Shenikka Moore-Clarke is a licensed therapist, educator, and founder of The Healing Vibe, where she helps people heal from childhood trauma, anxious attachment, and intergenerational patterns with compassion and intention. As an immigrant, chronic illness survivor, and mother, her work is rooted in the belief that healing isn't about perfection. It's about creating new cycles for ourselves and the generations that follow. Read on to discover how Shenikka is breaking cycles of trauma, people-pleasing, and anxious attachment while helping others come home to themselves.
How do you define a "Cycle Breaker?"
A cycle breaker is someone who becomes conscious of the patterns they've inherited and intentionally chooses a different path. Those patterns can exist within their family, but it can also be rooted in thei culture, religion, systems of oppression and intergenerational trauma.
A cycle breaker isn't someone who has healed everything but they willing to ask difficult questions, challenge beliefs that no longer serve them. They are often the first person in their family to go to therapy, set healthy boundaries, have a healthy relationship or marriage or parent differently than they were parented.
As a therapist, I also believe that cycle breaking is about creating new cycles. It's about honoring the resilience of the generations that came before us while recognizing that we don't have to pass on the wounds they carried.
I see a cycle breaker as someone who is intentionally creating a healthier legacy.
What adversities or experiences have you lived through?
I've lived through a number of experiences that have deeply shaped both who I am and how I show up in the world. I'm an immigrant from Guyana, so I understand what it feels like to navigate different cultures and identities while trying to find a sense of belonging. I've also experienced childhood trauma. I was raised in a high conflict home with an alcoholic father.
I've also lived with chronic illness, which completely changed my relationship with my body, my work, and my understanding of healing. There was a season when I had to grieve the life I thought I would have while learning to embrace a different way of living and one rooted in self-compassion rather than constant striving. I became so ill that that I was completely bedridden and had to work really hard to regain my health. I am still healing.
All of those experiences have reinforced something I believe deeply: healing isn't about becoming who you were before adversity. It's about integrating what you've lived through in a way that allows you to live with greater authenticity, freedom, and connection. Those lived experiences don't define me, but they do inform my empathy, my work, and my commitment to helping others break cycles and reclaim their lives.
What is a cycle, belief or pattern you’ve worked to break or challenge in your life?
A cycle I've worked hard to break is my anxious attachment. For a long time, I sought validation and security outside of myself.
Through my own healing journey and therapy, I've learned to build a more secure relationship with myself. I've become more comfortable setting boundaries, communicating my needs, tolerating uncertainty, and recognizing that my worth isn't dependent on someone else's approval or presence.
When those old patterns show up I can notice them with much more awareness and compassion. Instead of reacting from fear, I'm able to pause, regulate my nervous system, and respond in ways that align with the person I want to be.
What helped you begin healing, growing, or changing that cycle?
For me, the catalyst was actually my chronic illness. It became what many people call a "dark night of the soul." It forced me to slow down and confront parts of myself that I had spent years avoiding. I could no longer rely on my achievement, productivity, or staying busy to cope. I had to go deeper and learn who I was, what I valued, and how I wanted to live.
Therapy has been and continues to an essential part of my journey. It helped me to process my experiences, understand the roots of my patterns, and develop healthier ways of relating to myself and others.
I also immersed myself in self-help and psychology books, podcasts, and healing communities. I try to integrate whenever I learn new material.
I don't think there was just one thing that helped me. It was the combination of my illness becoming a wake-up call, doing my own inner work, staying curious, and finding communities that aligned with the person that I wanted to become.
What are your proudest accomplishments?
Becoming a therapist is one of them. It's more than a career for me. I feel incredibly grateful that I get to walk alongside people as they heal, grow, and reclaim their lives.
I'm also deeply proud of the private practice and community I've built. Creating spaces where people feel safe, seen, and empowered to break cycles has been one of the most meaningful parts of my work.
On a personal level, I'm incredibly proud of the way I'm parenting my daughter. Conscious parenting has required me to do my own healing so I don't pass on unhealthy patterns. I'm intentional about raising her with emotional safety, respect, curiosity. I don't do it perfectly, but I do it with awareness and a commitment to repair when I make mistakes.
I'm also really proud of my own healing journey. Living with chronic illness challenged me in ways I never expected, but it also transformed me. It taught me resilience, self-compassion, and the courage to live more authentically. Looking back, I realize that my greatest accomplishments aren't just what I've achieved professionally. They're the ways I've grown as a person and the legacy I'm intentionally creating for my family, my clients, and my community.
Is there a message, quote, lesson, or reminder you’d like to share with others who may be struggling along their healing journey?
I would want people to know that healing is not linear, and it's not about becoming a different person but mods about coming home to yourself. Give yourself lots of self compassion. It's an essential part of the healing journey.
I'd also remind people that healing isn't something you have to do alone. Find a therapist, read the books, listen to the podcasts and join the healing community. Stay curious and keep learning. You got this!
Do you have any projects you're working on that you'd like to highlight?
Yes. I have a bookclub called the Embodied Liberation Collective Bookclub. It's a year long community where we read one pre selected book each month and meet monthly to discuss virtually.
I am also working on a creating community for therapists and healing who have chronic illness or an autoimmune condition. I offer individual Therapy in DC, VA, SC, FL, CO, ID and NM and Coaching anywhere.
Connect with Shenikka:
- Instagram: @the.healingvibe
- Substack: @thehealingvibe
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Book Club: Embodied Liberation Collective Bookclub