In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re shining a light on trailblazers making a difference in their communities. Dr. Cosha Joseph is a licensed counselor, mental health entrepreneur, and dedicated advocate for women’s healing. As the founder of Her Soul Retreat, she has created a transformative space where women can prioritize self-care, healing, and community. Through her behavioral health agency and coaching services, Dr. Joseph empowers individuals to navigate life’s challenges and embrace personal growth. With upcoming retreats in Orlando and Chicago, Dr. Joseph took A Seat at the Table to talk to us more about Her Soul Retreat.
Why did you start Her Soul Retreat?
I felt it was important for women to finally focus on healing from trauma. This whole thing started with me creating a healing journal and affirmation cards for myself after the loss of my dad, just to kind of help me with that process, and then I wanted to be able to share that with other women.
What can they expect on this retreat?
This is kind of different. This is our first year actually doing the retreat. The last couple of times we did the Her Soul, it was an actual, I don’t like to say conference, because I named it Her Soul, the experience, for a reason. I wanted women to come and really get an experience. But what I’ve noticed that even though they’re coming to these events, I feel like it’s not enough. We give them tools, right? We start them on their journey. The retreat is for them to really get into doing the work. We’re going to actually be doing healing exercises. It’s not as big as the Her Soul experience event. It’s like 15 ladies. We have a home. They’re going to be pampered. They’re going to have caterers. We’re going to have sessions that really get them to dive deep into trauma and healing. We’re going to have beach exercises, like it’s really going to be rest, relaxation and release for them for that whole weekend.
You mentioned the importance of healing and self-care and achieving freedom. Could you maybe elaborate that a little bit and how you’re going to plan to address that during the retreat?
I feel like a lot of things that we go through, it holds us captive. And most of the time, because when we don’t deal with things, they come out in negative ways. Sometimes you may be wondering why a person is so angry, and a lot of times when we are hurt, the people that are closest to us, get the effects of that, and we don’t tie it in together, right? And so I always tell people that a lot of times, you’re not going to get the apology that you’re looking for, you’re not going to get the understanding that you’re looking for and your healing is not for the other person, it’s for you to be able to move forward, not forget.
It is Women’s History Month. Who inspired you?
When I was maybe 18, I started working for child protection. That job showed me a lot. It showed me that this was a passion of mine and that this is what God had called me to do. And so, as I’m working in the field, there were two young ladies, Kim and Monica, that I worked for, and I kind of got under their wing. I saw what they were doing, and they just really inspired me to go forward with this like I was comfortable working for agencies, right and really afraid to step out on my own to do it, because I didn’t think I could. I didn’t trust myself to do that. So that’s the importance of having the right people in your corner who are going to push you in and motivate you and empower you to do that. And still after all these years, they’re really great friends of mine. We work together on a lot of things. And so, I just appreciate them for being mentors for me in the field and pushing me to be great, you know? Because, I mean, I feel like I was a person who was kind of stuck at one point too, and that was because of self-esteem and not feeling like that I was good enough to be who I am today.
