Neurodiversity in Black Families with Rosemary Sanders-Price of Rose in Bloom Therapy
Ep 128: Neurodiversity in Black Families with Rosemary Sanders-Price of Rose in Bloom Therapy
Part of noseyAF's 31 Days of Black Business series 🖤
She spent twenty years in retail management. Then a friend asked her one question in church.
Rosemary Sanders-Price went back to school to become a therapist because when her son was diagnosed with autism, she couldn't find anyone in her corner with the information she needed. She figured other mothers were in the same place. Now she runs Rose in Bloom Therapy and wrote a book about raising him.
What We Talk About
- Why she wishes people understood that neurodiversity in Black families isn't a curse and isn't something to cure
- What effective advocacy actually looks like day to day, including what it means to give a kid a place where they don't have to mask
- What shadow work really is, why it's not a witchcraft girlies thing, and how to forgive the version of you who didn't know better yet
- The unexpected turn: she was sitting in church listening to a pastor tell mothers that autism was their fault, and she started thinking about every woman who went home carrying that
If you love second-act reinventions that don't skip the hard part, this episode is for you.
All about Rosemary Sanders-Price
You're gonna love Rosemary; she's a straight-shooter with a wise voice. A licensed mental health therapist, author, and mom, she founded Rose in Bloom Therapy to make mental health support more accessible, affirming, and culturally responsive. She works with individuals, couples, and families, specializing in trauma, anxiety, depression, neurodiversity, personality disorders, eating disorders, and LGBTQIA+ affirming care. Her belief: healing happens when people feel seen, supported, and empowered to bloom at their own pace.
Things We Mentioned
- Rose in Bloom Therapy
- Her book, Different Not Deficient: Raising a Black Son on the Spectrum, available directly through her website
- Healing Spaces, the group she co-founded, and their restorative justice project
- Psychology Today, where she's also listed
- Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy
- Carl Jung and shadow work
Chapters:
- 00:09 - Introduction to Black Business Month
- 01:03 - Introduction to Rosemary Sanders Price
- 12:37 - The Journey of Advocacy and Understanding Neurodiversity
- 19:38 - Challenges of Community Health and Entrepreneurship
- 25:44 - Navigating Mental Health in the Community
- 28:42 - Understanding Shadow Work
- 32:32 - The Impact of Motherhood on Therapy
- 37:30 - Healing and Grief: A Continuous Journey
This series is supported by Off the Grid, a podcast for small business owners who want to leave social media without losing their clients. Find them at offthegrid.fun 🖤
Connect with Rosemary Sanders-Price
- IG: @rose_in_bloom_therapy
- Website: Roseinbloom.com
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Episode Credits
Produced, Hosted, and Edited by Stephanie Graham
Lyrics: Queen Lex
Instrumental: Freddie Bam Fam
Cover Art: Emma McGoldrick
00:00 - Untitled
00:09 - Introduction to Black Business Month
01:03 - Introduction to Rosemary Sanders Price
12:37 - The Journey of Advocacy and Understanding Neurodiversity
19:38 - Challenges of Community Health and Entrepreneurship
25:44 - Navigating Mental Health in the Community
28:42 - Understanding Shadow Work
32:32 - The Impact of Motherhood on Therapy
37:30 - Healing and Grief: A Continuous Journey
Hey, friends.
Stephanie GrahamWelcome. And welcome back to noseyAF conversations about art, activism, and social change.I'm your host and friend Stephanie Graham, and it's 31 days of black Business because it is Black Business Month. August is Black Business Month.So that means every single day this month, I'm handing you personally handing you someone who is wise, wonderful, and quite frankly, open for business. So today's guest is Rosemary Sanders Price, who is a therapist, an author, a mom who spent over 20 years in retail management before any of that.Rosemary's practice is called Rose in Bloom, and it took one question from a friend to get her here.But first, we have to play our theme music, which, can I just say, y', all, I'm really getting my money's worth playing this theme song every single day this month. So here we go. Welcome to nosey af. And then I present to you, Rosemary.
