The couch in my therapy office is occupied mostly by white people. Anxious white people and depressed white people. Obsessive white people and compulsive white people. White people who hurt people and white people who hurt themselves. White people who eat too much, drink too much, work too much, shop too much. White people who are bored, envious, guilty, numb. Racist white people and antiracist white people. White people who look across the room and see a white therapist listening. We talk about everything. Except being white.
—Whiteness on the Couch
I want to talk about being white.
What does it mean to be white in America? To be white in the world? What’s it like? How does it feel? How does being white shape our lives as white people? And how does whiteness function—culturally and collectively, systemically and historically? Socially, emotionally, behaviorally, personally? How do we white folk uphold this system? How are we attempting to disrupt it? And if not, why not?
Informed and inspired by ongoing process work with other white folks, along with courageous conversations in brave spaces with people of color, I invite a deep dive into our whiteness together to explore internally and interpersonally how myriad interlocking systems—educational, political, legal, financial, medical, housing, law enforcement and others—created by and for us white folk, ostensibly for our benefit, in the end harm not only people of color but us white folk as well.
While open to all, this part of my practice targets self-identifying white folks interested in cultivating an ongoing awareness of the ways in which we have been shaped by whiteness—how we have been collectively complicit in, and continue to perpetuate, racism and white supremacy in all domains of life—so that we can truly join with folks of color in the dismantling of a system designed to divide and dehumanize us all.
✺
Tyler Thompson, LMFT, LPCC
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist #124737
Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor #12134
EMDRIA Certified EMDR Therapist
Email: tylerthemindfultherapist@gmail.com
Phone: 720-334-1637
Pronouns: he, him (what is this?)
If curious about individual therapy more generally or couples therapy, please visit:
www.tylerthompsonpsychotherapy.com
Grateful Heart Holistic Therapy Center
Office: 2140 Shattuck Ave, Suite 307
Berkeley, CA 94704
TIN: 20-5284226
NPI: 1609635606
~
Practicing psychotherapy in-person in the Bay Area & via telehealth video everywhere in California
~
If you are feeling hopeless and/or having thoughts of suicide, please know that support is available.
Text, dial or click any of the following for immediate support:
Crisis text line: text HOME to 741741
Nationwide suicide & crisis lifeline: dial 988
San Francisco crisis hotline: 415-781-0500
Alameda crisis hotline: 800-309-2131
Peer-Run Warm-Line; call or text 855-600-WARM
LGBTQ crisis & support resources
Trans lifeline: 877-565-8860
~
If this is an emergency, please dial 911 or go to your nearest emergency room.
~
Please note
Email and text messages are not guaranteed to be a confidential form of communication. In order to protect your confidentiality, please contact me by phone to discuss sensitive information. I typically return email messages within 24 hours, Monday through Friday. For more urgent matters, please leave a voicemail message at (510) 859-4276.
~
Please know that email messages and any attachments may contain information that is confidential, proprietary, privileged, or otherwise protected by law. Unless you are the addressee or are authorized to receive messages for the addressee, you may not use, copy, forward, or disclose to anyone the message or information contained. If you receive an email in error, please advise the sender by replying to tylerthemindfultherapist@gmail.com and delete the message from your server. Thank you.