Meet the Founder…
I was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants. I watched my parents work to create a life that allowed me the opportunity to be where I am and who I am today. However, things weren’t perfect. As I grew older, I began to see the impact of generational trauma. Growing up, like so many others, I saw depression, anxiety, and abuse around me, but at the time I didn’t have the words for it. I just chalked it up to family being family.
When people ask me why I chose to pursue a career in psychology, I typically respond with the story of how I initially planned to go into the medical field. Both of my parents were nurses, and it made sense to follow the path they carved. It wasn’t until I took (and failed) a college biology course that I realized this wasn’t for me and ultimately decided to pursue a career in psychology because I genuinely enjoyed learning about it.
I didn’t immediately recognize the connection between my personal experiences and my pursuit of a career in mental health. I grew up indirectly receiving messages that the “less pleasant” emotions we experience weren’t ok. There were never any conversations about mental health. So I quickly learned to show that I was “ok”… even when I wasn’t. I tucked my feelings, suppressed my emotions, and I smiled to make others feel ok too because that’s who I thought I had to be.
When I tell people that I loved learning about psychology, it’s true. However, for me, pursuing psychology wasn’t just happenstance. The part that I tend to leave out, the part that I didn’t fully understand until years later, is that I loved learning about psychology because it connected me to my humanity. Psychology showed me that as part of the human experience, people aren’t ok all the time. Psychology connected me to the humanity of others and consequently to my own. It showed me that people get sad, and lonely, and anxious…so it’s ok if sometimes I do too.
The Movement
The Mental Connect LLC, is a mental health network committed to shifting the way we as a society understand and discuss mental health. We work to increase mental health awareness, facilitate access to mental health resources, and reduce mental health stigma within marginalized communities.
Our organization emphasizes event curation to create cultural experiences that cultivate a sense of belonging and community in order to normalize and create space for dialogue around mental health. Ultimately, our goal is to facilitate a collective shift in our understanding of mental health in order to evoke change across generations.
Education.
Dr. Shelee-Ann Marie graduated with a Master’s and Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in diversity and multiculturalism from Western Michigan University.
Prior to graduate school she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Michigan State University.
Dr. Shelee-Ann Marie has received extensive training in individual and community crisis response and debriefings.
She participates regularly in continuing education opportunities to further her knowledge and awareness in topics related to mental health, multiculturalism, social justice, and trauma.
Experience.
Dr. Shelee-Ann Marie has over 8 years of training and experience in psychotherapy and mental health.
Dr. Shelee-Ann Marie has facilitated trainings and courses on Black mental health, racial trauma, racial narratives, and various mental health and wellness topics.
She has served as a consultant to various companies, groups, and organizations regarding social justice and mental health.
Dr. Shelee-Ann Marie has worked collaboratively with other groups to identify and create mental health and social justice initiatives, programs and events.
Impact.
Dr. Shelee-Ann Marie works to create change on both the individual level as well as systemic and organizational levels.
She curates cultural experiences that facilitates open dialogue and fosters community building and collective healing.
She contributes to organizations through raising awareness, designing and implementing mental health, diversity, and social justice initiatives and programming.
Dr. Shelee-Ann Marie works within organizational systems to help increase their commitment to social justice and dismantling systemic racism and injustice and advocates on behalf of members of marginalized groups.
