Research Overview
My scholarship bridges academic rigor with spiritual healing practices to investigate the connections between mind, body, and spirit, exploring how societal disconnection from these integrated dimensions can lead to health consequences—and how their re-integration may support overall wellness.
As a certified Reiki master practitioner, I apply evidence-based practices for stress reduction and healing in my work, integrating these approaches within both research and community-based workshops. Building on my prior work examining how high-effort coping and “pushing past limits” harms Black women’s well-being, I now focus on developing culturally-relevant mindfulness interventions to mend the mind-body connection among Black women with various health risk factors.
Key Projects
BWISE Wellness Study (Multidimensional Mind-Body Toolkit)
Black women disproportionately face health burdens. Despite research demonstrating the health benefits of practicing mindfulness, many Black women do not engage in consistent mindfulness practices. Two of the key barriers are time constraints and challenges with cultural relevance. The purpose of this project was to better understand how acceptable, feasible, and culturally relevant a multi-dimensional mind-body toolkit might be for Black women.
Supported by R01MD015388-05S1 (NIH)
The PEBBLE Study
Depression manifests distinctly among middle-aged and older Black women, who more commonly present with somatic and self-critical symptoms such as fatigue and self-blame, emotional numbness, and loss of interest in activities, while being less likely to utilize mental health services. Given that less than 1% of mindfulness clinical trials have focused specifically on Black women despite evidence that mindfulness practice significantly reduces stress and improves depressive symptoms, this investigation addresses a critical research gap by examining mindfulness as a culturally-relevant approach to managing depression among middle-aged and older Black women.
Supported by The Michigan Center for Urban African American Aging Research through grant P30 AG015281 (NIH)