WORKSHOP WORKSHOP

Towards Hopefullness: Exploring who we are 'being' when the personal is political in counselling spaces

Workshop Details

Sabnum Dharamsi

Who do you become when working with ‘the other?’ We know that clients edit out their concerns with what they think will be received or what is appropriate for the environment, but who do you as a therapist, whether coming from a similar or dissimilar background, become in this encounter? In this workshop I focus on case studies with Muslim Clients based in the UK - who since 9/11 and the war on terror have gone from a relatively invisible minority to a highly policed, politically charged, identity.

I’ve selected these examples because they represent real cases, and also because ’Since oppression is systemic, resisting it must also be: ‘the Black radical tradition has to embrace the struggle against anti-Muslim racism, which is perhaps the most virulent form of racism today.”(Angela Davis 2016) Similarly, because oppression is systemic, I offer this workshop also to to support moving beyond shame and ‘white identity disclaimers’ (Alleyne 2022) and anti-blackness in all our communities, and through reflection find a different way of being in ourselves.

This workshop is offered as a way of developing therapeutic practice, but more importantly, through exploring perceptions, feelings and taboos when working with those who have been ‘othered’, it is also becomes a space to find ourselves in the other, and to remember heart and hope.