Stephanie GrahamGotta get up, get up to the whole world. You a winner, Winner. Vision of a star with a mission in the cause. What you're doing, how you doing, what you're doing and who you are.Flex yourself and press yourself. Check yourself, don't wreck yourself. If you know me, then you know that I be knowing what's up. Hey, Stephanie. Cool Graham is noseyAF.
Stephanie GrahamRosemary, welcome to nosey af.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceThank you. I'm so excited.
Stephanie GrahamMe too. So you've experienced mental health from multiple perspectives. I'm just going to get right into it. As a therapist.As a therapist, as an advocate, author, and mother. How have those different experiences shaped the way you approach your work?
Rosemary Sanders-PriceWell, the reason why I came into the practice in itself is all rooted in really. It started with my mother watching her deal with undiagnosed mental illness. At the time, I didn't feel equipped to really dive into it.Then I had my son, and at nine months, I remember leaving him with the children's church, and I came down and I'm like, jackson, Jackson. He's not responding to his name. And I'm like, okay, there's something there. Talking to my husband, he was just like, I'm not sure.I think maybe you're overanalyzing things, but there's this intuition that hits you. Yeah. And you go, okay, now this is a normal development.
Stephanie GrahamYeah. Shout out to your intuition for just, like, wanting to look into something that no. Could.Could have been like, oh, well, he's just playing or just distracted or whatever, you know, being like, well, no, I don't think so.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceMm. Yeah. Because you watch, like, your. Your child's peers, and you can't help It.Everybody tells you, oh, don't compare your children's development to other children. Every child develops differently. But there are some cor.That should be happening at certain points, and he should be able to recognize my voice and know his name. And that stood out to me.
Stephanie GrahamYeah. So you. You've observed, you know. You know, different experiences with your mom and then your son.You know, how did that still, like, work to be like, I'm going to go to school and pursue therapy?
Rosemary Sanders-PriceYes. I know. It was such a huge shift. Right. Because I spent over 20 years in retail management.To one day wake up, it feels like, and say, okay, I'm going back to school to be a therapist.
Stephanie GrahamYeah.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceWhat happened was there was such a stigma and not enough support within the black church community to really lean on anyone to get information that I needed. Like, I had to find Easter Seals. I had to advocate for him at the pediatrician, because she was even like, no, he's fine, to get him testing.And so I was like, how many mothers are going through this and don't have anyone in their corner, anyone with information to really support them? And so I was actually sitting in church one day, and my good friend Rochelle was like, it came up on the monitor like, we're looking for counselors.And she looked at me. She was like, why are you not a therapist? And that was the turning point for me.
Stephanie GrahamWow. Shout out. Shout out to Rochelle.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceI know, sometimes announcements. Exactly. It takes an outside source to see your potential sometimes. But that really resonated with me because I'm like, why am I not a therapist?Like, I know I'm passionate about giving people information and supporting them through difficult times. So I ended up going back to school, end up with my concentration being children and adolescents.So I see a lot of kiddos and help a lot of different mothers navigate that getting that support they need for their kids when they find out that they do have autism.
Stephanie GrahamSo in your practice, your practice is called Rose and Bloom Therapy. Where did the name come from? What does it mean?
Rosemary Sanders-PriceOkay, so the name came from me. Right. I felt like when I decided to really step into this role as advocate therapist, it allowed me to bloom. Right.And I wanted to also convey that message to those who come across the page that this is a point where you can get the information you need to bloom and grow and whatever direction you need to go in. So I dealt with imposter syndrome on that page, and a lot of people reached out to me and was like, I feel seen.
Stephanie GrahamYeah.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceI also wrote a blog that really talked about navigating life as a parent of a child who is neurodivergent. And again, other people reached out to say, okay, this is very impactful. A lot of times people feel alone.And so being able to be that voice was very important to me.
Stephanie GrahamYou working, like, having these observations with your son and then now being an advocate and working with others, I guess I wonder, like, it is. It does seem overwhelming to even know, like, where to turn.Like, once maybe a family or parent finds out this about themselves or their child, how do folks find you? I guess it's just what I'm wondering because it seems like it's such, like, a word of mouth.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceYeah, yeah.
Stephanie GrahamBusiness. Like, people are sharing information. But what if you don't know the right people?
