The Compass Collective

06/15/2026

Let’s bust some healthcare myths today.

Myth: A denial letter means no.

Reality: It often means not yet. Most denials can be appealed and many get overturned.

Myth: If your doctor prescribed it, insurance has to cover it.

Reality: Insurance companies make their own coverage decisions, separate from what your doctor recommends.

Myth: Patient advocates are only for people who can’t speak for themselves.

Reality: They’re for anyone trying to navigate a system that was never designed to be simple.

Myth: Once something is denied, you’re out of options.

Reality: You can request reviews, file appeals, and even involve your state’s insurance commissioner. Most people never get past step one.

If any of this surprised you, that’s the exact gap I work in every day. You deserve to know your rights.

06/14/2026

Trauma-informed care gets talked about a lot.

But what does it actually look like on a Tuesday afternoon when your caseload is full and you're already running behind?

It looks like pausing before you assume.

It looks like giving people choice.

It looks like fostering safety and highlighting people's strengths.

It's turning judgement to curiosity.

Trauma-informed care isn't a checklist. It's a way of thinking that shapes every interaction — with clients, with colleagues, and with yourself.

This July, we're dedicating an entire session at the free CTRI Summit to exactly this. A moderated panel exploring how trauma-informed thinking plays out in real workplaces, with real constraints.

July 8 | 10am–1pm CT | Free

Link to register in comments 👇

06/14/2026

Heal & Rise LLC offers mental health and substance use treatment and medication management services. Heal & Rise LLC also provides assessments, including ma*****na assessments. Heal for the betterment of your health.

06/14/2026

06/10/2026

The Compass Collective has a home now.

If you've ever sat in a parking lot after an appointment more confused than when you walked in, this is for you.

Patient navigation. Prior authorization help. Grief support. Advocacy that doesn't make you feel like a case number.

thecompasscollective.org is live. Come see what I built for you.

Providers and community partners, the site shows you exactly how to refer a client. Se habla espanol.

https://thecompasscollective.org/

Patient navigation, healthcare advocacy, prior authorization consulting, and trauma-informed support for individuals, families, and practices in Hampton Roads, Virginia.

06/08/2026

One of the hardest parts of this work is watching someone fall through the cracks of a system that was built to catch them.

I have been advocating for a client who is unhoused and living with serious mental illness. He has cycled in and out of jail not because he is a criminal, but because he never received the consistent, coordinated care he needed. That is a systemic failure. And it is one I see repeated far too often in Hampton Roads.

Community Service Boards exist for exactly this population. When they function well, they are a lifeline. When they don’t, the consequences are devastating and sometimes irreversible.

After a year of advocacy, the message I keep receiving is that nothing will change until there is a crisis. Until someone gets hurt. That is not care. That is waiting for a tragedy.

We can and must do better for our most vulnerable neighbors. Structured empathy is not just a framework I work from, it is a standard I hold systems to as well. Feel it. Frame it. Act on it.

06/03/2026

June is Men’s Mental Health Month and I need us to talk about this. Especially for our men of color.

Men are taught from an early age to push through it. To be strong. To figure it out alone. And for Black and brown men, that message hits even harder. Strength gets redefined as silence. Asking for help gets mistaken for weakness. And the weight just keeps stacking.

That’s not strength. That’s survival mode.

Men grieve differently. It doesn’t always look like tears. It looks like withdrawing. Working more. Anger that doesn’t make sense. Numbing out. Staying busy so they never have to sit with it.

And because it doesn’t look like what we expect grief and pain to look like, we miss it. They miss it in themselves.

I’ll be honest with you. I encouraged my own husband to try therapy with an open mind. And he did. That took courage. Real courage. And I am so proud of him for that.

To every man reading this, you are allowed to not be okay. You are allowed to ask for help. You are allowed to take up space in your own healing.

And to the people who love them, check on your men. Not just “you good?” and moving on. Really check on them.

The stigma around men’s mental health has cost us too much already. This month and every month, let’s do better.

The Compass Collective is a safe space for everyone. Including you 🧡

06/03/2026

06/02/2026

June is Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month. This month is a time to promote overall well-being, support healthy relationships, and encourage open dialogue to break the stigma surrounding mental health challenges that many men may face. https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2023-05-31/mens-mental-health-symptoms-treatments-where-to-find-help

05/31/2026

I want to ask you something real today.

What is one thing the healthcare system never explained to you that you wish someone had?

Maybe it was a diagnosis that came with no real guidance. Maybe it was a denial letter that felt like a dead end. Maybe it was a medication change nobody bothered to walk you through. Maybe it was your rights as a patient that nobody mentioned until it was too late.

You are not alone in that feeling. The system was not built to explain itself. It was built to process people.

That is exactly why I started The Compass Collective. Because everyone deserves someone in their corner who knows how this works and isn’t afraid to speak up.

Drop your answer in the comments. I want to hear your story.