Junior psychology major Destiny Brickerson is taking her passion for mental health awareness and spirituality to campus. She is creating a space at Norfolk State University dedicated to healing and bringing the community together.

Brickerson stated that she’s always been interested in spirituality, mental health, affirmations, and personal growth. When things have gotten hard, she’s used spirituality to keep herself grounded.

With school constantly being a significant stressor in her life, she decided to make one of her summer objectives to focus on workouts for her mind and body. She wanted to prepare herself for the semester. This resulted in her realizing that “to do better physically, you have to be well mentally.”

The spirituality-based organization, Higher Self, is meant to help students reach peace of mind through different methods of inner healing and self-care.

“The purpose of the organization is to heal the community through meditation, art therapy, group discussions, and yoga,” said Brickerson.

She believes the black community lacks proper treatment for mental health. Furthermore, she is convinced that the group needs to improve on allowing community members to be open about mental health and how it’s handled.

“It’ll bring the community closer together. It could get people’s voices out there, and you’re able to say how you feel with no judgment.”

Higher Self advocates for young minds to feel heard and valued. Brickerson mentions that one of the organization’s focus points is to ensure people feel seen and that their problems are valid.

“You’re able to relate with people, and that’s important because a lot of the time, people may feel alone,” Brickerson added.

She has ideas for activities or workshops that could improve student health on campus.

“I would love to have a yoga event outside– maybe even go camping with the group, journaling, body movement to release trauma, affirmations, and painting.”

Higher Self has recently caught the attention of students from different backgrounds. Brickerson mentioned how these individuals have gotten to know each other in the organization’s group chat on GroupMe. In addition, they shared their thoughts on their overall interest in mental health and how they look forward to finding their inner peace and connecting with like-minded people.

She notes the Higher Self’s inclusivity as she closes with, “Anyone’s welcome; if you’re having a bad day or you need some help, we’ll have that, and we’ll be there. We won’t have events every time, but we’re going to have different events.”