Cultural and Systemic Oppression

I utilize a blend of boundary-setting modalities to address historical and intergenerational trauma. Survival instincts and ways of coping are often passed down in a family system, even if they don't always serve the present moment. Understanding why we react to certain situations, and why others may react, can increase compassion. Once we have cultivated that compassion we can articulate and implement boundaries from a place of acceptance and respect.

As an African American woman therapist I have lived the "Black in America" experience and have dedicated the majority of my professional career researching and implementing culturally sensitive practices that address systemic oppression. My widely read with over 14,000 downloaded thesis entitled "Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome, A Literature Review on African American Community Healing and Expressive Arts Therapy" has become my life's work.

Yams developed familiarity working with cultural and system oppression from necessity acquiring the skills to advocate for clients facing bias and discrimination as inherent parts of the therapeutic system, as well as from personal experience.

All of us are brilliant students of our society, — our families, communities, societies, culture. These factors shape our identities based on creed, gender, colour, etc. — which then shape our realities. To know who we are requires understanding these influences, which reflect this imperfect world as well as how it has shaped who we are. By doing so, we can tease out who we are at our “core,” from what we’ve been taught. I look forward to shifting through these layers with you to find your true

"Racial Trauma" is REAL and "microaggressions/microinsults" are not your imagination. They are equally as REAL! When you suffer form "racial Trauma," you move through the world with a slight feeling of being gaslit and/or not believed. Let's confront this trauma and offer you some relief from systemic, systematic and institutionalized oppression, vis a vis "racism."

I chose to complete my studies in Social Work, specifically to study systems of oppression in our society, with a strong focus on religious systems of oppression. I am well-versed in religious systems of oppression, but this understanding translates to any hierarchical system: racism, workplace discrimination, family systems of oppression, interpersonal oppression (abuse and neglect), and financial oppression (capitalism). Where you have humans in societies together, there is always risk.

A few common themes thread throughout my areas of focus, such as racial trauma, systemic oppression, colonization, and even state-sanctioned violence to name a few. As a multicultural therapist, I may be curious about how cultural factors influence your experiences with risk and safety. Together we can explore these issues in a calm and non-judgmental way. My goal is to hear you, see you and understand you.

Humans are brilliant learners, absorbing messages from our environments — families, society, culture — these external influences shape our identities based on creed, gender, colour, etc., which then shape our realities. Knowing who we are requires understanding these influences and how it has influenced our lenses and behaviours. Only with this deeper insight, can we feel empowered to regain control of our lives.

Humans are brilliant learners, absorbing messages from our environments — families, society, culture. These external influences shape our identities based on creed, gender, colour, etc., which then shape our realities. To know who we are requires understanding these influences, and how it has shaped who we are. By doing so, we can tease out who we are at our “core,” from what we’ve been taught. Let’s sift through these layers to find your true self.

The unprovoked deaths of women and men of color have exposed again the challenges that many of us face to have true equity in the United States. This, along with COVID-19 and the resulting economic impact have had a disproportionate impact on families of color. Understanding the systemic issues and how to address them proactively is essential for our mental health.

Developed familiarity working with cultural and system oppression from necessity acquiring the skills to advocate for clients facing bias and discrimination as inherent parts of the therapeutic system, as well as from personal experience.

As intersectional beings, intersecting cultures and systems of oppressions influence our experience incessantly.

I consider myself a strong activist and work hard to understand how issues of oppression impact the problems presented in therapy. I understand how racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and any form of bigotry both on an institutional level and personal level, create huge amounts of stress in different populations. I taught for over a decade in a masters level course around understanding issues of oppression and internal biases and how they impact therapy.

I believe that understanding how sociocultural, systemic, and institutional forces influence the ways that you traverse this world. Examining such contexts can facilitate the harnessing of your internal wisdom as well as become more connected to your collective and ancestral experiences.

Oppression can be covert or overt, but it is always unjust. Understanding how external factors, whether it be from legislative policies or society's perception, affect our lives makes it easier for us to learn how to navigate and break down these barriers. We must also mourn the ways in which our lives have been shaped due to oppression.

I am a culturally humble/aware counselor. this means that I am aware of my privilege as a white male who recognizes the privilege I bring with me, but my role in the counseling session is to be a passenger down the road to the betterment of the client's mental health; the client will always be the driver and will define which roads they wish to take.

The need for social justice comes from the heavy emotional and physical toll that cultural and systemic oppression takes on us. Many of us carry the symptoms of oppression. It is in our bodies and spirits and shows up in work and in our relationships. I work with clients by teaching somatic techniques that help create inner support as well as strategize for ways to develop nourishing practices and cultivate interpersonal and community supports.

Seeking out a therapist who understands systemic oppression, cultural factors related to identity, and how they may exacerbate organic symptoms should be easier. With this in mind, I orient my therapeutic work (and life) in acknowledgement of the many systems (overt and covert) that impact folks whose identities fall along the margins.