AUTHOR'S PAGE

DARIUS P. COLEMAN, MA, LMHC

'STOLEN AND FORGOTTEN GIFTS'

ABOUT

Darius is a writer of self-help resources merging his passion for writing with his academic and professional interests on topics such as vulnerability, identity, coping resources, and more. Darius shares that he has always found writing to be the best way he is most clearly able to express the complexities of opinions and ideas. He recalls attending Howard University in his freshmen year and seeking assistance from their undergraduate student center to help guide an English essay he had been writing and being told his work had been plagiarized. Darius remarked that the graduate TA stated “either he’s a damn good writer or it’s plagiarized!” He says it was then that he’d gotten evidence that he was a better writer than speaker. Another encounter in graduate study reiterated and affirmed that he was a much better writer than speaker and that this was also how he saw himself. Commenting to himself that he wished to write a book post-graduate study, Darius states “I never knew how strong words could be but I used to say it to myself. And here I am- bizarre. Even while writing this book which took me a while- five years man. Writers block is real but I also was okay with letting it breathe. And when I had more to say I would write for another 4-5 months and then my attention was elsewhere. I do like to do a lot of things at the same time even I’m annoyed by it sometimes. Like finish this first then move on, but I never do” he chuckles. Through writing his first resource book in the Stolen and Forgotten Gifts series titled 'How Black Boys Learn Vulnerability: Its Impact on their Identity and Adult Romantic Relationships,' Darius shares some of the key contributors discouraging Black boys from using vulnerability to solve complex emotional and social problems in everyday life informed by his own journey building vulnerability and witnessed counseling children, teens, and adults. He has studied over the past 15 years working as a licensed psychotherapist to toddlers, children, adults, and families and hopes that his titled work can bridge a gap for those unable to attend counseling and are working on building vulnerability and trust for Black boys and men- and would benefit from an intersectional, culturally-informed lens to vulnerability and identity. Darius notes that he has always been a person to enjoy doing many different kinds of things and has always thought centering his life doing a single mission or purpose was not sufficient for him. When Darius is not writing, he adds “which is more often than not,” he is also a painter working in expressionism and surrealism using acrylic paint, gouache, and acrylic ink and even has an online art shop. Darius also spends his time learning photography and describes the difficulty he encounters trying to take a clear picture. Darius enjoys interior furnishing and decor, and when he’s most productive, is annoyingly keeping up on his Duolingo notifications (French, Spanish, and German). He’s an R&B lover stuck in the 90s, a swimmer (backstroke), ballet enthusiast (“I’ve been obsessed since Center Stage”), and enjoys spending time with his partner, dog (Storm- she’s a miniature pinscher), and friends when he’s not being a home-body. Darius sees himself as more than just a clinician, but as an artist using mediums like photography, painting, writing, and elements of psychotherapy as language to express different parts of himself that often he feels he cannot always put into words.

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