When Chioma Janelle Efejedia experienced therapy for the first time as a university student, she concluded it just wasn’t for her.
“It really felt like an unwelcoming, unsupportive experience,” she says, that didn’t acknowledge her own unique experiences as a Black woman. But she stuck with social work studies – and it became clear there was a unique need for folks like her in the field.
While working at a Women’s shelter, as the only Black person on staff, she realized how her presence and culturally responsive care made Black women seeking care more open,
“’You're the first one that understands and sees me,’” she remembers being told. “And that stuck with me, and made me realize this is the right path for me.”
Now, as CEO and Founder of Inner Compass Wellbeing, Efejedia and a team of social workers provide culturally competent care in the Kitchener-Waterloo region, as well as workshops and training for organizations on cultural relevance, cultural competency, and psychological safety in the workplace.
“When you think about cultural competency, it's understanding the person's background and environment and how it shaped them and their identities without having to make them overexplain it,” she says.
Insights & Apps
Following consultations with social workers, community members, and other folks in her network, she took therapy in an unexpected direction: she created an app that allowed patients to continue the one-on-one care they received before and after their appointments.
“My goal was two things: how to make mental health more accessible, and how to integrate cultural competency into care,” Efejedia says. “I didn't necessarily mean to get into the tech space: the app came from seeing a gap and recognizing that there are lots of resources and ways that we can make innovative changes to support long-term client care.”
Following the development and use of the app within her own practice, Efejedia is evolving the platform so that mental health professionals can assign post-therapy exercises, share resources, and enable patients to track their moods between sessions.
“Our hope is that we can find ways where we both balance client care and the needs of our therapists who might be in private practice, Efejedia says. “Then essentially we can build an ecosystem that supports both and really supports that continuity of care.”
To learn more about Inner Compass Wellbeing and its app aimed at care providers click here.
To sign up for the app's pilot program, click here.