May is Mental Health Awareness Month – a time to recognize the importance of caring for our mental health and reduce the stigma surrounding mental health challenges. For many children, teens and families, mental health support can be life changing. Here at Children’s Minnesota, our mental health team partners with families to provide compassionate, evidence‑based care. We are committed to equity, collaboration, and continuous improvement, working closely with community partners and providers across and beyond our health system to support the best possible mental health care for all kids.
In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, we are highlighting Aujani Davis, MPS, LADC, program therapist at our partial hospitalization program (PHP) in Roseville.
Learn more about Aujani’s role, what she loves about her job and more below.
Get to know Aujani
Tell us about your role.
I am a program mental health therapist at PHP! In my role, I work with patients ages 6-18 and their families. The kids I work with are at a higher level of acuity and tend to see us when they are actively feeling unsafe or have ongoing difficulty managing their mental health symptoms or behaviors. I facilitate individual therapy with the patient multiple times a week and I will also have family therapy to make sure the work we are doing individually is also being done within the family system. As a therapist, I also have process group every day with the elementary age children where we talk about their symptoms, triggers, coping skills or whatever topic they want to bring to the group discussion! I typically work with patients for 3-4 weeks and before they discharge, I make sure they have ongoing support within the community so they can continue working on themselves.
What inspired you to go into pediatrics?
The main reason I got into mental health specifically with children is to provide representation. While African American or Black clinicians account for only about 4% of the U.S. therapist workforce, the demand for mental health support among Black individuals, children, and families continues to rise sharply. The amount of times families have felt a sense of relief when they have a therapist that look like them or patients that tell me, “I didn’t know we could be a therapist!” It provides such a connection and allows the patients and families to feel seen on a deeper level. It is the most rewarding feeling!
What do you want patients, families and staff to know about the work you do?
The work we do is hard but we continue to provide a safe environment where children and adolescents are able to feel seen and heard. It’s also important to know that everyone’s story is unique and mental health shows up in different ways for everyone.
What do you love most about your job?
I love working with children and adolescents; they make the workday so fun and it’s never the same! I enjoy having serious moments with my kids and then the next moment we’re playing a game, talking about a TikTok trend or listening to their favorite music! It’s also great to work with children across the Twin Cities and learn more about different backgrounds of all sorts.
What do you think makes kids remarkable?
Their resiliency! It’s truly inspiring to see children and adolescents work through and grow stronger in the face of adversity.
