[firepit chats] culture, competency, and humility

Pull up a seat at the firepit for a conversation with my friend Amalia aka The Breakup Therapist on Instagram. Amalia is a therapist licensed in Detroit and Pennsylvania who specializes in breakups. In this chat she uses therapists' training on cultural competency to explain the dangers of how we approach culture when we won't name whiteness, and when we approach whiteness as neutral and everything else as "other". 

Around 9:30 we talk about one solution: cultural humility. I love the idea of approaching situations with curiosity and an understanding that we don't know everything, and being honest with ourselves about what we don't know. Remembering that we don't have to know everything is crucial in moving forward.

At 14:00 we get into how to approach finding a therapist with some great resources. I know the process of finding a therapist can be so overwhelming it blocks us from getting the help we need. 

Here are the resources and directories discussed in the video:

• Amalia's website : https://www.amitydetroitcounseling.com/
• Amalia's IG https://www.instagram.com/breakup.therapist.detroit/

Directories:

• Mental Health Match: https://mentalhealthmatch.com/
• Therapy Den: https://www.therapyden.com/
• Directory centered around BIPOC and LGBTQIA2S+ community: https://www.inclusivetherapists.com/

[firepit chats] culture, competency, and humility

Saturday, May 15, 2021

[Fire Pit Chats] "The Work"

We're trying out a new thing around here that I'm calling "Fire Pit Chats". This attempt is to replicate the conversations my friends and I have around my backyard fire pit. Because of my professional background I have had the opportunity to hear different perspectives and learn how to sit in my discomfort and untangle complex social topics. One of the most valuable things to come out of this experience has been the continued conversations about how race impacts every part of our culture and non-white people's daily lived experience. I hope by sharing some of our conversations we can all learn to recognize the effects of race and how we can work to dismantle white supremacy. 

This conversation is especially timely with the events that unfolded this week. Ray has a unique perspective as a Marine Corps veteran, a father, a man who is half Black and half white, and as someone who has lived all over and worked in many industries. He talks through how he got started in his antiracism work, handling the discomfort that came with learning about himself, toxic masculinity, intersectionality (and what it is), where to start with "the work", and how to handle mistakes and apologies.

Check out Ray's YouTube channel that is a full library of resources to get your work started.

You can also find and share these conversations on my IGTV. 

[Fire Pit Chats] "The Work"

Saturday, March 20, 2021