Working Woman Wednesday: Candice Cox

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Candice Cox is like no other, founder of A&A Inspirations, a psychotherapy clinic serving children and families in the St. Louis area, she is certainly a force to be reckoned with and were proud to have her as this week’s Working Woman Wednesday!

Since 2008 Candice and her talented staff have been striving to be a catalyst in the lives of others to propel them forward. Having her own battles as a youngster and coping with A.D.D. (Attention Deficit Disorder). Candice has  her own story to tell in regards to living and growing up.

“Like 2 Pac, I’m a Rose that grew from the concrete,” said Candice.

A graduate of Southeast State University, she earned her B.A. in Social Work, and later received her Masters from St. Louis University in Social Work with a concentration in Family Work. Of course, she is a natural at listening without judging, chatting together in her office I felt so comfortable, no wonder she has such a successful business.  Her concept is to meet people where they are. Her analogy is if she walks into your house and you have no furniture she is sitting on the floor with you talking it out.

imageWith the success of A&A Inspirations, Candice decided to start a non-profit program within her own business called K.H.A.O.S  an acronym meaning “Keep Healing And Overcoming Struggles”.

Her creative take on chaos is to take individual obstacles and transform it into stepping stones. C.H.A.O.S or Can’t Help Acting Out Severely happens to the majority of us, especially in the African-American community. She believes many of us have been faced with some sort of trauma or toxic stress, and unfortunately, the conversation of therapy or how to deal with stress in the African-American household is not had.

Her advice to her patients and all people is, you have to take care of your mental health, take time out of your day every day to connect to yourself. The advice she lives by is pretty simple ” life happens,  but it doesn’t mean life has to stop.” Everyone has the ability to be a K.H.A.O.S kid. Looking back on her own life she can recall being that “angry black woman.” She applied the skills from K.H.A.O.S to overcome her battles. She learned it’s not ok to purposely hurt others because she was hurting,  which is the message she conveys to her patients.

A&A Inspirations stand out from other facilities because her staff uses the not knowing approach.  Meaning the staff never proclaims to know the patient more than the patient knows themselves. They go in with a non-judging attitude.  Plus, they have K.H.A.O.S characters to help individuals cope and identify with their own individual issues. Some characters have A.D.D. or Bipolar Disorder, the goal is to help the patient not feel ashamed or embarrassed about their condition. She does vision boards with her patients with the goal being to help them embrace who they are whole-heartedly.

But that’s not all, her facility is the true definition of Black Girl Magic! Her entire staff is all empowered, intelligent, strong African-American women. Even her practicum student is African-American. Candice came bearing gifts, the gift to LIVE!candice_cox-10

“It happened by chance, but it’s important for young black girls and boys to see the opposite of the negative stereotypes of black women”, said Candice.

Candice plans to travel the world sharing the K.H.A.O.S kid mindset for all who are willing to listen, and we are so happy she wants to.

However, that’s not all. A&A Inspirations has partnered with a variety of organizations in the St. Louis area, the Boys and Girls Club of Greater St. Louis, SistaKeeper Empowerment Center, and the St. Louis Public School District just to name a few.

She passionately believes “We’re better together.” By working with these organizations she has the opportunity to holistically connect with families. Spreading the message: “You can be what you want when you grow up,” is a part of the A&A Inspirations mission of being a catalyst in propelling someone forward.

Accepting all patients from all financial and economic backgrounds, Candice has her business set up where all people can receive treatment. Her facility accepts all insurances,  they provide a free consultation,  and they even accept Medicaid.

“I’m not trying to get rich,  I’m just trying to make a difference”, said Candice.

Next for A&A Inspirations and K.H.A.O.S kids is to voyage to other cities, states, and eventually become international. That way we can all continue to heal and overcome struggles.

Well, Candice, we hope you do because you are certainly an inspiration to us and worthy of this week’s #WorkingWoman Wednesday !

Ashley Winters
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