Meet Dr. Markesha Miller | Licensed Psychotherapist, Consultant & Leading Mental Health Expert

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dr. Markesha Miller and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dr. Markesha, what is the most important factor behind your success?
The most important factor behind my success is definitely the foundation laid by my parents. My mother was an educator for over 40 years and my father was a farmer. I truly am a beautiful blend of the two. I knew that I had a love for education, however, I have always admired the entrepreneurial spirit and the nurturing effect. My parents instilled in me confidence, values, morals and provided the support to follow any dream that I pursued.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
It definitely has not been a smooth road.

I learned so much about myself during the pursuit of my doctoral degree. I learned about my strengths, my weaknesses, vulnerabilities, and true desires. There were adversities, trials, and tribulations, but also triumphs. I remember my professor/mentor, now also friend, Dr. Catherine Packer Williams telling me that I would either lose my mind or draw closer to God. You see me, so you can imagine that I have a strong spiritual foundation that is growing every day. Dr. Packer-Williams was such a huge part of my becoming. She poured into me unselfishly, molded me, advocated for me, and held space for me.

Ironically, she still does this today. After completing my doctoral program, my parents began to have health challenges which pulled a lot of my attention to them. Prior to their death, for seven years, I was their caregiver and responsible party, experiencing so much caregiver fatigue. Dr. Packer-Williams also had consumed that role prior to me with her mother. Therefore, naturally, she was a great voice of support.

I lost both of my parents within a year apart, 2020 and 2021. The difficult periods up to their deaths were definitely taxing, yet rewarding. The grief process was long, yet eye-opening and truly a purging of my soul. Many individuals have told me that I never lost a beat with my career over the past seven years and even during my grieving process.

The truth is I probably did not to the natural eye. However, there were times that I felt dissatisfied with my own journey and yet disconnected. (That is a story for another day).

Sometimes the storms of life can disrupt our thought processes, our dreams, and our idea of happiness. Then we realize that those storms are actually calm breezes that come to bring us life. I have to say that because of my challenges, adversities, trials, etc., I am a stronger, more experienced mental health professional and woman.

As a triple alum of THE University of South Carolina, earning my B.A. Ed.S, and Ph.D. respectively, I am a licensed psychotherapist, consultant, and mental health media, expert. I specialize in mental health as I have spent over 20 years in the field within the scope of academia as a full-time professor, researching, practicing, and consulting. Currently, I serve on the South Carolina Board of Examiners for Licensure of Professional Counselors, Marriage and Family Therapist, Addiction Counselors and Psycho-Educational Specialists after being appointed by Governor Henry McMaster.

I am known for being a leading expert within the mental health field whether it is through my research, my books, popping up on a TV screen or radio speaker to discuss mental health, my teaching and speaking , or being appointed to state boards to discuss the impact of mental health and to determine the best courses of action. I identify myself as a true scholar within the field of mental health; I teach, I research, I practice, I serve, and I advocate.

I would have to say that I am most proud of the fact that my parents were able to see the onset of their harvest before they passed. That definitely makes me proud. It reminds me that I set forth goals for myself and accomplished them (I always said that I wanted to have my Ph.D. before I turned 30 and teach at the University of South Carolina. and I did it.) While acknowledging that my parents had dreams for me to climb higher than they were able to reach, I honor and respect that I was their investment. I am so thankful that they were able to see the onset of the return on it.

What sets me apart from others? Interestingly enough, I have always known that I was “marked” and set apart from others. But that is a story for another day.

I would have to say the fact that I do mental health “my way”. I approach mental health through various avenues including healing retreats. In the past, I have hosted international women’s retreat focused on reviving. Of course, others have started to replicate this. This excites me, as I have decided to yield this for a while. However, as a leading mental health expert, I consider it an honor to inspire and lead other providers.

I not only bring the competency based on my education, but I also bring the wisdom of a 100-year-old. (Lol… seriously,) I keep it real. Very real. I grew up around the elders of my family (my maternal grandparents) and the elders of my childhood church. It is a different experience when you really soak up the wisdom and the gems of life from individuals who have seen adversity, experienced major sacrifices, are better than any history book, and just have that nurturing and guiding spirit.

I guess you can say that I bring a lot of that into my practice, into any room that I enter to speak, and at any table that I sit at. The bottom line is, that I take mental health with me everywhere I go. I was in Jamaica with my husband on vacation a few years ago and I was talking about mental health to some of the resort employees. One of the women expressed how she was presently feeling and suggested that she may be depressed. Now, if you know Jamaica and its approach to mental health… they are slowly beginning to embrace it.

But if the opportunity presents itself, I take it. That conversation prompted me being able to connect her with a provider there in Jamaica. and also discuss with the general manager a few other ways of implementing services for their employees. You never know who needs help and may not be able to cry out for it or who is willing to “hold space for them”.

Currently, I have two publications that are circulating “Hitting The Mark- Your Prescription For Good Mental Health” and a journal, “Soulful Harmony”.

The book focuses on the basic things that you can do to begin to take charge of your mental health. I often tell people that if you have been considering therapy, maybe that is not an investment that you can make right now or you just don’t feel ready. Start with the book. The journal is your 365 days of balancing your physical, mental, spiritual and emotional health.

You can get the book and journal on Amazon.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Wonderful question! We would go to one of my favorite restaurants, Malias, in Aiken, South Carolina for dinner and drinks one night. It would be imperative to go to Neon Fig for brunch and catch a show at the Aiken Performing Arts Center. I love a good brunch place and the arts! It would be important for us to have time to catch up and express our creative sides, so we would surely go to Ark Nook School & Studio and then grab dinner at Juniper. My best friend is a country girl just like me, she loves the outdoors. What better way to have an eventful day and food than visiting Eudora Wildlife Safari Park. This is a favorite for my husband and I to spend the day with our adorable Toy Poodles, Cole and Bleu.

Oh and then, she could not leave without going to South Aiken High School to see the wonderful work that they are doing. I am so proud of my husband’s leadership as principal. I would probably take her during their “W.I.N” time which is the acronym for What I Need. My husband started this initiative as an opportunity for students to gain the support in the areas that they need, whether it is lunch, academic support, emotional support, or just time alone. This has been such a success that many superintendents and principals reach out to him in order to send their employees to observe and learn from him how the initiative works.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Most definitely, let me shout out from the top of my lungs!

My parents, Roosevelt & Minnie B. Miller, laid the foundation for everything in my life. From teaching me to take my first step and say my first word to supporting me in understanding the power of my voice and the charge of my leadership. As a child, I never had a need or want that went unmet. My parents made me think that I could make air walk, my abilities were limitless. When you are striving for success, this is the foundation that must be laid.

My maternal grandparents, Gary Lee & Marguerite C, Blackwell, are definitely the foundation to my wisdom, humble beginnings, the ability to connect with people and the purest love that I have ever felt. Was I their favorite? Absolutely!

When a foundation is laid, there has to be a strong structure to enable it. That would be my wonderful husband, Samuel A. Fuller. He has continued where my parents left off with supporting me, encouraging me, loving me and most of all holding space for me.

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