I help clinicians, healers, and coaches incorporate decolonized and liberatory values in their practices so that you can have a practice and/or service-based business that is truly affirming and welcoming to clients who hold marginalized identities.
I’m exhausted!
Reader,
Going on semi-vacation a couple of weeks ago was great and was a much needed break. But it also made me realize that I was not just tired and in need to rest, I’m actually exhausted! Remember back in college or grad school when the term was over and all of a sudden you either got sick or experienced the fatigue that you had not experienced during the term? That's what happened to me during my break.
I noticed that this exhaustion is a mix of physical, cognitive, and emotional fatigue that I’m thankfully taking care of. I also noticed that this fatigue is the result of wanting to be “more productive” and wanting to “do more with my time” both personally and professionally. And then it dawned on me that capitalism and white supremacy culture were both sneaking back in making me feel not good enough and putting my worth on work and money. Does this happen to you?
To me this has been yet another reminder that decolonizing my practice and decolonizing myself is this continuous endeavor that finds push back from the systems we live in. That decolonizing my practice is not just about a land acknowledgment and beyond, it’s not just about supporting and centering people who hold systemically marginalized identities, or about acknowledging my privileges and/or making my services more accessible in whatever way possible.
In the last couple of weeks I have heard from clinician friends how they are setting the intention to not put anything in their schedule on certain days, how they are not enrolling in my program now because they want to rest and have space first, how they want to take things slowly even though the world around us is moving so fast, how they are taking more naps. And I LOVE that all these conversations with clinician friends are professional-ish conversations that focus on what they need to do in their personal lives to be better for themselves, their loved ones, their clients, and their communities.
I will admit that I wish I had not arrived at this point of fatigue to realize I need to reassess my priorities. But here I am, giving myself all the compassion I can (i.e. not giving myself a hard time for “failing” again), feeling the feelings, and discerning what is the need behind the feeling and what are the boundaries I need to set.
Has this happened to you? How does white supremacy keep on sneaking back into your practice and how are you pushing back? Hit reply and let me know... I'd love to be inspired by how you push back and I'd love to share your suggestions with this community!
Looking forward to hearing from you! 💛
Silvana @ Decolonize Your Practice
PS.
Some posts ago I asked you if there were any trainings you would like to share with this newsletter community. I want to thank Amanda, kaseja, and Elena for sharing this offering from Linda Thai, this one from Plácida Gallegos, and (omg!!) the Call Blackline to support BIPOC with an LGBTQ+ Black Femme Lens.
Let's connect!
Hi! I'm Silvana.
I help clinicians, healers, and coaches incorporate decolonized and liberatory values in their practices so that you can have a practice and/or service-based business that is truly affirming and welcoming to clients who hold marginalized identities.
Reader, A quick update on what I've been up to (you can skip this box to read the Liberatory Letter below): 🖥️ Developing a self-paced course on identities and intersectionality as key components of having a decolonial practice. Get automatically on the waitlist by clicking this link. ☀️ Working on the last round (ever) of the program Decolonize Your Practice for later this year. This will be a condensed version and you can automatically get on the waitlist by clicking this link. Lately, I’ve...
Reader, Something else that keeps surfacing in conversations with fellow therapists and healers is the tension of being both witness and participant in a world on fire. We’re navigating burnout, grief, systemic violence—and then showing up to hold others through the same storms. ❌ This isn’t a sign that you’re not being an effective therapist. This isn't a personal shortcoming either... ✅ This is a reflection of living and working within a system that asks us to care endlessly -while most of...
Reader, A quick update on what I've been up to (you can skip this box to read the Liberatory Letter below): 🎙️ Last year (and last year was a completely different time) I recorded a podcast interview with Maegan Megginson from the Deeply Rested Podcast titled "Love, Joy, and Liberation: A Shame-Free Approach to Decolonization" (for service providers) and you can listen to it here. 🖥️ Next week on 4/24 I am presenting the first part of 3-part Workshop Series for The Therapist Connection titled...