My Light | My Flow

Abstract

Amongst the presenting issues of the Queer woman of color in treatment are her beliefs around her identity – those inherited, chosen, and co-constructed by a larger system. To universalize an approach in therapy negates the uniqueness of the convergence of the multi-faceted identity and disregards the impact of each component. The therapist must hold the way a client organizes their understanding of themselves within the larger systems of family, society, culture, and so on. Additionally, the therapist must be willing to assist the client in navigating not only the pathways of the client’s identity, but how the therapist’s own identity interacts - based on personal beliefs and assumed values that undeniably enter the therapeutic space as a ‘third’ component to the dynamic. Using a Social Constructivism approach, I shift the general approach of Self-Psychology to “three-person” model of therapy. In the navigation of the multi-faceted identity the client becomes conscious of the roots of their beliefs, therefore further healing can occur.