Rosemary Sanders-PriceSo I am on Psychology Today also, but roseandbloom therapy.com is really easy to remember. I also, on that page, have my book different not to Fish and Raising a Black sun on a Spectrum where people can order that book also.
Stephanie GrahamYeah. How did you decide to write the book?
Rosemary Sanders-PriceOkay, well, first of all, I had to get permission to write the book because my son at the time he wrote it is 11. Right. And so he has an autonomy, and he has to be able to communicate whether or not he feels comfortable with me sharing part of his story.And there's the parts in the book where he's like, okay, great. And then there was parts I wanted to add, and he was like, no, Mommy, you can't discuss that.And, yeah, I wrote the book because what was happening during COVID 19. Right. And then we started to think about how he would present as a teenager in this world. Jassing is level one autism. And so people get level three.Level three would be inability to articulate words. But he is able to communicate, but his communication style is not typical. Some things get missed by him.So he doesn't understand sarcasm or have spatial awareness at times. And that can be misinterpreted by people, like, as rebellion. And so we started to talk about him being able to advocate for himself.
Stephanie GrahamWhat's it like being an author?
Rosemary Sanders-PriceIt is unreal. And it was something I did not again, perceived, really doing.I was having a discussion with a bunch of therapy friends, and one of my friends was like, you need to write the book again, Friends, Right. Pouring back.
Stephanie GrahamWas this Rochelle again?
Rosemary Sanders-PriceNo, it was not Rochelle this time. Pouring back into me and saying, you already have the material. You just have to sit there and put it together.And then, of course, my husband's always that person in my Corner. Like, why are you not writing? You need to write more. And so, yeah, I was able to get. Get it done. It was very vulnerable for me, though. Right.Because I'm sharing a part of my life, a part of my journey, and a part of my son's journey also.
Stephanie GrahamEven just with writing this book, what has the experience of, like, the process of putting a book together taught you about? Well, what has it taught you that, like, a classroom or even in your clinical training could not teach you?
Rosemary Sanders-PriceThen I'm capable. Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah.I think you are given the tools and things you needed within the classroom setting to complete things, but to be able to be capable, to hold yourself accountable, to sit right and get something done, that's a huge accomplishment in itself.
Stephanie GrahamYeah. Congratulations.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceThank you.
Stephanie GrahamWhat do you wish more people understood about neurodiversity in black families?
Rosemary Sanders-PriceThat it is not a curse. It's not something that needs to be cured. We just need to learn how to communicate with them, the way that they receive communication.And more than likely, it's going to put a mirror on you. Right. Because what happened was the things that I started to see about Jackson, I was like, oh, my goodness.I did those things too when I was younger.
Stephanie GrahamYeah, like what?
Rosemary Sanders-PriceOkay, so I've always been a toe walker. And when I was. When I was younger, my mom would be like, oh, you're just a little ballerina.And I'm like, ma', am, you should have maybe gotten me tested.
Stephanie GrahamYou know, what does, like, effective advocacy actually look like day to day?
Rosemary Sanders-PriceSo day to day with. Just thinking about with Jackson and how he goes out into the world, he has to mask sometimes. Right.And then he gets home and he's exhausted from masking. So we just get 100% of everything. You know, that advocacy is allowing him to just be himself.
Stephanie GrahamYeah.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceThere's no correction in that. This is your safe place. You don't have to conform. And that's, again, something that I like to see with my clients.Like, You need to pace, pace whatever. You need to feel comfortable and congruent where, you know, this is your space and your place. And it's also just like bringing bits of knowledge to.Across social media platforms, things people have not considered. I think the pivotal point for me in advocacy came sitting, going back to the church.Sitting in a church and listening to the pastor get up there and say, oh, it's women fault. It's your fault that your kids have autism. It's your diet. What is you allowing them. Yes, it's you allowing Them to watch TV on their tablet.And I'm like, at, hey, I'm not carrying that guilt, because I know that that's false and that's not backed by the science of things. But I just started to think about how many mothers went home that day.
Stephanie GrahamYeah.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceAnd carry that guilt and still carry that guilt.
