We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dr. Shandra Davis. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dr. Shandra below.
Dr. Shandra , thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
For me, the start of resiliency came from my faith. I became saved at the age of nine and after that it felt like my world started falling apart. I realized that a female cousin and I were being sexually abused by an older male cousin. Then my paternal grandmother died. Then my maternal grandmother had a debilitating stroke. Two days before my 12th birthday my father died. Within a year we moved to a new area and I transferred to a new school. I was sexually molested again, but this time by one of my sister’s husband at the time. I survived domestic violence and in my 30s became a caregiver for my mother diagnosed with cancer. Through it all, the things that kept me going was my faith in God, my career goals, volunteering, and a strong support system. No matter what was happening I made it a point to continually pray and grow in my faith. I never stopped going to school or working. Volunteering has been a way for me to handle my mother’s diagnosis, as well as manage my stress levels. I was not afraid to ask/accept help from family and friends.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
Dr. Shandra Davis has a Master’s Degree and Doctorate of Psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, a Master’s Degree in Professional Counseling from Argosy University Atlanta and a Postdoctoral Certification in Health Psychology from Walden University. Although she has a specialty in Child & Adolescent Psychology, she works with all ages. She is also specialized in treating with trauma, and is trained to conduct psychological evaluations. She has worked in various capacities: school settings, therapeutic day schools, residential, juvenile corrections, outpatient community mental health, and private practice. In 2019, she launched Davis Synergetic Development dedicated to collaborating with individuals, families, and organizations to further their development through mental health. She is also the Parent Coach and a therapist at RO DBT Tampa. She also volunteers for the Suncoast Chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay. She facilitates a cancer support group and was selected as the Tampa Bay Area Big Sister of the Year in 2022. She conducts short-term mission work yearly. She is on the board for Girls Empowered Mentally for Success (GEMS) in Tampa, FL, which provides services for girls as they transition through various areas of their lives. In the past, she taught undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral courses at Manifest Theological Institute. As you can see, Dr. Davis lives by the concept of synergy, the interaction between entities to produce a combined greater effect and produce a positive impact on the world.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
As I reflect back, I believe that giving back to others was instilled in me by both of my grandmothers. They both were pillars in their communities and taught me to always help those in need. Another quality that has helped me is to be open to learning from other people. Throughout my life I have made it a point to soak up knowledge from people who are experts in their various areas. When obstacles come your way, keep the goal and find another way to reach it.
Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?
I am in a healing process right now. Last year I fostered a toddler with the plan of adoption. His mother changed her mind in February. While I support her decision, it is still a loss that I grieved. I September I found out that I was pregnant, and it ended in a miscarriage in October. I am still in the process of grieving that loss. Going through both of these loses is teaching me a lot about loss in a different way. I have been astonished by the statistics regarding miscarriages and the lack of discussion and support that many women feel when they go through it. Once I am at a better place in my journey, I want to help other women through these types of losses.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.davissynergeticdevelopment.com/
- Instagram: davissynergetic
- Facebook: Davis Synergetic Development
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shandra-davis-psy-d-47b79512/
- Twitter: davissynergetic
