On this episode, Joi and Deneshia reflect on Dr. Cornel West's visit to Northwest Arkansas, brought here by the Northwest Arkansas MLK Council for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in January, 2023. They especially reflect on Dr. West's message of "Disruptive Love" and how in being vulnerable, sharing our stories, and truly listening, we can find the common humanity we share and how that is a beginning place for healing.

In the first new episode of 2023, Joi and Deneshia talk about resolutions, for themselves personally and for their nonprofit organization, Resilient Black Women. Providing assistance, to black women and women of color especially, to access mental health care is a central tenet of RBW. Joi and Deneshia discuss how they will reach and work with women seeking therapy and counseling in 2023, as well as how you the listener can help support this work. If you would like to leave feedback or ask a question about the podcast, you can leave a comment on the RBW page on Apple Podcasts here. Or if you'd like inquire about receiving help, you can reach us at kuafinfo@uark.edu.

The podcast begins the new year with a meditation from Joi, on taking it one day at a time. Use this 20-minute guided meditation to slow down, to check in with your body, to practice gratitude for your body, and to remember all you have to do is take it one day at a time.

For the final episode of 2022, Joi leads us in a quick end of the year meditation moment with co-founder and co-host, Deneshia, and few other guests. We hope this meditation moment allows you to reflect, let go, and breathe. This year is almost over. You have done enough. Now just take a moment to breathe…Meet Joi McGowan, LPC, co-founder/co-host of Resilient Black Women nonprofit and podcast! She has been a therapist for the last 8 years. She believes that meditation is a time for breath to take up ALL THE SPACE. There’s no room for criticism. Just compassion.Meet Deneshia Simpson, LPC! She’s been in the mental health field for over 10 years. She believes meditation is so soothing. It’s a beautiful time to slow down, listen to our bodies, and attune more deeply to ourselves.Meet Alma Kivi, LAC! She's a bilingual-licensed therapist who loves working with immigrant families to better understand mental health. She is from Mexico and has been in the counseling field since 2013. She believes meditation allows us to slow down and check in with our bodies exactly where we are in that moment.Meet Angel Arnold, LPC! She’s a licensed therapist in the Chicagoland area and has known Joi since 2009. Angel believes that representation matters. She supports her client develop the skill of asking for help. She believes this is the first step toward healing.Meet Lindsey Mason, LAC! She is a licensed therapist in Northwest Arkansas. She believes that meditation is an old sacred form of connecting with our bodies. She says, “meditation can offers us a moment of stillness and rest in our day to check in with ourselves and our souls.”

For the final episode of Resilient Black Women's second season, Joi and Deneshia discuss the stresses that often come up during the holidays, the importance of giving yourself and others permission to be your authentic self and to break traditions if necessary.

Joi and Deneshia welcome two guests to the podcast in this episode, Lakisha Harper-Bradley, CEO and owner of Mytbydesign and Lauren Gray, owner of Gray Lotus Counseling, to talk about the role of art in counseling and in processing emotions.

Joi and Deneshia continue their discussion about emotions, focusing on sadness for this episode. Starting with the story of Elizabeth Eckford - who at 15 years-old was harassed, yelled at, and spit on, as she attempted to attend Central High School, as one of the first nine students to integrate the school in 1957 - Joi and Deneshia explore what sadness can tell us if we give ourselves permission to feel it and give others permission to see it.

Throughout Season 2, Joi and Deneshia have been discussing what you might expect from therapy and what our emotions can tell us if we allow ourselves to sit with them and feel them. In episode 6, Joi and Deneshia discuss women and emotions and the trope of the angry Black woman.

On Episode 5, Joi and Deneshia continue to answer listener questions about what it means to be in therapy. This time, Deneshia and Joi discuss emotions, what they are, what they mean and how there are no "good" or "bad" emotions.

For this episode, Joi guides us through three mental health mindfulness moments - the first is a holistic check-in, the second is on self-compassion and the third is on rest.