Kristina Kyser Registered Psychotherapist
Kristina Kyser
In our ongoing work to understand how we perpetuate white-body supremacy (Resmaa Menakem’s term), we are practicing with others how to track what happens inside and between us, moment-to-moment. Noticing our own fragility when it shows up and building resilience demands lots of repetition. In reality, this sequence can unfurl in a matter of …
Continue reading "Challenging our fragile white self: a practice"
This post is meant to be read slowly, and more than once. You may notice that I am moving between and across genres and disciplines. You may notice that I am moving in and out of linearity. These moves are intentional and intentionally unsettling. I invite you to notice what you find rising in your …
This article does not say anything new, and none of what is written here belongs to me. I am learning to be more permeable to the wisdom embodied by Black and Indigenous leaders - some of my teachers include Rev. Angel Kyodo Williams, Sonya Renee Taylor, Resmaa Menakem, Jack Forbes, Lama Rod Owens, Prentis Hemphill, …
Sometimes images and metaphors can help us shift from a left-brain, cognitive conceptualization of something to a more right-brain, intuitive grasp of it. The sketches above depict in simplified form what it can look like when privilege mistakes itself for merit, when an aspect of the self is projected onto another, and what it looks …
Continue reading "On white saviourism, cannibal sickness, and dramatic irony"
It is both good and problematic that terms like “gaslighting” and “white supremacy” have entered the everyday conversation of so many more white people since the murder of George Floyd. It is problematic because what looks like a shift in consciousness can sometimes just be a new manifestation of the same old dynamics. As a …
Continue reading "What might it feel like to wake up out of whiteness?"
Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are really princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and bravery. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that needs our love --- Rainer Maria Rilke My work to heal myself and hold space for others healing …
Continue reading "Segregation and integration: healing the trauma of whiteness"
Attachment theory is a central component of the dominant western understanding of human psychology; it helps shape our understanding of developmental stages and developmental trauma. Some modalities such as Emotion Focussed Therapy (EFT) and Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP) place attachment at the centre of healing. If we can understand what happened and didn’t happen …
Psychotherapeutic models give us useful tools and frameworks for understanding how suffering manifests and how to address it, but the majority of the ones widely taught and available grow out of and reproduce dominant white supremacy culture. Unless we are actively practicing something else every day, this will be the default for white therapists and …
Continue reading "Some thoughts on whiteness and psychotherapy"