Stephanie GrahamYeah. That's not fair at all.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceAnd so educated mothers, it's not your fault at this point. The. You know, like, this is just part of who they are. This is their journey, and you are the stewardess of their journey. And so it's okay, you know.
Stephanie GrahamYeah. One of the questions that I had wanted to ask you was, what conversations about mental health do you think we're still avoiding?But I think I'm curious what you think about that. Like, in the church, if you feel comfortable sharing.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceSure. I think we're avoiding the fact that mental health is present. We like to pretend like, oh, that's just how they are. Or pray for them.We'll pray it away. Right.And we're not really offering resources, support, tools, coping mechanisms, really meeting people where they are, but expecting them to rise to the occasion when they don't have the tools or they're not capable of rising to what you believe they should, where you believe they should be. I think we really need to start calling a thing a thing. Right. Instead of demonizing everything. We. We do that a lot.Or we don't have those discussions. Like, why is it that my cousin is consistently rocking?
Stephanie GrahamYeah.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceYeah.Why is it that auntie wants to collect every little decorative item that she finds, and her house is full of stuff that you can barely make it through the house with? We don't have those kind of conversations to really get to the root of things.
Stephanie GrahamYeah. Does Rosenbloom ever, like, advertise in church bulletins?
Rosemary Sanders-PriceI feel like no, Rosenbloom does not.
Stephanie GrahamI just feel like it's so needed. I love the back of, like, at my grandma's church, the bulletins, like, the little squares. I, like, read each one.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceYeah.
Stephanie GrahamSo with your clients that you work with, it's mostly children, adolescents. Do you work with adults as well?
Rosemary Sanders-PriceOh, I work with everybody. Adults, couples, family,.
Stephanie GrahamYou know, like, we're recording this in 2026, so if you're listening to this after, you know, just to times stamp it. But. Yeah. What are you seeing that folks are struggling with.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceThe administration. Oh, man. Yeah. Yeah. The reoccurring theme, you'll be surprised of, even children.
Stephanie GrahamWow. Mm.That really makes me sad because we have to spend, like, our Hard earned money to like, I mean we come to you for like, you know, to like help with mental health and you know, just day to days and we have to spend our money on this, this man, this administration. It's very frustrating.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceYeah. I talk about it so much and you know, like I tell my, tell my clients like, oh, turn off the tv, take some time, read a book.And I'm like, I don't get, I don't get that privilege because I have to be informed. But it's hard, right? You can't. Even though I'm encouraging them to decompress from it all, it is so prevalent. It's in everything.It's in going to the grocery store, filling up your gas tank.
Stephanie GrahamIt is all very overwhelming. Overwhelming. What's your self care practice is like? Because you hear like you have to have everybody dumps on you.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceSo all therapists need a therapist. I don't care. You definitely need a therapist. No. If your therapist is sitting before you telling you, no, I don't go to therapy, that's a red flag.Yeah, I think also I read a lot and my guilty pleasure is Korean dramas. I watched. Oh,.
Stephanie GrahamGood call. You read, you read Korean dramas or.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceNo, I watch.
Stephanie GrahamYou watch them. Okay, okay.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceBut I did a lot of fun.
Stephanie GrahamOkay. Books. Listen, there is something about that drama genre where it just takes it over the top or actually it's really good.That really is cleansing for the soul.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceIt is, it is. And I'm just like so invested. I feel like it's like a soap opera. I'm like, what's next? I see why they all sit and wait for it at 3 o'. Clock.Because I'm like the same so popper time.
Stephanie GrahamI get like that with Lifetime movies. Like we'll have friends for Lifetime movies. And it's like, okay, let's see what the Blue Eyed Butcher's about. You know, it's just like so ridiculous.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceYeah. But it's a way to escape a little while.
Stephanie GrahamFor a little while for sure. Do you offer sliding skill.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceCurrently? No. Within the next year? Yes. But I do take insurance. Okay. I did.So let me start out by saying that I initially started in community health, which you know, was free to sliding scale. And the intensity of community health is unbelievable.I don't think I know that the government does not invest enough in those programs to sustain them and to keep therapists. I went into private practice with the hopes of opening my own practice within the next two years.And within that, then we're looking at free therapy sessions. For those who can't afford it. Sliding scale, but not quite there yet.
