Shanika Paylor, LCMHC
Clinical Instructor
About
Shanika Paylor, LCMHC is a clinician with the UNC FIT Wellness Program, where she provides counseling and integrative wellness support to formerly incarcerated North Carolinians transitioning back into their communities. With over a decade of experience in mental health care, Shanika draws from a strong background in counseling, complex care coordination, substance use treatment and recovery, and professional training and education.
Her clinical interests include supporting marginalized and underserved populations through trauma-informed and culturally-responsive care, particularly within Black and Latinx communities, as well as for women, queer and gender-expansive individuals, and people navigating unique social or behavioral health needs. She is especially passionate about working with neurodiverse individuals and those with co-occurring psychiatric diagnoses, offering inclusive, affirming care. She also provides psychoeducation on mood disorders, complex trauma, grief, and severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI), and aims to support individuals and communities through equitable access to resources, healing, and holistic support.
Shanika’s work focuses on healing systemic gaps in care by creating pathways toward integrative wellness across urban, underserved, and primary care settings. She is deeply committed to equity-driven, community-centered mental health care that prioritizes dignity, resilience, and recovery across every stage of life.
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BA, African American Studies & Spanish Language & Literature
UNC Chapel Hill
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MA, Clinical Mental Health Counseling
North Carolina Central University