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Liberatory Letters

Bridging the Gap, part 4

Published almost 2 years ago • 2 min read

Reader,

For the last three of weeks I've shared with you the 7 steps to bridge the gap between your and your client’s identities.

There are 7 steps to bridging the Gap:

  1. Self-Reflection ✔️
  2. Listening Actively ✔️
  3. Building Authentic Relationships ✔️
  4. Acknowledging Power Dynamics
  5. Commit to Ongoing Learning
  6. Memorizing is not the same as understanding
  7. Compassion over empathy

This week I am unpacking step 4, Acknowledging Power Dynamics:

Acknowledging Power Dynamics: Navigating Power for Equitable Therapy

Recognizing and addressing power dynamics in therapy is vital to decolonizing mental health. In traditional therapeutic relationships, the therapist typically holds significant power due to their expertise and authority. Add to that factors like race, gender, socioeconomic background, and cultural context (if these are present), and the power imbalance can grow even larger. It’s crucial for therapists and healers to acknowledge whatever inherent privilege they have, while giving clients a true sense of agency.

To effectively address power dynamics, therapists/healers should:

  1. Examine Intersectionality and Systems of Oppression: You know that every client comes with unique intersections of identity, which are shaped by larger systems of power and oppression. As a therapist, it’s essential to understand the role that race, gender, ability, and other factors play in the therapeutic relationship. For example, as a white therapist working with a client of color, it’s necessary to acknowledge how your racial identity and privileges influence the power dynamic.
  2. Empower Clients Through Consent and Collaboration: Therapy often mirrors colonial structures where the therapist is the “expert” and the client is the “subject.” Decolonizing mental health requires challenging this hierarchy. Engage in collaborative treatment planning, offer choices where possible (eg. discuss diagnosis), and actively involve clients in their healing journey. Ask for consent, whether it’s about therapeutic interventions or even how to handle moments of discomfort. Empowering clients also means checking in regularly about how they experience the therapeutic process (feedback), and being open to adjusting your approach.
  3. Name Power Dynamics Directly: Openly discussing the power imbalance within the therapeutic relationship can help decolonize the process. Naming power dynamics early on and stating how you plan to address them allows clients to feel seen and can create a foundation of trust.
  4. Radical Transparency and Accountability: Be honest about your own limits and acknowledge when your background or perspective might create distance between you and the client. When missteps happen — like unintentionally reinforcing stereotypes or making assumptions — own up to them and seek repair (but do not expect it). This transparency can build deeper trust and shows that you are accountable in dismantling harmful dynamics.
  5. Advocate Beyond the Therapy Room: Decolonizing mental health means recognizing that therapy doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Clients’ mental health is shaped by systemic factors outside the room, from racialized violence to income inequality. As a therapist/healer, advocate for your clients within these larger systems when possible, and challenge oppressive structures both inside and outside of the clinical setting.

What does Acknowledging Power Dynamics have to with Decolonizing the Mental Health and Wellness Industrial Complex?

In short, understanding and addressing power dynamics is essential for fostering trust and creating a space that is truly equitable, not just in theory but in practice. This goes BEYOND recognizing and sharing the power, but knowing from the get go that:

  • conventional therapy/healing sees you as the one with the answers (power and authority)
  • your client deserves all the agency in the world to ensure their voice is centered and honored.

How are you Acknowledging Power Dynamics in your healing space? Hit reply and let me know! (I really want to know!)

I’ll tell you more about step 5 of Bridging the Gap (Commit to Ongoing Learning) in the next weeks.

☀️ In community,

Silvana @ Decolonize Your Practice​

PS. Starting next year I will be offering workshops on the various ways of having inclusive and affirming practices🔥 not causing unintended harm to our clients ❤️‍🩹 and healing in community 💫
Click on the topic that interests you the most to make sure you are the first to know about these workshops:

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Liberatory Letters

I'm Silvana, decolonization and liberation consultant and educator for therapists, healers and space holders.

I help therapists, healers, and space-holders bring decolonial and liberatory values into their work—so you’re not just saying you’re aligned… you’re actually practicing it. ⬆️ More integrity, more connection, more liberation. ⬇️ Less burnout, less performative wokeness, less colonial residue. If you want a practice where marginalized clients feel safe, seen, and honored—and you want to feel more grounded and intentional in your work—subscribe and join a growing community of practitioners doing this work differently. You practice can be liberatory-- let's get you there!

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