(From Lisa, founder of Resonant Equity)
The counseling field is dominated by white women. We have a real opportunity to change mental health! And yet it is likely that as white women, we lack a fundamental understanding of how we show up in our positionality in the counseling relationship and with our colleagues.
Leaning into the learning process of unpacking what it means to occupy a position of privilege in our society means nurturing an awareness of the ways we have become the oppressor.
Yes that’s a radical statement – because of course, women are also in a low-power position in society. In the language of Dr. Leticia Nieto in her book Beyond Inclusion, Beyond Empowerment, women are targets under the patriarchy. Yet we also hold the role of agent where we are in a dominant position over individuals with other identities. This is compounded if we hold “agent” status and role based on socioeconomic class, education level, marital status, romantic affiliation, gender identity, etc.
White women are especially subject to the emotions of whiteness including white fear, white guilt, white distress, and white denial and avoidance that can cause real harm to those who hold differing identities.
If you are a white woman: Does it make you feel uncomfortable simply reading this page?
That’s how these forces work: When we are conditioned to think, act, and even feel a certain way based on social structures, then it can be uncomfortable to even recognize that such forces may exist around us. This is what allows those holding privilege to not have to talk about or recognize their privilege; the discomfort of talking about it becomes a self-enforcing prophecy. It discourages the recognition of how power operates.
You can see this on display in the documentary Deconstructing Karen.
Unpacking these forces and leaning into the understanding of how each of us holds power and privilege, along with the ways we are also hurt and held back, can be such a powerful experience of self-understanding. This work can increase your capacity for love.
Interested? Resonant Equity will be offering workshops for white women counselors who are ready for true change in how they experience racial realities, and you are invited.