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: 🖥️ Start Here, 90-minute live workshop on finding practical, grounded, sustainable ways to decolonize your practice. I'll walk you through my 4-step framework to help you identify where your work feels misaligned, where change is possible, and what often gets in the way.Learn more below or sign up here. What happens when our definition of accountability becomes so narrow that it only flows upward? As clinicians, we spend years learning how to be...
Reader, A quick update on what I've been up to: 🖥️ Start Here, 90-minute live workshop on finding grounded, sustainable ways to decolonize your practice. I'll walk you through my 4-step framework to help you identify where your work feels misaligned, where change is possible, and what often gets in the way.Learn more below or sign up here. Many of us understand the value of affinity spaces. We know how powerful it can be to gather with people who share aspects of our lived experience, where...
June 2026 | issue #8 Reader, i was lucky enough to travel extensively within my country during my formative years. every year, for as long as i can remember, i travelled during the summer with my parents. always to the interior, as a contrast to my upbringing in an urban, traffic-heavy city of eight million people. as i got older, my dad began bringing me along on some of his work trips. he is an engineer who specializes in renewable energy and weatherization projects for poor, rural, and...