For generations, Black women have worn strength like a badge of honor. They have cared for children and aging parents, held families together through crises, led churches and organizations, built careers, and somehow found a way to keep going even when there was nothing left to give.
Society has applauded that resilience. Dr. Janice M. Beal believes it has also come at an enormous cost.
After more than three decades as a psychologist, researcher, educator, and behavioral health expert, Beal has watched countless women sit across from her, exhausted not because they lacked strength, but because they had spent a lifetime believing strength meant never asking for help.
That realization became the driving force behind her newest book, I Stop to Take Care of Me, a guide challenging Black women to redefine what it means to be strong.
“I realized it wasn’t just about caregivers,” Beal said. “It was talking to African American women, women of color, and really women in general. We have been taught to give and give and give because we’re afraid to say no. Then when we finally do, we feel guilty about it.”
Qualified on the subject
It is a message Beal has earned the right to deliver.
Throughout her career, she has built one of Houston’s most respected behavioral health practices while serving as a clinician, professor, researcher, author, and nationally recognized mental health advocate. As the president of Beal Counseling Associates and Beal Behavioral Health, she has spent decades helping children, adolescents, and families navigate trauma, anxiety, depression, and life-changing crises.
Her work has stretched far beyond the counseling office.
When the COVID-19 pandemic upended daily life in 2020, Beal created and directed two large-scale mental health helplines. One served students, parents, teachers, and administrators throughout HISD. The second, developed in partnership with the City of Houston Health Department, fielded more than 1,500 calls in just three months from people struggling with isolation, anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, and overwhelming uncertainty.
“Some people just needed somebody to talk to,” she said.
Today, Beal continues expanding access to mental health care as a contracted mental health expert with the Steve Fund, serving as program director for *Well Being In Color,* a peer mental health education and support initiative designed specifically for students of color. The program is expected to reach hundreds of students in Houston and New York City.
Yet despite a résumé filled with leadership roles, hospital administration, university teaching, research presentations, and more than 900 speaking engagements, Beal says one cultural expectation continues to undermine Black women’s health more than almost anything else.
The myth of the Strong Black Woman.
“We want to be superwomen,” Beal said. “But if you look at every superhero, they always had somebody helping them. Superwoman never had anybody. Our Black female characters are resilient, but they still have no one helping them. I want to dismiss the idea that we don’t need anybody just because we appear to be strong.”
“Dr. Beal consistently reminds us that as we’re pouring into any and everyone else, it is crucial that we take care of ourselves,” said Brigid Roberson.
Her book traces the origins of that expectation, examining how history, slavery, religion, and generational trauma combined to create an identity centered on sacrifice rather than wellness.
Beal does not dismiss faith. Instead, she encourages women to separate spiritual devotion from unhealthy self-neglect. She also asks readers to reconsider one of the most misunderstood concepts in modern wellness: Rest.
“I was taught a lot of things,” she said. “I was never taught how to rest. Rest is totally different from being able to go to sleep.”
That distinction sits at the heart of her message. Sleep restores the body. Rest restores the mind, emotions, and spirit. Without intentional rest, Beal argues, women continue carrying emotional burdens that eventually surface as anxiety, depression, burnout, and chronic stress.
The book walks readers through historical trauma, emotional healing, healthy boundaries, and practical strategies for prioritizing their own well-being. Each chapter begins with the affirmation “I am important,” reinforcing a truth many women have spent their lives forgetting.
The lessons are informed by more than 30 years of clinical experience.
“I pulled from everywhere that I possibly could,” Beal said. “That’s why it took me so long to write the book. We have to deal with the trauma we’ve been having for so long.”
Her commitment to education extends beyond adults.
Beal has authored therapeutic coloring books for children, including A Boy Named Rocky and Rocky’s Road, which help children with incarcerated parents process difficult emotions. Her newest children’s book, My Granny Doesn’t Remember My Name, helps families explain Alzheimer’s disease and dementia to young children in compassionate, age-appropriate ways.
“I was taught a lot of things. I was never taught how to rest. Rest is totally different from being able to go to sleep.”
Dr. Janice M. Beal
“It talks about Alzheimer’s and dementia and helping children understand what’s happening to their grandparents,” she said.
A Houston native with degrees from the University of St. Thomas and Texas Southern University, where she earned both her master’s and doctorate, Beal has also served as psychology coordinator at Prairie View A&M University, taught at multiple universities, presented research at more than 75 national and international conferences, and advised public officials on youth mental health and domestic violence.
Still, she says her greatest hope is far simpler than adding another credential to an already distinguished career. She wants Black women to finally believe they deserve the same care they so freely give everyone else.
About
- Education: Ed.D. in Guidance & Counseling/Psychology and M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Texas Southern University; B.A. in Psychology from the University of St. Thomas. Post-doctoral training at the UT School of Public Health and California School of Professional Psychology.
- Practice Address: Beal Counseling Associates / Beal Behavioral Health, 2656 South Loop West, Suite 250, Houston, TX 77054
- Contact: (832) 740-4642 | bealcounseling@gmail.com
- Websites: Bealcounseling.com | DrBealBooks.com (Books available on her website and Amazon)
