Mental Health Expert
Child & Youth Care Professor at Mohawk College
Amazon Best-Selling Author of The Oxygen Mask Mindset
As Seen On
For more than 20 years, Calissa Ngozi has helped people build resilience and navigate life's toughest challenges. She teaches the next generation of child and youth care professionals at Mohawk College, and runs a private practice alongside Bartimaeus Inc. providing mental health and behavior support to individuals and families.
A passionate advocate for inclusive and accessible mental health care, Calissa has served on the boards of the Ontario Association of Child and Youth Care and the Pathstone Mental Health Foundation. She is a former certified trainer in Non-Violent Crisis Intervention and holds certifications in suicide prevention and intervention.
She created the Oxygen Mask Mindset™, a practical approach that reminds people to take care of themselves first, because you can't pour from an empty cup. Her honest, uplifting talks on burnout, resilience, and mental health have made her a sought-after, award-winning inspirational speaker. She placed 2nd at Speaker Slam, North America's largest inspirational speaking competition.
Topical angles Calissa is briefed and pitch-ready on. Each can be tailored to a 4-minute morning segment, panel, or remote hit.
The unique pressure on teachers, social workers, and frontline healthcare staff, and the framework Calissa uses to help them stay in the work without breaking.
Why "just say no" advice fails most professionals, and what actually works at home, in relationships, and at work.
The warning signs parents and teachers miss, and how to start the conversation before it becomes a crisis.
A grounded, evidence-based take on what self-care actually looks like for high-performing professionals, and what it doesn't.
A two-minute look at Calissa in action.
Watch Calissa on stage.
The lived experience behind the expertise.
When Calissa Ngozi was a young girl, she held her hand up next to her white adoptive mother's and said:
"Mommy, I think God made a mistake."
Adopted at three months old, Calissa grew up across Canada, often in communities where she was one of the few Black faces. Her biological mother lived with paranoid schizophrenia, and until she was thirty, Calissa carried the fear that she might inherit serious mental illness.
In her twenties, she was working four jobs and sleeping two hours a night. One afternoon she came through her door, sat down, and had a panic attack. She quit three of the jobs the next week. The anxiety lifted overnight. That moment became the foundation of The Oxygen Mask Mindset.
Today, Calissa is a single mother of twin boys, a frontline mental health practitioner, a college professor, and an author. As a Black woman adopted into a white family, and as a mom of twins, she brings lived experience and empathy to everything she does. She is working to build a future where mental health care is truly for everyone.
Calissa's Amazon best-seller, now available everywhere.
Reclaiming Your Energy in a World that Glorifies Exhaustion
Calissa's framework for burnout prevention and boundary-setting, distilled into a practical guide for professionals and teams. Drawing from over two decades of mental health expertise, this Amazon best-seller gives readers the tools to prioritize their wellbeing without sacrificing their careers.
"A must-read for anyone who has ever felt the weight of the world on their shoulders."View on Amazon
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