African American Child Wellness Institute Inc

The African American Child Wellness Institute, Inc. is a culturally specific, trauma-informed, evidence-based 

mental health agency   

In 2009, Dr. BraVada Garrett-Akinsanya, a clinical psychologist, lecturer and practitioner, established the African American Child Wellness Institute (AACWI) to meet the growing demands of children and adults experiencing trauma from chronic exposure to disparities resulting from life stressors, including poverty, gun violence, incarcerations and unstable communities.  

The African American Child Wellness Institute is uniquely qualified to provide mental health services to our community because we are the only certified mental health clinic in Minnesota that specializes in providing therapeutic services to African American clientele whose ages range from birth to death.

Dr. Garrett-Akinsanya and our team of licensed, highly skilled clinicians are dedicated to the mission of nurturing the psychological, emotional and spiritual liberation of children who are of African descent (0-18 years), as well as their families. Our clinicians focus on early intervention, culturally specific, trauma-informed mental health therapies, plus they provide access to holistic wellness resources, services, referrals and our ancillary programming. Our clinicians employ an ecological, strength-based approach, the African-centered Wellness Model, created by Dr. Garrett-Akinsanya, which integrates African-centered values and principles into our therapy.     

Annually, we serve approximately 8,700 clientele -- including children, adolescents, adults, families, couples and groups -- who come from communities throughout the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, as well as from St. Cloud, Rochester, and other regions across the state seeking our culturally specific therapy. Our clinicians offer clients home-based, school-linked, tele-health and in-office therapy. We do not turn away anyone needing care, regardless of their ability to pay, including uninsured and underinsured individuals. 

In addition to therapy, our organization also provides advancement training and supervision to African American mental health professionals who seek licensure in culturally congruent, trauma-informed practices, such as eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) and trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapy (TF-CBT). The type of training and supervision we offer, prepares African American mental health professionals to meet the ever-growing demands of our culturally diverse community.         

Knowing we have your support means a lot to our therapists, but more importantly it means a lot to the children and families we serve. We want you to know that your support during Give to the Max Day will have an immediate impact on our children and families. Here's how:     

• Your generosity will help us develop a community-based program to educate members of the African American community about mental health so they quickly recognize someone expressing signs of a mental health issue, and respond appropriately;
• As the demand for licensed, culturally aware mental health practitioners continues to grow, your support will help us expand our training program and prepare more African American professionals to meet the needs of our community; 
• Your gift will support our school-linked therapy initiative, allowing us to hire and train more mental health therapists who work inside partnering schools to serve the needs of children and their families.   
• Our two cornerstone Murua programs, Murua Moms: Pre-meditated Pregnancy & Motherhood and Project Murua: Pre-meditated Parenting Boot Camp, focus on strengthening maternal and familial bonds by fostering "respect." Your donation will help families enrolled in our Murua programs (Murua means respect in Swahili) identify their strengths to overcome barriers.