Stephanie GrahamLet's talk about some entrepreneurship. You know, what are some of the biggest lessons from entrepreneurship? As you've been, you know, doing your thing as a therapist, it was really.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceDifficult to switch from working for a company to working for self. Right?
Stephanie GrahamYeah.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceYou have to be able to manage your own hours. You have to be able to get the paperwork done, which I. It's necessary. I hate paperwork. Okay.I absolutely despise the paperwork aspect, but it has to get done. Like, my son's always in there, like, are you doing notes? I'm like, yeah, I'm doing nudes. Yeah.But there is a beauty to it to be able to just like, be more available.Cause for so long, my schedule is so fixed, and I was missing a lot of different things, you know, like, just being with family, going to events, and now, like, I feel like it really opened things up for me. But it is a. It is a difficult journey to be an entrepreneur because you put the. You bet on self, right?
Stephanie GrahamYeah. And, you know, just as, like, on this podcast, I like to talk about, like, community.With mental health being, like, all the rage, how can we be better neighbors? But maybe it hasn't been. It feels like it's been all the rage.Like, lately, like, people just talk about my mental health, my mental health, my mental health. Yeah, I guess. Like, how can we just be better neighbors when we think about thinking about others and what other people might be going through?
Rosemary Sanders-PriceI'll start with the idea of mental health being a rage. I don't think so much is that, but I think it is people finally. Finally connecting dots. Right. Finally finding language to their behaviors.And when that happens, a liberation comes. Right.You're like, I've been doing X, Y and Z for so long, and I thought maybe I was broken, but now I have this understanding that I've been doing X, Y, and Z because of this. And it frees you. Right. And I think that's what's exciting for people and what's driving them to really have this kind of communication.Not to mention we're consistently online, right?
Stephanie GrahamYeah.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceAnd everybody is influencing in some way because we're all communicating our daily lives. And so I think that's where we are with mental health in terms of being a good neighbor.I think just because I'm only grown up, I've only been in black and brown neighborhoods. What I see is. Has always been acceptance.Even if a child was struggling with communication or we see them with behavior issues, we still embrace them, like, all right, go play. Right. We're still playing with this individual until it becomes too much and then everybody break up and go home. Or we're still looking out for them.I think for me, it felt as though, even though there's stigma there, we have still been very much accepting of the differences within our. Our culture, within our neighborhood. What I would love to see happen is more access to mental health care. Right? Yeah.Because so many facilities were closed down, so much support was taken away, and there are mornings where we're walking Jack to camp and we're seeing people having manic episodes on the street.
Stephanie GrahamYeah.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceYeah. And so.
Stephanie GrahamDo you have any advice if you do see folks having manic episodes on the street? Like, what to do?
Rosemary Sanders-PriceOkay. So it depends on what it is. Right. If they're having a situation, when they're having a discussion with self, leave those people alone. Okay.As long as they're not doing harm to you or to others, allow them to go through it. If you're dealing not even necessarily somebody on the street or at home and someone is having delusions. Right.The biggest support you can offer them is buying into their delusion. I know a lot of people are like, what do you mean, buy into their delusion? You're not going to fight them and say, there's no UFOs in this house.You're gonna engage them and say, where do you see it? What is happening now? Because that's gonna help them walk down from the delusion. But if you press against it, it's just gonna heighten the emotion.
Stephanie GrahamGotcha. Yeah.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceDe.
Stephanie GrahamEscalate. I think I've seen the talking to self, and then I've also seen rolling around on the ground, like, stop, drop, and roll.And when I first saw that, I was like, oh, my gosh. Like, are you okay? And they're like, what? And they just got up and, like, walked off. Because I'm like, what? And it's like, what just happened? Yeah.So I guess just let them do them.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceYes. Unless you see harm, then you want to get assistance.
Stephanie GrahamYeah.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceYeah. I would not advocate for anyone to jump in.
Stephanie GrahamThat's really good advice, guys. Don't jump in.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceLet people jump in. Let people do them. Y.
