Nique
Nique
Find the strength to change
Since she was a teenager, Nique has faced a series of mental health challenges. Over the years, stigma has made those challenges even harder.
But time and again throughout her life, Nique has found the strength to fight through and make needed changes.
The stigma behind mental health is just so debilitating. It can be so heartbreaking that sometimes it’s enough to make you feel like you just can’t go on anymore.
Nique made her first suicide attempt when she was 16 years old. Since then, she has endured serious health issues, trauma, and abuse. She has been diagnosed with PTSD, anorexia, bulimia, anxiety, and depression.
At one point, Nique became severely anorexic, dropping to just 93 pounds. She was hospitalized for two months. Later, she fought breast cancer. Twice.
Today, I am a cancer survivor, a military sexual trauma survivor, and a domestic abuse survivor. The list goes on, and it doesn’t even seem like it could be real.
But it is, in part, because of the way I felt about myself for so many years.
Nique describes her challenges as a black cloud hanging over her head.
I felt like I wasn’t good enough because I had depression and anxiety. I felt so horrible about who I was instead of who I was supposed to be.
After her second battle with breast cancer, Nique found the strength to make important changes in her life.
I really started to become sick and tired of being sick and tired. So, I went to California and started my journey with a healer.
I started using alternative therapies. They changed my life, and it made me dig deeper into the world of alternative medicine.
Nique used cannabis while in treatment for cancer. This led her to explore yoga, Reiki, float therapy, and other therapies.
Years of regular traditional therapy didn’t do much for me. Alternative medicine changed my whole perception of my mental health. It’s turned my life around.
Nique’s success with non-traditional therapies has given her a path forward to deal with her mental and physical health. It has also led her to seek new ways to help others.
Today, Nique is a “cannabis nurse navigator.” In this role, she provides guidance and education to those interested in using this alternative therapy.
Nique is also helping to develop a trauma recovery coach program which aims to help survivors learn how to change the way they interpret the triggers of past traumatic events.
I want to help people get through their pain because I can empathize with a lot of the different things they are going through.
I want to be a voice to help others.
