2026 Women of Distinction: Dr. Tracy Webster-Cooley Gives Back Through Mental Health Education

ALTON – Dr. Tracy Webster-Cooley is dedicated to helping people manage their mental health.

Webster-Cooley, one of the YWCA’s eleven 2026 Women of Distinction, will be honored at the Y’s annual gala for her commitment to the community. She works as an assistant professor at SIUE’s School of Nursing in their psychiatric nurse practitioner program, as well as for a St. Louis-based nonprofit that assists people with employment and workforce development.

“I’m an educator, of course, and I love mental health,” Webster-Cooley said. “Mental health is my thing. I love the brain. I love how complex it is, and yet it’s so fragile. My thing is, I just love motivating people and pouring into them and helping them identify when they are not okay.”

Webster-Cooley works with reentry participants through Family and Workforce Centers of America. She educates them on how to manage mental health conditions and self-care. She especially enjoys working with men to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health.

As a psychiatric nurse practitioner, she regularly collaborates with patients to complete screenings and help them manage serious mental health conditions. She educates her patients about the road to recovery and works hard to help them achieve “sustainability, where they can function and live well.”

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She is also a certified Mental Health First Aid instructor, which combines her passions for education and mental health. She regularly mentors young people through organizations like the National Council of Negro Women, and she recently restarted the Woman in the Mirror initiative in honor of her good friend. She loves “pouring into young women” and encouraging them to reach their full potential.

Webster-Cooley has her own organization, TMWC, that provides talk therapy and helps people navigate the mental health system. Through all of her work, she tries to educate community members and encourage mental wellness. She also emphasized the importance of self-care when working with community members experiencing mental health challenges.

The Women of Distinction recognition was “very humbling,” though Webster-Cooley noted that the best reward for her work is “seeing people improve, seeing people flourish, seeing people navigate their life better and become the best them.”

She has advice for others who want to give back to the community. She encourages them to jump in, but take care of themselves throughout the process.

“Make sure that you’re ready to do the work, because it can be overwhelming sometimes just listening to other people’s challenges, and sometimes you carry that burden,” she said. “You have to have an outlet to be able to regroup, so you won’t carry that and have that burden weighing on you. It’s easy to do that, especially if you have a heart for people and you hurt for people and you want to see people do better. It’s easy to carry it, so you have to really understand your limits.”

This is the ninth in a series of articles about the eleven 2026 Women of Distinction. For more information about the YWCA’s Women of Distinction Gala, visit the official YWCA Facebook page.