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!
True Connection in Mental Health
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Reader, As therapists and healers, we all know how important it is to build genuine connections with our clients. It’s what makes our work meaningful and impactful. But here’s the thing—too many clinicians lean on cultural competency training as a catch-all solution, and it’s ironically putting up walls between us and real understanding. The problem with cultural competency is that it often revolves around a set of fixed stereotypes, which can keep us from truly connecting with people who have a background different than ours. It’s like having a cheat sheet on someone’s culture and thinking it’s enough. Spoiler alert: it’s not! Back in grad school, we focused on Western psychology (or western —whitewashed— interpretations of Eastern philosophies), and while there’s now more emphasis on cultural humility and cultural responsiveness, we’re honestly still stuck learning basic stereotypes that supposedly define cultural groups. This approach doesn't help us genuinely connect with people or acknowledge the power imbalances and privilege that exist in our interactions. And guess what. It is not your fault that you are stuck with stupid requirements from your governing board telling you that “you must be culturally competent” via completing a 3 hour training every two years or so (and don’t get me wrong, there’s amazing people out there, with lived experience, trying to give us quality material within the oppressive bounds of our governing boards). Here's my take on cultural competency: you can learn everything there is to know about someone's culture, but it doesn’t make you competent. If you’re not aware of the gap between your experiences and your client’s, how can you really connect with them or show up authentically? I wish these eurocentric governing boards realized that true connection comes from bridging the gap between your and your clients' identities. Thanks for tuning in, hit reply cause I’d love to hear your thoughts on this! ☀️ In community, Silvana @ Decolonize Your Practice PS. Starting late this year or early next, I will be offering workshops. Click on the topic that interests you the most to make sure you are the first to know about them:
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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!
February 2026 Reader, I belong to the subgroup of clinicians who became therapists because they went to therapy and… it worked! Therapy helped me so i wanted to help others though therapy… does that sound familiar? I joined an undergraduate program in psychology in 2004. I completed my clinical psychology internship at the local Air Force hospital in 2009. Of course I didn’t love the specialty classes. Of course I was lit up by philosophy and psychology, literature and psychology, sociology...
Reader, I’ve been reflecting on the fact that my prescheduled emails told you I was in deep rest mode, and now I’m questioning that. I think the news — and the pace and volume of it — really took a toll on me, and I’m still recovering from it. I don’t think I achieved deep rest.That is okay in the sense that this is useful information: more is happening ⇒ systems are escalating ⇒ it’s harder to return to any kind of baseline ⇒ this informs me about what may also be happening for the...
[from the archives] Reader, This is something that keeps coming up in conversations with other clinicians: and it's even more relevant now in 2026... even though i wrote this a while back How do we keep showing up for our clients when we’re moving through so much ourselves? When the world feels like it’s on fire, and we’re holding stories that mirror our own pain? Let’s be real: Being a therapist or healer in a chaotic world (to say the least) often means holding other people’s grief while...