Reader, You are receiving this (pre-scheduled) email while I am on a break. So it doesn’t address or reflect on anything that might be happening in the world at the moment. (And honestly, I’m really hoping nothing major is happening… because we’ve all had plenty happen already.) We’re reclaiming what we lost!! Have I been in your inbox long enough for you to hear me repeatedly say that systemic oppression is trauma? Systemic oppression is trauma in the form of disconnection: disconnection...
9 days ago • 1 min read
Reader, I really want you to reply to this email so I’m going to make it super quick. As I’m planning my next year of offerings (workshops, Q&As, mini e-courses, lesson plans, and all other communal experiences and exchanges) I’d love to know what would serve you best as you continue (or start) decolonizing your practice. Just hit reply and answer one or all of the following questions: What’s your biggest struggle right now in embodying your social justice, liberatory, and anti-oppressive...
15 days ago • 1 min read
This is the fifth and last letter on building healing connections grounded in awareness of power and oppression (healing connections with clients and in your community). Read on! Reader, We can’t talk about liberatory healing without looking in the mirror. The systems of oppression we’re trying to dismantle out there through out therapy and healing practice—white supremacy, patriarchy, capitalism—are in here too. They shape how we think, how we show up, and even how we heal. Decolonizing our...
21 days ago • 3 min read
Reader, This is the fourth of five letters on building healing connections grounded in awareness of power and oppression (healing connections with clients and in your community). Read on! I know you want to hold space in a way that is truly trauma-informed and liberatory. One where healing doesn’t require clients to leave parts of themselves behind. One that recognizes that healing is a process of reclaiming, resisting, and reimagining. One where we you hold space for the truth of your...
28 days ago • 1 min read
Reader, This is the third of five letters on building healing connections grounded in awareness of power and oppression (healing connections with clients and in your community). Read on! When we talk about healing, it’s easy to get caught up in ideas rooted in individualism and Western frameworks… after all, that is what we learned in school right? But for so many of us—clients and therapists/healers alike—healing isn’t just a personal journey. It’s deeply tied to your history, your...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Reader, Heeeey, this is the second of five letters on building healing connections grounded in awareness of power and oppression (healing connections with clients and in your community). Read on! A core value that drives our work is helping people heal... We’re here because we believe in creating spaces where our clients feel seen, respected, and empowered to be their full selves. Healing isn’t just about working on the individual—it’s about creating environments where people from all...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Reader, A couple of weeks ago, towards the end of the last Q&A for clinicians I hold monthly, I reflected on the fact that grief seemed to be the overarching topic of the meeting. Some of us started feeling this grief with the pandemic; it escalated with the wildfires, got intensified by genocide, and now the elections. This feels wilder than the wildest wild I have ever experienced. There’s a lot of grief (and uncertainty) in the air right now—maybe more than we realize. The tightness in our...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Reader, Heeeey, this is the first of five letters on building healing connections grounded in awareness of power and oppression. Read on! At the heart of everything we do as therapists, healers, and helpers is the value of healing. We’re all here because we believe in the transformative power of human connection (being truly seen & heard). Healing isn’t just about individual change—it’s about creating spaces where clients have agency to be their full healed selves. And let’s be real, we’re in...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Reader, I’ve been thinking a lot about what it really means to build authentic connections in the therapy room (and beyond) when we ground ourselves in awareness of systemic oppression and power. This is more than a nice-to-have or another checkbox on the diversity forms we see in our workplaces. It’s the heart of how we practice liberation and decolonization in our work. Let’s be real for a second: the therapy and healing world wasn’t exactly built with the needs of marginalized communities...
2 months ago • 2 min read