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!
Safe spaces are a myth
Reader,
Lately I’ve been thinking of the idea of creating safe spaces especially for people who hold systemically marginalized identities. That was my aim as a facilitator… “creating a brave and safe space for all participants”, but that is impossible! Yes, impossible, I bet you knew that already.
I wish I could, but I cannot ensure your safety if we’re in a shared/communal space, so why should I offer that? I’m not trying to be pessimistic or jaded when I say this. But I know that sooner or later, someone, even with the best of intentions, could cause harm. And I do want to be prepared for that.
How do you prepare for and recover from harm in communal spaces?
By setting a container for your meetings.
By offering repair.
If you have provided relationship counseling, or are trained in systems, you know how it goes. Even in the most loving of relationships there is the potential of causing unintended harm. And here is where we learn to offer repair.
But I know life is more complex than relationship counseling. And offering repair in communal spaces means:
- I need to be ready to hold space for all people involved.
- I need to have in mind the identities of the individual who caused rupture and the identities of the individual who was harmed.
In other words, if you caused rupture and offer repair, don’t expect your offer to be accepted. And if you were harmed by rupture, I’ll do my best to hold space for you and your needs.
Want to add more complexity to this puzzle?
Have in mind your identities, were your privileged identities harmed, or were your marginalized identities harmed? or both??
What's your reaction when one of your privileged identities is harmed vs. one of your marginalized identities?
How do you set a boundary if you're not ready for repair?
How do you create responsive and brave spaces in your community that can offer repair?
In community,
Silvana @ Decolonize Your Practice
Let's connect!
Liberatory Letters
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!
Reader, A quick update on what I've been up to: 💻 Decolonizing Mental Health Therapy: Examining power, identity, and practice, a 3-hour workshop (with CEs) in collaboration with Therapist To Therapists. We'll examine colonialism in mental health, the importance of identities and code-switching, and discuss ways of decolonizing mental health practice.Learn more below or here. A month ago I shared with you some interesting numbers. I polled the people participating in Community Liberation...
May 2026 | issue #7 hey there, i’m trying something new…to honor my boundaries, i’m experimenting with moving The POL to the first monday of the month. i’m also practicing a bit of self-grace—and modeling it, too. meaning: if you don’t receive The POL on the first monday, it likely means i needed to allocate some of my bandwidth (time, energy, or nervous system capacity) to other parts of my full life—and you’ll receive it on the first tuesday instead. you’ll still be getting everything that...
Reader, A quick update on what I've been up to: 🌻 Community Liberation Sessions, the next meetings take place in May, and you're welcome to join live (with a limited replay available.) This is a virtual gathering space for therapists, healers, and space-holders practicing decolonization — in real time.Learn more below or here. 💻 Decolonizing Mental Health Therapy: Examining power, identity, and practice, a 3-hour workshop (with CEUs) in collaboration with Therapist To Therapists.Learn more...