So, what is Critical Race Theory (CRT), and what does it have to do with me?

Great question!

In the past few years you may have heard all kinds of stories about CRT like…CRT is designed to promote justice for all or CRT is rewriting US history.

Well, the short answer is: both positions are true. OK…but what does CRT, a legal theory, have to do with becoming a better clinician or organization?

As a proponent of CRT/I and a former clinician, I have used CRT and its tenets as practical, clinical and organizational assessment tools to help nascent and seasoned social work practitioners understand the barriers to belonging and inclusion that can impede the clinical process, and give insight into -isms and -phobias that may result in harmful programming and unjust or uninformed treatment planning.

What about the “I” part?

My bad. The “I” stands for Intersectionality.

Intersectionality is a term coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw, a US legal scholar and civil rights advocate.

When used as a clinical assessment tool, Intersectionality can help nascent and seasoned social workers understand how people who hold targeted identities are impacted by multiple identity-based systems of oppression (yep, those -isms and -phobias again).

Once we understand our personal relationship to the -isms and -phobias that have hurt our society, and recognize that we have the ability to change the outcomes of their influence, there is no longer room for ignorance.

What is left is an opportunity to rectify past harms and clear a pathway towards healing.

How do we do that?!

You can start by getting in touch with me!