Description

Charleston, South Carolina

For people of African ancestry, healing has never been a solitary or purely medical act. Long before the creation of Western psychology, African societies maintained sophisticated, community-grounded systems for assessing psychological health, understanding the roots of illness, and facilitating restoration, systems in which the individual was understood not in isolation, but as an expression of a relationship to family, community, ancestry, and to the living world.

This multi-day gathering brings together scholars, licensed mental health professionals, genealogists, cultural historians, community members, healers, priests, rootworkers, conjurers, Ifa and other ATR practitioners to examine African diasporic healing traditions as culturally grounded mental health interventions. Participants will explore the therapeutic dimensions of genealogical research as ancestral healing work, the preservation of healing knowledge within Gullah Geechee conjure, rootwork, and cultural traditions, and the integration of these systems into contemporary mental health practice.

The gathering weaves together professional training for genealogists and family historians, continuing education for licensed mental health professionals, and community-wide learning sessions into a single cohesive experience. Programming is experiential and land-rooted, drawing participants into direct engagement with the cultural and historical landscape of the Charleston region and the Gullah/Geechee community.

Why Charleston? Why Now?

Charleston, South Carolina is not simply a geographic location, it is a threshold. For many, it is the other side of the door of no return. The year 2026 marks the quincentennial, 500 years since the earliest documented arrival of Africans on the Carolina coast and the recorded resistance of Africans in the Georgetown region. This anniversary is not merely historical; it is an invitation to reckon and to remember. It is a sign that the water has called us home.

Gadsden's Wharf, a short distance from our gathering site, served as the primary port of entry during the final decades of the Trans-Atlantic trafficking of African people. Between 1670 and 1808, more than 260,000 Africans arrived through Charleston, representing approximately 40% of all those forcibly brought to North America (International African American Museum, 2023). The weight of that history lives in the land, the water, the people, and the cultural practices that endured despite every effort to extinguish them.

Even if your ancestral roots do not trace directly to South Carolina, Charleston holds a collective significance for the entire African diaspora. This is ground zero of the African presence in the Americas, and a fitting place to center a conversation about what healing, in its fullest sense, has always meant for our communities.

We are here to reframe and decolonize the work. We believe that genealogy is ancestral work. Ancestral work is healing work. Healing work, done in community and rooted in cultural truth, is the foundation of psychological liberation.

What to Expect

Join us for a week of community dialogue, presentations, continuing education sessions, tours, community activities, visits to the International African American Museum, the Avery Research Center, Sullivan's Island, and an Gullah Geechee heritage site providing a true narrative history. Participants will experience creative engagement and deep immersion in the Gullah Geechee cultural and healing traditions that have quietly sustained African American psychological well-being for generations.

Whether you come as a community member, therapist, researcher, genealogist, cultural practitioner, or simply as a African descendant seeking wholeness, there is a place for you here.

October 30 – November 6, 2026 | Charleston, South Carolina

Formal program: October 31 – November 3, 2026

Community Activities November 4-6, 2026

In Praise of Gullah Chefs - A Gala honoring the contributions of Gullah chefs to American cuisine (Friday November 6, 2026)

Our closing night features a walk-through culinary history as we honor Gullah Chefs whose skills helped to lay the foundation for American cuisine. Travel with us back in time as we taste the West and Central African flavors that became central to the American foods that we eat today. This culminating experience is all about the food and the history behind the powerful Gullah chefs that brought it forward.

Savannah, GA (optional)

Round out the week with a 1 day trip to Savannah, Georgia. We will visit continue down the Gullah/Geechee corridor and learn about the healing practices among communities in Georgia.

Participants earn 6 continuing education for mental health professional or professional development credit for other fields.

Full Program (click)

Agenda

October 30 | Arrival & Welcome Reception

October 31 | Genealogy, Gullah Healing Traditions, & Visit to Sullivan's Island - Port of Entry for ships trafficking in kidnapped Africans

November 1 | Genealogy, Gullah Healing Traditions, & Mental Health Workshops

November 2 | Genealogy, Gullah Healing Traditions, & Mental Health Workshops

November 3 | Intersections of Genealogy & Mental Health - International African American Museum

November 4 | Gullah/Geechee Heritage: healing Traditions

November 5 | Gullah/Geechee Heritage: healing Traditions

November 6 | In Praise of Gullah Chefs - A Gala honoring the contributions of Gullah chefs to American cuisine

November 7 | Departure; Optional Tour down the Gullah Corridor to Savannah, GA

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

(See full program for complete list of objectives)

Identify at least three culturally specific protective factors present in Gullah Geechee communities that contribute to psychological resilience among clients of African descent.
Analyze how linguistic traditions, oral histories, and community storytelling function as carriers of psychologically protective knowledge within African American communities, with specific reference to Gullah Geechee cultural practices.
Describe the empirical relationship between genealogical research and psychological identity formation in clients from communities with documented histories of forced displacement and cultural disruption.

Flight & Accommodations

You can make your own hotel and flight arrangements or use the independent travel agent listed below. We have reserved a small block of rooms, please get in touch for the code. Fees may apply if you request services beyond those outlined for the trip. October is a busy time in Charleston, so you will notice that hotel prices are at a premium. If you make your own arrangements, we encourage you to make reservations that are refundable. We will monitor the pandemic and provide updates if the status of this activity changes.

Tiffany Gunn - (470) 799-0221 ubtravelexperience@gmail.com

Early Bird Investment

$249 Professionals

$145 Community Members

$75 Elders 65+ & Students

Registration includes attendance at three day symposium, facilitation by professional genealogists, licensed mental health professionals, and cultural historians. Cultural excursions, flight, hotel, meals, & ground transportation are NOT included.

Activity Level

Significant walking & active engagement. Participants must be independently mobile and able to engage in significant walking, bending, and prolonged outdoor activities.

Invoices

If you need an invoice for your University or Company, contact us directly at Workshops@AHealingParadigm.com or (404) 635-6021.

CLICK TO BE ADDED TO OUR MAILING LIST

Get Connected

Instagram - @AncetorWorkHeals | @AHealingParadgim

Linkedin - Dr. Ifetayo Ojelade

YouTube - Dr. Ifetayo Ojelade

Twitter - @DrIfetayo

Facebook - @AHealingparadigm

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Ancestral Healing, & Mental Health: The Water Has Called Us Home - Charleston South Carolina