Stay ConnectedDr. Thema Bryant is a licensed psychologist, ordained minister, and sacred artist. Using artistic expression, spirituality, psychology and culture, Dr. Bryant-Davis is an internationally recognized lecturer, performer, and minister.
The Homecoming Podcast with Dr. Thema is a podcast to facilitate your journey home to yourself by providing weekly inspiration and health tips. Welcome home!
Intro and Outro by: Joy Jones
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Aziza Kibibi, an author and survivor of molestation, courageously shares with Dr. Thema her homecoming journey after years of molestation by her father. She describes the strategies her father, who is now incarcerated, used to control and manipulate all of the members of the family. Aziza tells of her brave escape and the healing work she is done and continues to do to live more fully. When she was eight years old, Aziza Kibibi was molested by her biological father, MTV award winning video director Aswad Ayinde. By the time she was twelve he deemed her his sex slave and refused to continue her homeschool education. At fifteen she became pregnant with her first child for her father and over the years Aziza bore four children for him; two of whom have genetic disorders. After living with physical, emotional, mental and sexual abuse for most of her life, at 24 years old, Aziza finally liberated herself from the harrowing existence she knew. Now a top selling published author, the CEO of a nonprofit organization, an advocate for women’s rights, a multimedia journalist and personality, and a Magna Cum Laude graduate holding two bachelors degrees in media, Aziza Kibibi is a testament of resilience, endurance, triumph. As the founder and CEO of Precious Little Ladies Inc. (PLL), a social progression organization that combats child molestation and abuse, domestic violence, incestuous abuse and sexual assault by strengthening the bond between mother and daughter, Aziza has helped thousands locally, nationally and internationally through the organization’s programs, events and awareness raising campaigns. Don't forget to subscribe, like, and share. Mixed & Edited by Next Day Podcast info@nextdaypodcast.com
Psychologist Dr. Raquel Martin transparently shares her inspiring motherhood journey. She also raises awareness about the racial disparities Black women face while seeking maternal care. Dr. Raquel Martin, PhD is a licensed clinical psychologist, professor, and speaker committed to advancing culturally responsive mental health care. Rooted in liberation psychology, her work centers Black mental health, healing, and systemic change. She is the host of the Mind Ya Mental podcast and a leading voice in anti-racist, community-based wellness and advocacy. Don’t forget to subscribe and like. Music by Joy Jones. Mixed & Edited by Next Day Podcast info@nextdaypodcast.com
Psychologist and author, Dr. Akinyela joins Dr. Thema to explore identity, culture, and healing. Based on African American culture, this narrative approach empowers people to build lives of liberation and resilience. Dr. Makungu M. Akinyela is a leading authority on cultural democracy, narrative practice, anti-racist resistance and mental health. He is a licensed psychotherapist practicing in Atlanta, Georgia and an Associate Professor of Africana Studies at Georgia State University. He is the creator of the African Centered approach to narrative practice called testimony therapy. He is the author of the book Culture, Politics, Spirituality and Practice: A book of resistance and critical theory for disturbing times published by Dulwhich publications, as well as the author of the forthcoming book on his clinical ideas entitled Testimony therapy: Decolonizing Mental Health for Black Therapists and Clients, published by W.W. Norton. As a scholar activist and a therapist. Dr. Akinyela is a lifelong committed social justice organizer with a focus on struggles for human rights and justice for Black people in the United States and the African diaspora. His research and writing include such subjects as cultural democracy and mental health care; cultural domination and therapeutic resistance; reparations and the role of mental health workers in repairing oppressions wounds and African centered family therapy. He is a Clinical Fellow and an Approved Supervisor of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT). Don’t forget to subscribe and share. Music by Joy Jones. Mixed & Edited by Next Day Podcast info@nextdaypodcast.com
