Reimagining Family: Healing, Belonging & Radical Kinship

This panel is generously sponsored by Nouveaux U Behavioral Health

Families are the roots from which we grow — but some roots carry pain. Too often, we inherit cycles of silence, survival, or unspoken wounds that shape our sense of self and the way we love. Without realizing it, we repeat those patterns across generations.

This panel is about breaking that chain. It’s about courageously facing intergenerational trauma, confronting inherited narratives, and reimagining what family can truly mean. Beyond bloodlines. Beyond old stories. Toward chosen kinship and intentional communities that nurture freedom, love, and flourishing for generations to come.

Our panelists will share wisdom, tools, and lived experiences to help you:

• Heal the invisible scars left by ancestral and personal wounds

• Recognize and shift the patterns you’ve unconsciously carried into your relationships

• Strengthen self-concept and boundaries as the foundation for healthy bonds

• Create intentional, loving communities and chosen family networks

• Tell and transform your family story in ways that inspire healing for others

• Step into liberation and joy by rewriting your family narrative

Grounded in real-world experience and professional expertise, this conversation weaves together emotional, mental, and physical wellness practices, storytelling, and visionary strategies for family transformation. Because the story of family doesn’t end with what we’ve inherited — it begins anew with what we choose to create, and the stories we dare to share.

Panelists:

Dr. Bonita R. Durand – Retired higher education administrator and faculty member with expertise in leadership, strategic planning, and community development. Dr. Durand’s decades-long career in education and service bring insight into systemic patterns and how to cultivate healing spaces in families and communities.

Melissa Pauline – Triple board-certified Nurse Practitioner and founder of Rejuvenate U Wellness Clinic, Melissa specializes in mental health, physical wellness, and holistic care. She equips individuals with tools to balance mind, body, and emotional resilience while navigating the complexities of personal and relational healing.

Dr. Anitra Manning: Dr. Anitra Manning, known as The Everyday Grief Coach, is a certified professional coach, theologian, and transformational strategist with more than 25 years of experience in human resources, leadership development, and spiritual formation. Her career includes leading transformative HR initiatives at IBM, Truist, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, as well as shaping women’s leadership on a national scale by founding the Meredith College Institute for Women’s Leadership and redesigning executive and board development programs at Girl Scouts of the USA. Today, as Founder of Everyday Grief and creator of the Be Your Own Light® framework, Dr. Manning specializes in guiding individuals and organizations through pivotal transitions such as layoffs, leaves of absence, and promotions that profoundly reshape identity at work and at home. With her signature blend of emotional intelligence, spiritual wisdom, and actionable strategy, she empowers clients to transform disruption into resilience, healing, and legacy.

Moderator:

Khrys Styles: Khrys is an award-winning stage, film, and commercial actress; a radio and television personality; talk show host; and mother of three. God had a vision, and now Khrys’ passion has met her purpose. In 2012, Khrys added philanthropy to her list of accomplishments by founding the award-winning non-profit organization The K.A.S.S.I.E. Project (Keeping All Survivors Safe Informed & Emancipated)—a non-clinical healing initiative for survivors of sexual and domestic abuse, launched in honor of her late friend Cassandra “Cassie” Betts. In her own journey of healing, she also became a published author with Women Thriving Fearlessly, Vol. 3 – “Debilitating Silence”, a powerful look inside her own cycle of childhood rape and abuse. Ms. Styles actively produces Healing thru the Arts events and theatrical productions by survivors, for survivors, to expose the signs, stigmas, and side effects of sexual and domestic violence. In addition, she works tirelessly to empower survivors through her talks on the power and necessity of sharing, healing, and living. She takes the K.A.S.S.I.E. Couch to each survivor’s safe place of choice, working personally with them as they add their signatures to the couch—a commitment to moving into a healthy life after abuse.

Melissa Pauline is a double board-certified Nurse Practitioner with over a decade of experience in adult-geriatric and psychiatric-mental health care. She is the founder of Nouveaux U Wellness and Behavioral Health, a boutique clinic dedicated to helping high-capacity women restore balance through hormone therapy, mental health support, and functional medicine. Melissa’s approach blends medical expertise with a deep commitment to holistic healing, empowering clients to thrive in every season of life.

At Nouveaux U Wellness + Behavioral Health, we offer a safe, integrative space for women to reclaim balance through hormone therapy, functional wellness, and mental health support. You don’t have to choose between being powerful and being well. At Nouveaux U, we make space for both. https://nouveauxubh.com/