This is the fifth and last letter on building healing connections grounded in awareness of power and oppression (healing connections with clients and in your community). Read on!

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Reader,

We can’t talk about liberatory healing without looking in the mirror.

The systems of oppression we’re trying to dismantle out there through out therapy and healing practice—white supremacy, patriarchy, capitalism—are in here too.

They shape how we think, how we show up, and even how we heal.

Decolonizing our practices isn’t just about changing what we do in the therapy room; it’s about unlearning the harmful frameworks we’ve been taught to center as “truth” and interrogating how those frameworks live inside us.

Here’s the thing: the mental health and wellness fields didn’t spring up in a vacuum. They were birthed from colonial systems that:

• prioritize individualism,
• pathologize difference, and
• see productivity as the highest measure of worth.

Even the way we’re trained as therapists and healers often (always? most of the time?) reflects those values:

• diagnostic labels over nuanced human experiences,
• standardized treatment plans over collaborative relationships,
• hierarchies of knowledge that elevate Western, Eurocentric frameworks while dismissing ancestral and community wisdom.

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And before the gregorian/lunar year is over, here is your reminder:

You, as a clinician/healer, are not the problem.

You didn’t create these systems. You inherited them.

And because we inherited them, it’s our job to name them, question them, and dismantle them—not just for our clients, but for ourselves too.

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Decolonizing our practices starts with asking hard questions:

• Who benefits from the ways I’ve been trained to think about healing?
• Whose knowledge and practices have been left out or dismissed?
• How do my internalized beliefs about “professionalism” or “objectivity” reflect systems of oppression?
• Where do my ethics come from? From my values or my eurocentric training?
• And here’s the gut-puncher: What harm might I have caused by following these systems without question?

It’s not comfortable to sit with these questions, but comfort isn’t the goal here. Liberation is.

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So, what does decolonizing your practice actually look like?

It’s not about throwing out everything you’ve ever learned—it’s about looking at it critically and making intentional choices about what to keep, what to adapt, and what to leave behind. It might mean:

• Letting go of the myth that you need to have all the answers. Instead, you learn to co-create solutions with your clients.
• Questioning the “neutral” stance in therapy and understanding that neutrality often reinforces existing power imbalances.
• Reimagining healing frameworks that don’t just focus on individual growth but honor interdependence, community, and collective liberation.
• Embracing ancestral wisdom—yours, your clients’, and that of the communities you serve.

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And don’t forget to look at the systems and structures around you...

How does your practice—or the organization you’re part of—reinforce colonial ideals? Maybe it’s in the way sessions are scheduled, the policies for no-shows, or how financial accessibility is handled. Decolonizing isn’t just about what happens in the therapy room; it’s about creating liberatory spaces across the board.

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And listen, you’re not going to get it “right” all the time.

Decolonizing is messy, imperfect, and ongoing. You’ll make mistakes. You’ll miss things. But that’s part of the work. Liberation isn’t a destination; it’s a practice. It’s something we recommit to every day.

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This work isn’t just about transforming how we show up for our clients—it’s about transforming ourselves.

This work is what you'll see more of in the coming year, so stay tuned and share this email with a therapist/healer friend who needs to decolonize their practice.

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Because when we start to liberate our own minds and practices, we create the space for something radically different to emerge. Healing that doesn’t just repair the harm done but also reclaims what’s been stolen. Healing that resists, disrupts, and reimagines. Healing that belongs to all of us.

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So, here’s the invitation:

Sit with the discomfort. Own what’s yours to own. And then, take one liberatory step at a time. You’re not alone in this. We’re doing it together, and that’s where the power lies.

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In community & in liberation,

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Silvana @ Decolonize Your Practice​

PS.

If you missed the 2024 Decolonized Consultation sessions, you are in for a treat... I have created an encore of the six sessions we held this year.

You can catch them all here:

2024 Consultation sessions for BIPoC clinicians

2024 Consultation sessions for white clinicians​

(if you already signed up for the 2024 sessions, you will be getting an email with the links to the videos)

PPS.

If someone shared this newsletter with you, you can sign up here.

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Let's connect!