Cultural and Systemic Oppression

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.

As intersectional beings, intersecting systems of oppressions influence our experience incessantly. With the ever expanding technological and historic globalization, the oppression we face daily may even feel overwhelmingly debilitating. It's no wonder that much of our mental health concerns

Systems of oppression including but not limited to racism, heterosexism, cisgenderism, sexism, and ableism are often at the root of many of the suffering that bring people to therapy. I have 20 yrs of experience holding space to witness these experiences, to counter and prevent internalization, and develop strategies of disruption. I have trained and supervised therapists and other human services professionals to address oppression as an essential part of clinical work.

The world that we live in is not necessarily a friendly one to who we are. Whether we are women or men, people of colour or white, the norms and infrastructures that we have inherited often discourage us from living authentically. What is freedom if not to be free of all arbitrary constraints?

I help clients heal from the effects of systemic oppression and rejection that they experience because of their sexuality, gender identity, or racial identity. If you have experienced rejection in your family or faith community for having a particular identity, I am here to support you as we release the shaming, painful messages in your life. Together, we will sit in the tension and reconcile all parts of you so that you can embody your authentic self with joy and compassion.

John has received extensive education and clinical experience in understanding and working with cultural and systemic oppression. John often incorporates identity development models, philosophies of dual consciousness, and phenomenology into his therapy with oppressed individuals.

Our therapists believe in addressing the global contexts that impact us and our clients.

"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."

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 then, can we be empowered to feel in control of our lives. Let’s sift through these layers to find your true self.

I have a passion for working with those from diverse and intersecting ethnic, racial, cultural, and identity backgrounds and utilize a strengths-based lens in clinical work. As a member of the 2019-2020 Racial Equity Now (RENow) cohort of the nonprofit Dallas Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (Dallas TRHT), I am also steeped in local and national efforts to support equity.

I am passionate about creating a sense of identity and pursuing changes that benefit all my clients, focusing on those who have been oppressed and have historically been affected by systematic issues and cultural oppression.

In my graduate education, I have both taken and taught classes on racism and systemic oppression. In my clinical practice, I see systemic oppression to be more then race; it also includes gender, sexuality, ethical non-monogamy, ability, citizenship, etc. Much of my experience working with cultural oppression include the manifestations of anxiety and depression.

I believe that the cultures, systems, and communities we live in impact the way we navigate the world. A lifetime (or lifetimes, if you want to get into intergenerational wounds) of dealing with oppression can have a profound an impact on mental health. In my practice I consistently keep in mind the ways systems impact the individual.

As a white, queer, gender-fluid person I am committed to consistently exploring my relationship to my identity and social location. My therapy practice seeks to be a highly inclusive space, and a container for exploring the ways systemic oppression impact our internal and external psychological experiences. I invite each of my clients to consider their gender, sexuality, racial perspective, ability and socioeconomic status as part of their work in therapy.

I believe that individual therapy is just piece in a pie of our overall healing, and that therapy has historically been a space to further individualize clients, and pathologize what is often a normal response to a system that is built on violence. I work to hold space for those impacted by this violence, while also advocating for the important work that can happen outside of the therapist’s office: that of communal healing and revolutionary activism.

We all know we exist within a dominant culture that was designed to cause us systematic harm. My approach to therapy is rooted in this lens - I am not here to help you "cope" with the impact of systemic oppression; I am here to help you reclaim safety, power and agency as you continue to exist within systems of oppression. I am here to support your own knowing - so you can hear yourself through the noise of white supremacy, patriarchy, heteronormativity, capitalism, and colonialism.

Racism, patriarchy, able-ism, and other old tricks hurt, use, dis-empower, and silence human beings in the legacy of a "power-over." These tricks are in our language, religion, business, and other institutions. Even non-profits. Even families. Their subtle manifestations can hurt like the obvious ones, especially when they happen repeatedly. A "power-with" way of thinking supports equality, respect, and cooperation. I love to help people find support for power-with.

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