National Wellness Month is here. Your wellness matters all year, but this August we're shining an extra light on it. MAMCD is committed to supporting the wellness of our members and the communities we serve.  Take this time to slow down, check in with yourself, and make space for the habits that support your mind and body. MAMCD encourages you to prioritize your wellness this month and always.

Each July, we observe Minority Mental Health Awareness Month in honor of Bebe Moore Campbell, the author and advocate who fought to bring the mental health needs of underrepresented communities out of the shadows and into the national conversation. Her legacy reminds us that awareness is not a season. It is a practice.

The Maryland Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development exists to advance that practice. Our mission is to promote culturally responsive counseling and to champion the mental health and dignity of Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color across Maryland. This month, we reaffirm that commitment.

We offer our gratitude to the counselors, educators, supervisors, and advocates who choose to work across cultures with humility, curiosity, and purpose. You listen before you assume. You ask before you conclude. You honor the histories your clients carry into the room. That posture is not a technique. It is a discipline of the heart, and it changes lives.

We also want to speak directly to those in our communities for whom therapy has never felt like the natural answer. For many, silence was survival. Healing happened in kitchens, in churches, in the company of family, or not at all. If you have taken the chance to sit with a counselor anyway, to bring your story into a space your community may not have trusted, we see your courage. You are not abandoning where you come from. You are expanding what healing can look like for those who come after you.

And to everyone who does this work across lines of culture, language, and lived experience, we extend an invitation. Take another step. Join MAMCD in the work of community building and community healing. This work is bigger than any one office or caseload, and it is better done together.

In service and solidarity,

Danielle LaSure-Bryant, EdD, LCPC, ACS, NCC, BC-TMH, CWP

President, 2026-2027

MAMCD hosted its annual Awards Ceremony on June 13, celebrating the accomplishments and contributions of counselors from across our community. Congratulations to our honorees:

• Dr. Carl S. Barham Lifetime Achievement Award — Rev. William Jin, M.Div., LMFT
• Dr. Rita L. Robinson Multicultural Counseling Award — Dr. Ricardo Phipps
• Dr. Clemmie Solomon Professional Development Award — Darryl V. Johnson, M.Ed.
• Dr. Aaron B. Stills Graduate Student Scholarship — Folasade Airebamen, Clinical Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling, Coppin State University

We were honored to have Dr. Carl S. Barham, Dr. Clemmie Solomon, and Dr. Aaron B. Stills present the awards bearing their names.

Screenshot of MAMCD Virtual Awards Event

For MAMCD Division memberships for Professional/Regular, Student, and Retiree/Veteran, click HERE   to return to the MCA Homepage.