Therapist and author, Prentis Hemphill joins Dr. Thema for an honest conversation about loneliness and divine identity. They explore family, sexuality, embodied living, and the need to break draining cycles. Prentis Hemphill is the bestselling author of What It Takes to Heal, a groundbreaking exploration of healing, justice, and transformation. A therapist, somatics teacher, facilitator, political organizer, and writer, Prentis is also the founder of The Embodiment Institute and a leading voice in embodied leadership and collective healing. For over a decade, Prentis has worked with individuals and organizations through their most challenging moments of change—navigating leadership transitions, conflict, and the alignment of practice with values. Grounded in an embodied approach, their work ensures that our intentions aren't just ideas, but are fully lived, felt, and practiced. Before founding The Embodiment Institute, Prentis served as the Healing Justice Director at Black Lives Matter Global Network and was a lead somatics teacher with generative somatics and Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity (BOLD). They hold an M.A. in Clinical Psychology and have provided therapeutic services in low-cost mental health clinics, centering marginalized communities. Don't forget to subscribe and share. Mixed & Edited by Next Day Podcast info@nextdaypodcast.com
Founder and Executive Director of BEAM (Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective), Yolo, joins Dr. Thema and shares his thoughtful insights on womanist and anti-patriarchal therapy. Yolo also reflects on his homecoming journey and the context of identity and expectations for boys and men. For over two decades, Yolo Akili Robinson has served as a counselor, organizer, facilitator, and community healer working at the intersections of mental health, womanism, spirituality, and collective care. A Ford Foundation Global Fellow and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Equity Award recipient, Yolo is the founder of the Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective (BEAM)—a national grantmaker for healing justice and mental health organizations that has designed evidence-based interventions centering radical wellness and collective care. His work bridges clinical, community, and movement spaces, with experience spanning Men Stopping Violence, NYU Langone Medical Center, and national initiatives with the CDC and NIH—helping to design and implement community-based mental health and wellness interventions nationwide. Recognized by U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy for his leadership in advancing emotional well-being and social connection, Yolo’s areas of specialization include anti-patriarchal counseling and healing work with Black men and boys, collective and community-based curricula and interventions, mental health and HIV/AIDS in Black queer communities, and body-centered healing practices. Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe. Mixed & Edited by Next Day Podcast info@nextdaypodcast.com
Ashley joins Dr. Thema and shares her homecoming journey from childhood wounds and empowering ways to heal. She also reads a moving narrative of racial trauma from her bestselling book: The Cost of Healing in Silence: Navigating Racial Trauma and the Call for Culturally Responsive Care. Pick up your copy today. Ashley McGirt-Adair is a psychotherapist, TEDx international speaker, author, and the founder and CEO of the Therapy Fund Foundation, a nonprofit focused on eliminating barriers to mental health care in Black and historically excluded communities. She specializes in trauma, racial trauma, leadership, health equity, mental health, and self-care. Ashley holds a Master of Social Work from the University of Washington and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, operating a private practice where she addresses racial trauma, depression, and anxiety. Featured in Forbes, MSNBC, and HuffPost, Ashley also serves as the NAACP State Area Conference Health Chair. Don't forget to subscribe and share. Mixed & Edited by Next Day Podcast info@nextdaypodcast.com
In this week's special episode, Dr. Thema shares a powerful and helpful message on the psychology of serial offenders as it relates to The Epstein Files. Remember to like, subscribe and share. Dr. Thema Bryant is a psychologist, author, professor, sacred artist, and minister who is leading the way in creating healthy relationships, healing traumas, and overcoming stress and oppression. Her life changing books include Matters of the Heart, Homecoming, Reclaim Yourself: The Homecoming Workbook, and The Antiracism Handbook: Practical Tools to Shift Your Mindset and Uproot Racism in Your Life and Community and they empower readers to connect with themselves and to others, exploring topics such as: control issues, emotional unavailability, practical activation activities, case studies, and teaching how to shift mindset and patterns around mental health, relationships, and liberation. Mixed & Edited by Next Day Podcast info@nextdaypodcast.com
