Mental health isn’t something you either “have” or “don’t have.” It’s a continuum and every single one of us is on it.

In this powerful and eye-opening conversation, consultant psychologist Dr Melissa Butler breaks down the realities of modern mental health:

• Why emotional intelligence now outweighs IQ in career and relational success
• How COVID continues to affect adults and children in ways we’re still uncovering
• The hidden crisis of year-long mental health waiting lists
• The impact of excessive device use on developing brains
• Why psychology does not compete with faith

This episode challenges the stigma, exposes the gaps in the system, and reminds us that awareness without access is not enough.

If you’ve ever felt like you were “fine” one month and barely coping the next — this conversation will change how you understand yourself.

This episode is a necessary conversation about what we’ve lost and what we must reclaim.
We explore the role of Sister Circles in African and diasporic culture, not as nostalgia, but as functional systems that once supported girls, women, mothers and entire communities.
From pan-African Saturday schools to spiritual and cultural organisations, this conversation asks the uncomfortable but essential questions:
Where are the systems that once held us?
Why are girls being raised in isolation instead of community?
What does womanhood actually require beyond survival?
This is not about limiting women.
This is about supporting becoming.

We discuss:

The cultural purpose of Sister Circles

Why community children require community responsibility

Feminism vs cultural grounding (and where the conversation misses the point)

Parenting as ecosystem-building, not individual struggle

Why empowering parents is the real work

This episode is for anyone thinking deeply about:

Black girlhood. Womanhood. Culture. Parenting. Community healing.

This episode is different!

It’s an acknowledgement that not everyone enters a new year with lightness, clarity, or excitement, and that life doesn’t always align with the calendar.
Recorded in a moment of reflection, this conversation holds space for grief, presence, and the importance of people and connection.
If you’re starting this year feeling heavy, tender, or slower than expected, this episode is for you.

Thank you for being here,
Alicia x

#SenseOnlyPodcast #HoldingSpace #GriefAndHealing #EnteringTheNewYear #EmotionalWellbeing