Reader,

You know what doesn't get measured in CEUs?

Presence:

• The ability to sit with a client's grief without rushing to fix it.
• The capacity to attune to another person's nervous system in a way that quietly communicates, I'm here. You're not alone.
• The discernment to notice your own body's responses as information rather than interference.

None of those things show up neatly on a certificate.
None of them can be fully captured in a protocol or a competency checklist.

And yet, they shape so much of what happens in the therapy room.

Don't get me wrong. I believe in continuing education. I love learning, and I'll probably keep taking trainings for the rest of my career.

But I've also been wondering what happens when continuing education becomes less about deepening our practice and more about soothing our professional anxiety.

This field often teaches us to chase mastery.
Another CEU.
Another modality.
Another certification.
Another acronym after our name.

Learn more. Buy more. Do more.

It's a deeply consumerist response to a profession that already leaves many of us feeling like we are never enough.

Because if we're always one training away from becoming the therapist we're supposed to be, someone will always have something else to sell us.

Of course new modalities can expand our thinking.
Of course good training matters.

But so does learning to trust what cannot be packaged quite so easily:

• Presence.
• Attunement.
• Curiosity.
• Relational courage.

The ability to tolerate uncertainty instead of rushing toward certainty.

The humility to recognize that our clients also bring knowledge into the room, and that healing has never belonged exclusively to professional expertise.

You are not a walking certificate.

And I don't think your clients need a perfectly trained therapist nearly as much as they need a therapist who is present enough to meet them where they are.

Sometimes I wonder whether we've become so accustomed to measuring what can be counted that we've stopped honoring what can only be experienced.

Or who knows... maybe one of these days we'll give presence a nice academic name, create a fidelity checklist to make sure we're doing it "correctly," develop a certification pathway, and offer it as a 12-CEU training.

And maybe I'd sign up for it...

So I'm curious:

Hit reply... I do want to know! I may not always respond immediately, but I do read and genuinely appreciate the reflections you share with me.

With liberatory care,

Silvana

​​Liberatory Letters | The Practice of Liberation | Decolonize Your Practice​

PS.
​If these are the kinds of conversations you wish there were more room for, that's exactly why I created Off Script: Clinical Consultation for Practitioners Rewriting the Rules.
It's a space for the questions conventional supervision often doesn't know what to do with—the tensions, contradictions, ethical gray areas, and moments when practicing with integrity matters more than having the "right" answer.

What to expect:
​Each consultation includes:
​5-10 minutes — Opening reflection or collective prompt
​70-80 minutes — Three participant practice spotlights
​5-10 minutes — Integration and closing reflections

We’ll protect our energy:​
This isn’t a space where everyone rushes through a case presentation.
It’s a space for thoughtful reflection, collaborative inquiry, and meaningful discussion.
​Groups are intentionally designed to hold six participants.

Details:
​Two-session summer series
Session One
​Monday, July 27 | 3:00–4:30 PM PT / 6:00–7:30 PM ET
​Session Two
​Monday, August 24| 3:00–4:30 PM PT / 6:00–7:30 PM ET

Investment:
​Choose the rate that feels sustainable for you.
​Supported — $140
Sustainer — $160
Redistribution — $180
​Your payment covers both sessions.

​Sign up here​

PPS.​
​Community Liberation Sessions of July:
​BIPoC clinicians: July 9 — 2pm PT / 5pm ET
​White clinicians: July 10 — 11am PT / 2pm ET

​​​​

⬆️ Let's connect!