Stephanie GrahamHow can the community support the work that you're doing?
Rosemary Sanders-PriceSo I think not fighting against it, first of all, not denying that it's a necessity. We've seen a few people pop up saying, oh, you don't need therapist. You need Jesus. I'm like, why can't you have Both.
Stephanie GrahamYeah. This is a yes. And over here, God wants to have it all.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceYes. And so you need someone to talk to. You need a sounding board. You need a place where you can release those things without feeling judged or condemned.
Stephanie GrahamYeah.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceAnd that's what therapy is. Yeah.
Stephanie GrahamYeah. Do you really love it?
Rosemary Sanders-PriceI love it so much.
Stephanie GrahamYeah.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceEven on the days that I'm like, oh, I'm tired, I'm like, oh, but I get to talk to this person, you know?
Stephanie GrahamYeah. What's your favorite parts about it,.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceReally? Seeing people come to self, you know, like stop holding up walls and start breaking down those walls to find bits of.I do a lot of internal family system work. Right. And what is that? Ifs right. Internal family system is when we have parts of ourselves that show up.So if anxiety is showing up, anxiety is showing up because it believes it's protecting you from maybe the world around you or from individual. So I encourage my clients to approach anxiety with compassion and curiosity.I understand that at one point this was necessary for me to accomplish things, but right now what I need is peace. Right?
Stephanie GrahamYeah.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceSo we're not shaming parts of ourself, we're stepping those parts of ourselves, but allowing them to know that this is not the time nor the place for them.
Stephanie GrahamYeah.How would someone, you know, if you like, finding yourself like, okay, I've had all this stuff that has happened and I'm not who I was then, you know, and folks try to start walking that back. How does someone, I mean, obviously we can get a session with you, but how do folks start to like, walk that kind of stuff back?Is it through journaling?Any sort of advice when people are getting like, late diagnosed or they're like realizing that, you know, they've gone years this way, nobody stepped in because maybe they didn't know to. Now how do you, like, forgive that part of yourself? I guess, you know, like where you could have done better, you didn't know better.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceYeah.
Stephanie GrahamYeah. Because now you could just beat yourself up, you know?
Rosemary Sanders-PriceMm. I know there's been conversation around shadow work, which is really important. Journaling, dealing with the inner child. Right.Cause that's a younger aspect of yourself. Forgiving 18 year old you because she didn't have the wisdom of 40 year old you, you know, like, give her a break. She hasn't lived. She didn't live.Have that lived experience you have now. So it is a process of going back to those segments and those parts of yourself, embracing them, loving them. Meditation helps. Right.A visualization of that younger you of that you at that place in that time.
Stephanie GrahamYeah.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceAnd giving them the language, saying, you. We didn't know, you know, this is what you were dealing with at the time.
Stephanie GrahamI'm so glad you brought up shadow work, because shadow work always, like, I always see all the witchcraft girlies talking about it. Yeah, but it's not a witchcraft girl thing.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceIt is not. It. No, no. Shadow work is really healing parts of yourself that have been, for lack of better words, paralyzed by maybe trauma, disappointment, hurt.Right. Arrested development in those areas where you feel stuck, where maybe you didn't mature emotionally past that point.Going back to those spots and really speaking healing to those parts of yourself.
Stephanie GrahamI love that. Thank you for demystifying that.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceYeah.
Stephanie GrahamBecause it. Yeah. It always seemed like it had, like, this dark piece to me, and I'm like, I don't know.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceIt's called. I believe Carl Jung really dealt with it. One of the first.
Stephanie GrahamOkay.
Rosemary Sanders-PricePsychiatrists who stepped away from Freud. So.
Stephanie GrahamRight on. So, okay, great. Thank you so much. Like, if folks want to, like, link up with you, we go to Rose. Roseandbloom therapy.com.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceYes. Yes. And I'm also on Instagram under Rosenbloom Therapy, too.
Stephanie GrahamAwesome. Are you giving, like, insights and wisdom on, like, can we. Can you be one of our favorite Instagram therapists?
Rosemary Sanders-PriceSo I'm very cautious about doing work on Instagram. Yeah.
