CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – May is Mental Health Awareness month, though the significance behind this month applies daily and is relatable to everyone who has ever been through challenges in their walk of life: loss, abuse, stress, sadness, anger and more all are relatable experiences that can create challenges in one’s walk with their mental health.

Professionals who navigate mental health every day said whether you choose to see a therapist or not, it’s important to care for yourself and find ways to be happy.

Take Stephanie Clarke, for example. She is a mental health therapist and the owner of Mosaic Wellness in Charleston. Clarke has a passion for helping others and showing them the importance of caring for themselves.

Clarke said, “I always loved talking to people and helping people, and I really can’t sit beside someone anywhere without trying to help or shine some light or give some perspective into something.”

She said she wants people to understand the importance of taking care of themselves.

“I can’t say how often it becomes a really big issue because it was ignored or because people avoid, and they think that if they avoid it or they ignore it, then it will go away,” Clarke said. “Some people work too hard, some people exercise too much, some people utilize substances in order to avoid, and then problems kind of compound as a result.”

As mental health cases continue to surface, Clarke said she is seeing an increase locally. Her office typically sees 300 to 400 appointments a month.

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“In the last several years, developmentally, I feel like kids missed years of their lives that now they’re trying to figure out how to work through things. I think that a lot of teenagers struggled with the increase in inability to socialize and work through things.”

However, Clarke provides mental health support to anyone in need, and she said her office has support groups for mothers and any women struggling.

“Maternal mental health is beyond just postpartum. It’s also if I can see somebody while they’re pregnant and help them prepare. We also see people and walk alongside women in their infertility journey as well as helping them process loss.”

She said caring for oneself looks different for everyone, though it’s important to find what makes each person happy.

“If it’s reading books or podcasts or working to engage in understanding even of your child. Being able to reach out to friends and get support and give support,” Clarke said. “Like I said, we don’t know what we don’t know, and all we know is what we’ve seen, and while we love our family and our caregivers and never to judge or be against parents or people who have tried to help you, sometimes we can pick and choose the things we want to take from our life and from our history, and we can let go of things we don’t want to take. I think a lot of people don’t realize that they have that choice.”

Clarke said while navigating and prioritizing your mental health can be hard at first, in the long run, it can lead to happiness and healing in the journey of life.

“There’s all kinds of aspects that as they compound throughout life get really big and feel impossible, but they aren’t,” Clarke said. “We all have things happen, and we need help working through them. There’s no shame in that.”

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