigma surrounding mental health is prevalent in many communities across Houston.
One business owner is working to change that by providing a space for the LGBTQ+ community and communities of color to seek healing.
“As someone who is a Black southerner, these things are stigmatized on a regular basis,” said DaLyah Jones.
Jones said she finally feels seen and heard by her new mental health and wellness counselor. Jones is Black, queer and female. So is Jotina Buck, the counselor she’s been seeing since last October.
“My past with therapists or counselors have mostly been with white women or folks who don’t necessarily cater to queer folks in general, and so whenever I met Jotina, and especially after our first session, it was very clear that there were a lot of explanatory commas that I didn’t have to explain,” Jones added.
Buck said she sought out help to cope with depression and anxiety after her parents died but struggled to find a safe space.
Last February, she created one — Root & Yoke Wellness.
On Saturday she’ll celebrate her new office space located at Post HTX in downtown Houston with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The historic building was once a post office named for fifth ward native and civil rights icon Barbara Jordan.
“My grandmother used to come here. My mom used to come to this same space,” Buck said. “So to come back and serve and share in this way, healing the Black community, [the] Black body [it] means a lot to be in Post doing the foundational healing work and healing intergenerational trauma.”
The licensed counselor uses traditional talk therapy as well as yoga, meditation, and breathwork to help her clients heal their whole being.
Her practice is centered around helping individuals within communities of color and the LGBTQ+ communities prioritize their mental health.
“It is a space of safety. I believe healing is directly adjacent to how we feel in the space that we take up. How safe we feel in sharing our stories and our traumas,” Buck said.
The Root & Yoke Wellness ribbon cutting ceremony will take place Feb. 18 from 1-3 p.m. at 401 Franklin Street, Suite 2200-13 in Houston.