Values

Multicultural competence is essential to our work. Our therapists value learning about diverse populations and seek to be humble and curious when our clients are different from us. Multicultural competence involves possessing knowledge about people from diverse backgrounds and also sensing when we don't know and being willing to seek out resources so we can be more effective. Below are some of our values related to multicultural competence, and our values more generally.

1. A therapist must do his/her/their own work to be effective and trustworthy.
2. Oppression is real. Racism, sexism, heterosexism, classism, ableism, transphobia, and ageism affect all citizens of the world.
3. Internalized oppression is real. As members of a society in which inequality exists, we all have, to some degree, internalized these disparities.
4. Our families, talents, appearance, experiences, time, and culture impact how we understand and see ourselves, others, and the world.
5. The way we see the world and ourselves impacts our thinking, behavior, and emotions.
6. Changing how we feel, think, and behave requires a multi-pronged approach including identifying what we believe is true, trying our best to behave in accordance with that, and after failing, trying again.
7. Each person has multiple parts that compose the self. For example, as a therapist, I have a part that is a healer. Others parts include “child,” “queen,” “class clown,” etc. No part is exclusively good or bad. Instead, each part offers unique gifts and, with work, the most destructive parts of the self can offer the most wonderful gifts.
8. Change is extremely difficult and requires time, energy, and attention.
9. There are some experiences that unite us all (we are born and we die). There are some experiences that unite some of us (being part of a particular generation or cultural group). There are some experiences that are unique to us as individuals (being born into a particular family at a particular time). It is important to remember all types of similarity and difference.