Welcome to the Therapy for Black Girls Podcast, a weekly conversation about mental health,

personal development, and all the small decisions we can make to become the best possible versions

of ourselves.

I'm your host, Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, a licensed psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia.

For more information or to find a therapist in your area, visit our website at therapyforblackgirls.com.

While I hope you love listening to and learning from the podcast, it is not meant to be a substitute

for a relationship with a licensed mental health professional.

Hey y'all, thanks so much for joining me for session 144 of the Therapy for Black Girls Podcast.

Have you ever heard someone talking about the need to take up more space?

Well, that's what I want to chat about today.

What makes this so difficult and some tips for doing a better job at it in your life?

Why is it so difficult to take up space?

Somewhere along the line, we've gotten the messages that we were too much.

I know in my family, when my cousins and I would get excited and start talking louder than usual,

we'd often hear little girls should be seen and not heard.

A not so subtle reminder that we were taking up too much space.

And it's things like that that give us the message that what we're doing and who we are is too much.

And this message is often reinforced throughout our life.

You're being too dramatic.

Your clothes are so loud.

Are you always so aggressive?

All of these messages can start to seep in if we're not careful and we become less of ourselves.

...