Reader,

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Let’s talk about ethics.

Because in therapy—especially in the U.S.—what’s called “ethical” is often just what’s been normalized by western, carceral, colonial institutions.

Too often, ethics become about avoiding punishment from boards, not about minimizing harm or maximizing healing.

So I’ll ask you what I ask myself:

Whose ethics are we following? Who decided them? Who taught them to us—and what power did they hold?

We’re conditioned to follow rules made by people who never sat with our clients.

People who don’t understand our communities.

People who have never had to survive systemic violence, let alone hold space for it.

Here’s the truth:

Decolonial practice is not black-and-white.

It is gray. It is nuanced. It is textured and rainbow-colored.

It doesn’t seek certainty. It seeks relationship.

It demands we slow down, reflect, and ask better questions—like:

• What actually helps my client, right now?
• What choices move us further away from harm—not just individually, but collectively?
• Who is being centered, and who is being erased?
• What would accountability actually look like, outside of carceral norms?

This is what ethical practice looks like under a decolonial lens:

Not rigid compliance. But right relationship.

Not fear-based rule-following. But community-rooted responsibility.

Not hiding behind liability. But standing in liberatory integrity.

We do this work not to get it “right,” but to get it real.

We stay curious, reflective, and humble enough to ask for help—because that is ethical care.

Because that’s how we stay in the long game of collective healing.

🌱 Reflection Prompts for you:

• Whose ethics are you practicing—and how do you know?
• When you’re feeling unsure in your work, do you default to formal rules—or do you turn toward connection and relationship?
• How do you distinguish between avoiding liability and minimizing harm?
• What would an ethic of care rooted in liberation, not compliance, ask of you in your current work?

🔥 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 more communal, truly client-centered, culturally trauma informed, thoughtful decision making ☀️

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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!