Mental Health Trailblazers Podcast S1 Ep13: Dr. Cheryl Woods-Giscombe

Episode Summary

Indrias Kassaye interviews Dr. Cheryl Woods-Giscombe, a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, social and health psychologist, and a Professor at UNC Chapel Hill School of Nursing. Via her program of research, Dr. Giscombe uses a sociohistorical lens to investigate how stress and coping strategies contribute to the psychological and physical health status of African American women.

Episode Notes

Press play on another episode of “Mental Health Trailblazers, Psychiatric Nurses Speak Up,” where our host Indrias Kassaye will be interviewing Dr. Cheryl Woods-Giscombe, a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, social and health psychologist, and a Professor at UNC Chapel Hill School of Nursing. Via her program of research, Dr. Giscombe uses a sociohistorical lens to investigate how stress and coping strategies contribute to the psychological and physical health status of African American women.

During her first semester as a PhD student, Dr. Giscombe detected a desire to learn more about nursing while working hands-on collecting data in a hospital clinic. This led her to a 12-month accelerated BSN program, the pursuance of a psychiatric mental health NP, and then enrolling in a psychiatric NP program all with guidance from SAMHSA programs. Today, She uses this knowledge base in-tandem with continued research to develop culturally-relevant strategies to prevent stress-related mental health outcomes.

Within this episode, Dr. Giscombe and Indrias discuss meaningful topics such the social historical factors that are particularly unique to African-American women that impact their psychological and physical health, the conceptual “Superwoman Schema” framework developed by Dr. Giscombe plus the importance of acknowledging the Schema’s five chief characteristics, as well as the secret to her early levels of high professional accomplishment while still prioritizing personal goals

If you wish to receive practical mindfulness tips with a tailored focus on Black individuals in America, want a firsthand account of key strides that need to be taken on the representation of diverse individuals in social media, or just aim to hear how early support from and engagement with the Minority Fellowship Program can steer the course of a career, then start this episode now. To learn more about Dr. Cheryl Woods-Giscombe, visit https://nursing.unc.edu/people/cheryl-giscombe.