I Am the Student
I have letters after my name that denote expertise. I have had the privilege of obtaining advanced certifications. I have relied on peer-reviewed research and clinical supervision and operated in ways that has been supported by industry standards.
And none of my schooling included acknowledgment of the whitewashing of education. None of my education, not even the courses designed to increase cultural competency spoke at all about cultural empathy. None of my education encouraged me to challenge the dramatically oversimplified, racist metrics in which we ascertain or categorize “health.” Zero parts of my clinical experience working in eating disorder treatment facilities challenged me to think beyond the Eurocentric methods in which I was providing nutrition care.
My clients are my teachers. I don’t, nor do I need, to have all the answers.
Healing is not a top-down process.
It is a collective experience.
My operating as an expert does nothing to serve the humans with whom I am privileged to engage in work with. My listening and reflecting what I hear is endlessly more important than anything I’ve been conventionally taught.
I’m busy unlearning most of that, anyway.
A big thank you to you, to my clients, for being my ultimate teachers. It is my honor that you have chosen to join me here.
