Meet Dr. William C. Washington

We recently connected with Dr. William C. Washington and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Dr. William C., appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

Resilience is something you hope you would not have to tap into in this society.. and I believe being a Black man has created an inherited resilience that I have been learning to live with rather than survive from. I believe being as emotionally articulate and connected as I am, I see and experience things in my world that are genuine attacks on my wellness and identity. I find that resilience is accepting that the opposition I experience is somehow my responsibility when there are so many factors. I believe mine is more inherited, to keep it simple.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I have been working on becoming a living icon through “Mind & Music,” making healing my art. I am now at a place academically where doing more would make me do circles, and I am shooting for the top. I want my expansion to have a wellness campus that anyone can attend and not have to go to the corners of the world to experience. We deserve healing here and now. Musically, I am not interested in chasing the American dream and have been learning to decolonize how I listen to music so I can be more spiritual and purposeful with my work. It has been challenging and beautiful at the same time. I am letting go and gaining at the same time currently. I am entering a new phase of Dr. Will, and I want to know who my community is. The thought of being a “pop philanthropist” is becoming an emerging identity.

Currently, I am the owner of Washington Wellness Institute, a mental health facility dedicated to modernizing and providing holistic care to those in need. We transform illness into wellness and create opportunities to make healing a lifestyle. I believe therapy happens in the session, but healing occurs in the application. Many times, therapists are put into positions to perform, and it takes away the authenticity needed to support and guide healing. We value the fact that we are CLINICAN-centered rather than client-centered. We want our healers healing too, so they can reflect it to our members.

I am also a professional musician and leader of a brass band called, “Da Land Brass Band.” We focus on becoming the energy and pulse of Cleveland culture and celebration. I also was a member of Mourning [A] Blkstar, which focuses on Afrofuturism non-genre conforming music. It was a dream come true to play the music you believe in and see the world react to the story of Black lives.

I am currently rebranding a non-profit I created, “Viewunity,” which supports healthy spaces for collaborations with content creators. Many times, we never understand what a creator has to do to be “accepted” in a community with no limits. Navigating that takes a mental and emotional toll that should be addressed.

I created my own healing modality, called “R.E.S.E.T.,” founded on my research, to help create healing as a lifestyle. It has been used with Grammy award-winning artists, people within the music industry, and corporate executives. It has been an honor to serve at this level, and I created a local approach to the music community as well, which is currently being installed throughout the city.

I am inspired by Levar Burton, Mr. Rogers, and the Green Lantern Corps (and comics in general). I am a BLERD at heart.

Next year, I will host workshops, lecture series, podcasts, group therapy, and support groups and become more public since I have been traveling so much. I am typically flown to places to invest in healing, but I want to make sure I am doing my part in my own community. It has been hard, but I am thankful for the changes that have occurred.

What really separates me from most people is my ability to combine passion, talent, ambition, and vision into one moment that invites everyone to be part of it. You will feel that the moment you meet me because I want that for myself too, and I need you to be okay with who you show up as!

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

The three things that had the most impact on my journey were the people who took a chance on my ambition even when I didn’t have the resources (teachers), the brilliance I created (trauma into purpose), and my desire for the feeling of passion (faith in the process).

Simply put:
1) If you are not better than someone, be yourself
2) If you are not smarter than someone else, work harder for yourself
3) If you find someone doing what you do better, learn from them by asking and realizing how human they are. Then go back to one.

Never let go of the fire that started within you, even when people don’t see your vision… Your “why” can color a book without markers.

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?

Yes, I am currently going through growing pains. I made mistakes that really hurt my own heart and standards of living passionately. In the midst of fighting my heart, mind, and spirit and going through deep reflection, I learned that who I fought
were parts of myself that I even Loved—and I forgot that. I am learning the truths of others as I stand deeper within my own. I am entering a moment of beautiful divine masculinity that requires a fortified heart and ascending spirit that has never been asked of me at this level. I love it, and I am thankful for the fruits of my hardship and the continuance of healing. I believe that healing is a lifestyle, and adversity and stress is a reminder that we have just a little more to go.

I am entering a new business evolution, musical evolution, and personal expansion that I have to accept. I can no longer allow familiarity and convenience to mean more than the quality I have always had within. I can’t lose that part of me again.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Bridget Caswell
https://www.bridgetcaswell.com/

Mike Cook, Dad Brag Photography
IG: https://www.instagram.com/dad_brag_photography_ohio/
Website: https://mike-cook.smugmug.com/

Jef Janis
https://www.jefjanisphoto.com/about
IG: @jefw1f

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