Stephanie GrahamOkay.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceOkay. I'm not. I'm not one of those who just come out and offer insight because I don't know the individual.First of all, I have to sit with, you know, you know your journey. I can't just give you blanket advice. I can give you coping tools. Okay. Yeah. So that's it. Yeah.
Stephanie GrahamGood, wise, sage advice.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceOkay. Yeah, yeah.
Stephanie GrahamLike, I feel like I'm, like, taking in. Yes.I feel like I'm, like, taking all that you say, and, like, each time I ask, like, think of a question, I'm like, okay, this is not a personal session, Stephanie. This is to talk about Rosemary's business for everybody.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceBut this is part of my business, right?
Stephanie GrahamYeah, yeah. And I really appreciate the insight. I think it's been really wonderful. And where can we find your book?
Rosemary Sanders-PriceSo, again, Rose and Bloom Therapy. There's a link there. You just click on it. My book.
Stephanie GrahamOkay, great. We purchased directly from you.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceYes, it comes directly from me.
Stephanie GrahamI love it. Such a lovely cover. Thank you. Awesome. Anything else that you want to share before we call our conversation complete?
Rosemary Sanders-PriceBut do you have any questions that you feel like you haven't gotten an opportunity yet?
Stephanie GrahamYou Know, one thing I think I'm curious about is how maybe being a mother has changed the way you show up as a therapist. As I think of motherhood myself, I'm like, wow, this really seems to change everyone's life. At first I'm like, oh, you guys are just saying that.But now it's sort of scary.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceIt changed. It is scary. It is anchoring you. It was like, okay, before having a child, I felt whimsical and flying everywhere. I'm gonna try this. I'm do that.I'm go there. I'm gonna do that. And then I became someone's mother, and the anchor came down. It was like. And I had to face. I. Oh, my goodness.The journey through motherhood was where I started to question, am I enough?
Stephanie GrahamYeah.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceWho am I? I am now responsible for this soul. And they're looking at me like. And I'm looking at them like, what are we doing here? Okay.We're going to learn together. Yeah. It is. It is. It does alter you in a way that's very profound. For some may think that it's wonderful. Others may find it challenging.And, you know, I see clients on both of those spectrums.
Stephanie GrahamYeah, I remember. I'm a big Bravo fan. And I remember Rachel Zo. Rachel Zo was, like, getting pregnant, and she's like, I'm just gonna bring this kid everywhere.He's just gonna be my little accessory. Like, seeming as if she's gonna still keep her schedule and. And, you know, she'll just have this kid with her.And I haven't seen an update from her about that. Or I would love to ask her if she believed that, but that doesn't seem to be the case that you. Yeah.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceOh, no.
Stephanie GrahamLike, it seems like I would be completely giving up my life with the kid.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceAnd you. You unfortunately, like, when you're like, okay, I made the decision to be a parent, you come into it with this idea, Right?Like, she had the idea, I'm going to take my baby everywhere. But you don't know what's going to happen. Everything has been pan out that way.Like when we had Jackson, Jackson was sick for the first five years of life. We were in the hospital every Christmas and birthday.
Stephanie GrahamOh, my goodness.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceRight. Because he has asthma, allergies. His asthma was really bad. And so did I picture that in motherhood? Absolutely not. Right.But you don't know what you're going to get. Yeah. Yeah. So I think that's the delusion of it all. Like, get rid of the picture. It's probably not going to be what you thought it was.
Stephanie GrahamHas it made you more organized?
Rosemary Sanders-PriceNo.
Stephanie GrahamOkay.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceI'm a naturally unorganized person. Well, I like to say I have organized chaos for myself.
Stephanie GrahamYeah.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceBecause it worked for me.
Stephanie GrahamYeah, exactly. But were you already a mother before you became a therapist? Like, before you had practice?
Rosemary Sanders-PriceI was.
Stephanie GrahamOkay. Okay.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceYeah.
Stephanie GrahamSo you don't have, like a before and after. You've, like, always been practicing in this way. Well, that's good at least. Yeah.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceWow.
