It’s not your job to teach me what it means to be you. It is my job to know enough about power and oppression to be thoughtful about what you might be going through. It is my job to adapt my clinical skill to your individual needs, which are set against the context of your cultural background and personal identities. 

My positionality in the world (or the ways in which my identities connect me to power) will impact the way you experience me because you have interacted with people who look like me in the past. It is my job to be sensitive to that, and to try and create an environment that embraces humility, accountability, and justice as part of the healing process. It is my job to be curious about how you experience the world and how the world has responded to you.

As with the field of medicine, counseling hasn’t always gotten it right over the course of history. We as counselors have caused harm in relying on evidence-based practices that were designed by and for people who hold majority identities. Healing from that history is an ongoing process that requires an approach that is flexible, sensitive, and responsive. I can’t promise that counseling will work perfectly for everyone, but I am continuously evolving to provide better, more effective, and more inclusive care for everyone. 

You might wonder if your identities will be understood and respected if you choose to work with me (a white, cisgender, heterosexual woman). My identities carry a lot of privilege, which often come with blindspots and biases. I am always working to engage in self-reflection as the foundation for my professional work, because I want to reduce any impact my biases may have on my clients.