Dr. Judith shares with Dr. Thema her journey with high functioning depression. She provides keys to recognizing it and addressing it with knowledge and self compassion. Dr. Judith Joseph, M.D., M.B.A., is a Board-Certified Psychiatrist, Award Winning Researcher, author of the national bestselling book High Functioning, which was named a Top 10 Audible Well-Being Book of 2025 and top 8% shared books on Spotify 2025. She chairs Columbia University’s Women in Medicine Initiative and is a clinical assistant professor at NYU School of Medicine where she teaches doctors how to educate the public using social media. A renowned speaker, Dr. Judith has presented at the White House, Fortune 500 companies, and the United Nations. Named a 2024 NAACP Mental Health Champion, an Official Masterclass Instructor, a LinkedIn Top Voice and LinkedIn Learning Instructor, she advocates for mental health through research, media, and education. In 2026 she was nominated for a 2026 NAACP Image Award for her contribution in literature and mental health. Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast today and get your copy of Dr. Judith’s book! Mixed & Edited by Next Day Podcast info@nextdaypodcast.com
Poet, author, and social psychologist, Dr. Jaiya John shares his journey of being separated from his mother at birth. With tenderness and transparency, he provides powerful insights from his latest book entitled Wild Flowers Praying at Midnight. Integrating indigenous wisdom, cultural truths, and sacred practices, he provides guidance on how we can remember the truth of who we are. Dr. Jaiya John was orphan-born on ancient Indigenous Anasazi and Pueblo lands in the high desert of New Mexico, and is an internationally recognized freedom worker, poet, novelist, author, and speaker. Jaiya is the founder of Soul Water Rising, a global rehumanizing mission to eradicate oppression. The mission has donated thousands of Jaiya’s books in support of social healing, and offers grants to displaced and vulnerable youth. He is the author of numerous books, including Daughter Drink This Water, We Birth Freedom at Dawn, Fragrance After Rain, and Freedom: Medicine Words for your Brave Revolution. Jaiya writes, narrates, and produces the podcast, I Will Read for You: The Voice and Writings of Jaiya John, and is the founder of The Gathering, a global initiative and tour reviving traditional gathering and storytelling practices to fertilize social healing and liberation. He is a former professor of social psychology at Howard University, and has spoken to over a million people worldwide and audiences as large as several thousand. Jaiya holds doctorate and master’s degrees in social psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, with a focus on intergroup and race relations. As an undergraduate, he attended Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, and lived in Kathmandu, Nepal, where he studied Tibetan Holistic Medicine through independent research with Tibetan doctors and trekked to the base camp of Mt. Everest. He is a Lewis & Clark College Distinguished Alumni Award recipient. His Indigenous soul dreams of frybread, sweetgrass, bamboo in the breeze, and turtle lakes whose poetry is peace. Dr. John’s book titles include We Birth Freedom at Dawn, Volumes One and Two, Dear Artist, All These Rivers and You Chose Love, No Man Came, Fragrance After Rain, Freedom: Medicine Words for Your Brave Revolution, Your Caring Heart: Renewal for Helping Professionals and Systems, Daughter Drink This Water, Calm: Inspiration for a Possible Life, Sincerity of Sunlight, Fresh Peace, Legendary: A Tribute to Those Who Honorably Serve Devalued Children, Beautiful: A Poetic Celebration of Displaced Children, Reflection Pond: Nurturing Wholeness in Displaced Children, Clear Moon Tribe, The Day Jumoke Found His Name, Father to Son: Ode to Black Boys, Habanero Love: A Poem of Sacred Passion, Lyric of Silence: A Poetic Telling of the Human Soul Journey, and Black Baby White Hands: A View from the Crib. Don’t forget to like, comment, subscribe, and share. Mixed & Edited by Next Day Podcast info@nextdaypodcast.com
Author, Glory Edim joins Dr. Thema to share her homecoming journey in understanding the roots of her perfectionism and the path to self acceptance and worthiness. Glory talks about the role of books as a coping strategy, imagination activator, and source of comfort and liberation. From the departure of her father to her experience as a single mother, Glory shares a powerfully transparent testimony. Glory Edim is a writer, literary advocate, and the founder of Well-Read Black Girl (WRBG), a nationally recognized community and literary imprint dedicated to celebrating and publishing the voices of Black women writers. Founded in 2015, WRBG has grown from a book club into a cultural platform that amplifies diverse narratives and fosters dialogue at the intersection of literature, identity, and social change. Edim is the editor of the Well-Read Black Girl anthology and the author of the memoir Gather Me (2024), a reflective exploration of self-discovery and the transformative power of books. Through her writing and editorial work, Edim continues to champion literacy, representation, and Black literary traditions. Don't forget to get her book and like, subscribe, comment, and share.
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