Stephanie GrahamYeah. I think that's my questions. Thank you for that.I signed a bubble planning a meal planning class because I feel like I needed to get my own eating in order. And then even just, like, for my partner when he comes, I'm like, oh, my God, what am I gonna feed this person? This guy when he comes over here?I'm like. And I've been like, okay, if I become a mom, I need to get this meal planning thing down. But maybe I'm overthinking it because it's change anyway.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceAnd he might be the cook, because I don't cook.
Stephanie GrahamYeah.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceMy partner does all the cooking.
Stephanie GrahamYeah.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceHe's the chef of the house.
Stephanie GrahamThat's amazing. Thank you so much for sharing all of this.You know, my last quick question, actually, is, after all the work you've done as a therapist, advocate, author, and parent, what have you come to believe about healing that you didn't believe maybe, like, 10 years ago?
Rosemary Sanders-PriceThe healing is not linear. I always thought, okay, once you're healed in this, you can move forward.But healing has so many layers that it will start to feel like you're stepping back, but you're still being pulled forward. But there's just that part that has not completely healed yet. So. Yeah.And you'll be surprised to learn parts of you that are not healed in simple moments. You know, like stepping outside, watching the sunrise, you're like, I remember this. And then it hits you, right.And it's okay to lean into that and it's okay to cry or to feel that. I think people have a hard time feeling. Sitting with uncomfortable feelings, and it's important. Oh, for sure. Yeah.
Stephanie GrahamIt seems like it's always, like, maybe healing from this. I. From your answer, it makes me think, like, healing is just like always. It's always like, we'll always be healing.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceAlways. Yes.
Stephanie GrahamYeah.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceIt's part of the human experience.
Stephanie GrahamYes. Just like, even, like, grief, it makes you think, like, that's always a thing.I used to, like, watch, you know, like, 2020 specials, and people would be like, there's never a day that goes by that I don't think about them and I'm like, yeah, right. But that's not true. Like, when my grandmother passed, I, like, think about her, like, all the time.She's like, running, like, in the back of my head, like, all the time, you know, so it's like that's just, like, that's just a life thing, you know?
Rosemary Sanders-PriceYeah. One of my beliefs is that grief is a perpetual cycle. It never stops. Yeah, right. And you don't just grieve people, you grieve stages of life.
Stephanie GrahamYeah, that's true. Like, I'll probably grieve my meal planning plan when I have a kid or a son.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceYour freedom. Right. Your ability to move as you want to. You'll grieve that.
Stephanie GrahamYeah.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceYeah.
Stephanie GrahamOh, my goodness. Yeah. Wow. Okay, well, hey, you know what? You might see my name on your booking calendar.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceUnfortunately, I will have to turn you down.
Stephanie GrahamOh, really?
Rosemary Sanders-PriceYes. Because I know you and I just did this beautiful interview with you, so.
Stephanie GrahamYes. Okay, well, thank you at least for that.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceI could give you a referral.
Stephanie GrahamOkay. No, I really appreciate that, you guys. Rosemary is the real deal. She's not going to tell us any advice on Instagram.You know, she's not going to meet with us if she knows us personally. Wow.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceYeah. Respect, respect.
Stephanie GrahamI appreciate that so much. Oh, my gosh. Okay, well, you know, thank you again and yeah, thanks so much for being on nosey af.
Rosemary Sanders-PriceThank you for having me. I had a great time.
Stephanie GrahamThat concludes another episode of noseyAF AF, 31 Days of Black Business. I'm your host and friend, Stephanie Graham. I hope you took something away from today's conversation and had a good time hanging with us.Be sure to check out the show notes to learn more about today's guest and consider supporting their work. You know how it goes, whether you're making a purchase, hiring them, or simply spreading the word. Listen, who doesn't love a referral?It truly all makes the difference. Quick thank yous go out to Queen Lex and Freddy. Bam Bam for the noseyAF AF theme music.And Emma McGowrick who hooked me up with the COVID art and branding. Shout out to the partners and supporters for this series. You could check them out in the show notes as well. Super grateful for a partner. Hello.That's the show Friends until tomorrow. Stay curious and take care. Bye.