Welcome, Cycle Breakers!
I’m Nisha Patel, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and the person behind Brown Girl Trauma. I’m so glad you’re here.
While families pass down deep strength, resilience, and love, they can also carry forward trauma, dysfunction, and unhelpful patterns. The central question that drives my work is: “How can we break the cycle of generational patterns and begin something new, something healthier and more intentional?” It’s about getting clear on how these patterns show up, understanding where they come from, working through the emotions tied to them, and making more intentional choices about the kind of life we want to build.
To answer that question, I come back to one of the most consistent tools in my own journey:journaling. Writing helps us slow down, notice emotional patterns, and gently uncover where our reactions really come from. It creates space for self-discovery, reflection, and choice, especially when our default habits feel automatic or inherited.
This space supports cycle breakers in making small, meaningful shifts in their everyday lives through journal prompts, reparenting practices, self-care routines, and inner child work.
Breaking cycles doesn’t require perfection, it just asks for awareness. And that’s how we begin to build a more grounded, more intentional life.
If you’ve ever found yourself stuck in the same responses, patterns, or habits and thought, “Why do I keep doing this?”, you’re in the right place.
I started Brown Girl Trauma because I wanted a space to talk about the stuff we don’t always have words for: the patterns we inherit, the emotional habits we carry without question, the weight that feels “normal” because it’s all we’ve ever known.
I Didn’t Always Realize I Was Repeating Patterns
This space started with a simple question: Why do I keep falling into the same patterns?
Things like putting everyone else first, avoiding hard conversations, reacting quickly without thinking, or feeling stuck in habits that weren’t serving me. For a while, I thought it was just my personality. But as I started to slow down and really pay attention, I realized a lot of those patterns weren’t just mine, they were passed down, absorbed, and repeated without much thought.
I didn’t want to stay in that cycle. And that’s where journaling came in.
Journaling helped me slow down enough to notice what I actually needed. Like when I felt overwhelmed, it wasn’t just stress, I needed space. And when I kept avoiding certain conversations, it usually fear underneath.
Writing things out made those patterns easier to see. It gave me a chance to pause instead of reacting on autopilot and choose a different way to respond.
That’s the heart of this blog.
Journaling helped me recognize how many of my habits were running on autopilot, influenced by past experiences.
When I stopped reacting to my emotions and just sat with them, I finally had the space to figure out what they were really trying to tell me. Journaling became a way to untangle my thoughts, spot the patterns I kept falling into, and get clear on what I actually needed, not just what I felt in the moment.
Why This Space Exists
There are many ways to grow, including therapy, reflection, and support from people who understand. Journaling has been one of the most practical and steady tools for me.
You don’t need to write every day or have perfect answers. Even a few minutes with a pen and some space to think can be a powerful way to reset.
This blog is here to offer that kind of space, a place to reflect, check in with yourself, and explore new ways of responding to the things life brings up, especially if you’re working to shift patterns that have been in place for a long time.
What You’ll Find Here
Most of what I share is centered around self-growth through journaling, the kind that helps you make intentional choices instead of default ones.
You’ll find:
- Journal prompts that help you check in with what’s really going on
- Tools for recognizing and gently shifting old habits
- Ideas for self-care and mindset that actually fit into real life
- Simple ideas around reparenting and reconnecting with the parts of you that got overlooked
- Building routines that support you without feeling like another thing on your to-do list
This isn’t about having it all figured out. It’s about checking in, being honest with yourself, and trying something different, one small shift at a time.
Is This Blog for You?
does this sound familiar?
Trust me, I’ve been there!
YOU’RE NOT ALONE
What I Hope You Take From This
You don’t have to have all the answers or move fast. Breaking cycles don’t happen overnight, they happen in small, intentional moments. I hope this space reminds you that even quiet steps forward still count.
Take what feels useful, leave the rest, and come back to it when you’re ready. You’re doing something meaningful just by choosing a different way.
“Your family’s patterns don’t have to shape your future—you have the power to create change.”
BGT believes in…
001. Reflect
Journaling
Take time to slow down, notice your feelings, and understand yourself better through journaling.
002. Change
Breaking Patterns
Break patterns and old cycles by learning new ways to respond creating healthier, more intentional patterns.
003. Build
Intentional living
Create meaningful habits, routines, and goals that align with the life you truly want.
HOW IT ALL BEGAN
Why I Love What I Do
Hello, I am Nisha Patel, and I am excited to welcome you to my blog, Brown Girl Trauma.
Brown Girl Trauma began as a passion project in July 2020, during the height of the pandemic. We were all in quarantine, and my husband was deployed to the Middle East. This got me thinking about all those navigating challenging relationships and circumstances while in quarantine. Through trial and error of posts, Brown Girl Trauma came to life.
As I continued to share content on social media, I discovered that my story resonated with many other South Asians who grew up in similar circumstances and were seeking a space to heal. Now, the community is open to anyone who can relate to the experiences of growing up in a dysfunctional family. Around this time, I started journaling a little more regularly, and it worked for me. My journey to creating this space, however, began long before 2020.
I was raised in India for most of my younger years until my parents moved us back to the United States. Mental health was still pretty stigmatized during that time, and things at home were far from ideal.
During my undergraduate years, I was fortunate to find a South Asian therapist on campus who understood the cultural context of my experiences. I graduated in 2017 with a Bachelor of Science in Family and Child Studies and went on to my Master’s Degree.
I graduated in May 2017 with a Master’s in Social Work and went on to complete 3,000 hours of supervised clinical experience to become a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW). In 2021, I completed a one-year fellowship program where I received formal training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), various Trauma Therapies, and Eating Disorders. I worked with clients across different age ranges and currently focus on young adults in a private practice setting.
Today, Brown Girl Trauma has grown into a community of over 75,000 people across multiple countries. I call the community members’ cycle breakers,’ and we have conversations about reflecting on our behavioral patterns, seeking therapy, navigating our identities, voicing our experiences, and living an authentic life that is true to who we are. People really relate to the narrative of being a cycle breaker. Something I am incredibly proud of creating.
At Brown Girl Trauma, I aim to create a supportive community where you can explore the impact of your upbringing. My blog is centered around breaking the cycle of family dysfunction and reparenting your inner child through healthy self-growth and mental health practice. Together, we can break the cycles of family dysfunction and create more loving relationships with ourselves.
