Reader,

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I’ve been sitting with how often I see the phrase “culturally specific” used in our field—

but only ever in one direction.

Have you noticed that too?

“Culturally specific” programs, “culturally specific” needs, “culturally specific” practices…

And almost always, it’s describing the lives, communities, and identities of people who aren’t white.

Who aren’t straight.

Who aren’t normative.

So let’s pause and ask:

Culturally specific to what?

And why is white, western, individualist, cis-heteronormative culture treated like a default, unmarked category… while everything else is marked as other, as special, as “specific”?

Something that needs a certification or a special training.

Let’s call it what it is:

That phrasing reflects a colonial gaze.

It turns minoritized people’s needs into deviations from an implicit so-called neutral norm.

It suggests that the dominant culture isn’t a culture—just “standard.” (and that’s why we need “specifics”)

It allows white supremacist, ableist, capitalist, patriarchal norms to continue invisibly centering themselves while everyone else is labeled as “different,” “diverse,” or “specialized.”

And that has real consequences.

Because once something is framed as “culturally specific,” it’s often treated as optional. As extra. As something you might engage with if you have the time, training, funding, or energy for “those kinds of clients.”

But let me say this clearly:

Every single client has a cultural context.

Some of us just don’t get to pretend ours is the default... and have to code-switch on top.

So if you’re a therapist or healer or wellness provider or educator (if you are simply in relationship with others) working toward decolonial practice, I invite you to stop and notice:

• When do you use or hear the phrase “culturally specific”?
• What assumptions sit underneath it?
• Who is being “specified,” and who gets to remain unmarked?

Let’s stop treating dominant culture as invisible.

Let’s stop treating marginalized experience as a niche offering.

Let’s stop pretending any form of care is culture-neutral.

Because all therapy is culturally specific.

It always has been.

It’s just a question of whether we name it—and whether we’re willing to de-center the norms we were trained to uphold.

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🌱 Reflection Prompts for you:

• When have I used the phrase “culturally specific” in my work? Who or what was I describing?
• Have I ever assumed that a client from a dominant group didn’t need cultural consideration? Why?
• What cultural assumptions shape my own modality or training background?
• What would it look like to name whiteness, capitalism, or cisheteropatriarchy as cultural contexts?
• How can I practice decentering dominant culture in the way I assess, diagnose, or intervene?
• How do I make space for clients to bring in their cultural and political realities without treating them as “special cases”?

🔥 Hit reply ad share your reflections with me, I want to know what's happening in your world!

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Here's to less normativity and more nuance and complexity,

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In community,

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Silvana @ Decolonize Your Practice​

PS. You can read previous Liberatory Letters here.

PPS. Sign up for a 1:1 Decolonial Consultation here before the price goes up in July. Therapists and healers have been using this meeting to process how their decolonial work is pivoting to ground and remain grounded during during these extra uncertain times.

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⬆️ Let's connect!