Dr. Janeé Steele is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), counselor educator, and has earned the status of Diplomate and Certified CBT Therapist through the Academy of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies. Dr. Steele is the owner of Kalamazoo Cognitive & Behavioral Therapy, PLLC where she provides therapy, supervision, and training in CBT. She is also a member of the core faculty at Walden University School of Counseling where she has served as a counselor educator for the past 10 years. Her scholarly activity includes service as an associate editor of the Journal of Multicultural Counseling & Development and authorship of works focused on the areas of CBT, cultural diversity, social justice advocacy, and counselor training. She has published conceptual and research-based articles in peer-reviewed journals including the International Journal for the Advancement of Counseling, Counselor Education and Supervision, and the Handbook of Counselor Education.

During her senior year in high school, Dr.Janeé Steele did not really have post-graduation plans until her aunt called her and asked, “where are you going to college?" Janeé responded, “I’m not” to which her aunt replied, “yes, you are.” Dr. Steele shared “I’m from a generation where you kind of just do what your elders say. So that was pretty much the end of the conversation. Like literally, she said ‘yes, you are. Ok, talk to you later.’ And we hung up.” She remembers having to quickly figure out where she was going to college. Her aunt was starting law school so she could go where her aunt went to college or where her aunt was attending law school. So, she left Arizona and went to Southern Illinois University where she earned her BA in Psychology. This started her journey in psychology and counseling.

Dr. Steele shared this, and many other, stories related to her academic and professional journey highlighting where she received her degrees, why she chose the schools and programs, and the people who influenced her career. One of the people she mentions in this podcast is a professor named Kevin Cokley. Dr. Steele states, “he was doing a lot of really interesting research related to the psychology of the African American experience. And that was so impactful for me as an African American just looking at ways in which this field can be used to enhance the mental health and the quality of life of people who look like me.”

Dr. Steele stayed at SIU to earn her MSEd then attended Western Michigan University for her PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision. Throughout this podcast, Dr. Steele shares practical advice for those interested in the field of psychology and counseling and offers suggestions to those interested in opening their own private practice. For example, she states, “if we’re thinking about advice for individuals who are thinking about entering this field, I would really encourage them to anticipate the need to continue your education and to seek meaningful, as many meaningful certifications as they can obtain.”

She believes that her CBT certification and her PhD have helped draw in more clients. She states, “having a PhD affords me a little bit more credibility as these both provide more credibility. And so, I think that as individuals are thinking about ways to make themselves appealing to the broadest number of individuals, they might want to think about things that lend credibility and provide evidence that they have adequate training to be able to deal with the mental health issues that people are bringing into therapy.”

Dr. Steele discusses the impetus for her, and Dr. Char Newton’s, new book Black Lives Are Beautiful: 50 Tools to Heal from Trauma and Promote Positive Racial Identity. There are millions of workbooks and other resources focused on anxiety, depression, or self-esteem, however, there are not as many resources “that people could use to facilitate healing outside of the therapeutic dyad” for the issue of “stigma attached to ther...