What does decolonized therapy look like? | Pittsburgh, PA
A decolonized approach to therapy begins with the understanding that therapy is political—not because therapists bring politics into the room, but because politics, class, race, and imperialism already shape our bodies, our histories, and our daily lives. When you sit across from a therapist, the conversation isn’t happening in a vacuum. You’re two people shaped by systems, identities, and power structures that inevitably influence the therapeutic relationship. A decolonial therapist doesn’t shy away from this truth; they work with it consciously, humbly, and collaboratively.
For many BIPOC adults, trusting a professional with a state license can feel complicated. You may have had experiences where institutions caused harm, where authority figures dismissed your pain, or where “helping professionals” reinforced the very systems that wounded you. Feeling cautious is not just normal, it is wise.
Increasing your knowledge of the therapeutic dynamic can be very key to helping you navigate any relationship with a service provider who is supposed to hold your trust. When you understand what a decolonized therapy relationship looks and feels like, you can choose a therapist who aligns with your values, honors your lived experience, and supports your liberation, not your submission.
TLDR
Decolonized therapy acknowledges that therapy is political and that healing cannot be separated from the social, economic, and historical forces shaping your life. A therapist working from a decolonized model shares a framework of wellness that includes resisting systemic dysfunction, exploring internalized oppression, and reconnecting with community. They tend to be humble, patient, non-controlling, and grounded in realistic hope. In this kind of relationship, you should feel like a fellow human being—free to express anger or grief about systemic issues, free to disagree or question, and free to use the therapeutic relationship as a space for clarity, empowerment, and liberation. If you’re in Pennsylvania and looking for a therapist who can hold this kind of space, you’re invited to schedule a consultation.
A Shared Framework of Decolonial Wellness
A therapist practicing decolonized therapy does not aim to help you become “well-adjusted” to systems that harm you. Instead, they support you in becoming well enough to see those systems clearly, resist them strategically, and locate & use your agency.
A shared framework of wellness includes:
Connecting political issues to your distress — You and your therapist can talk openly about how racism, classism, xenophobia, capitalism, and other systemic forces shape your mental health. Your pain is not “overreacting” or a tangent to “real” (i.e. intrapsychic/small systems) work. Your distress is a real response to real conditions.
Exploring internalized systemic messages — A decolonial therapist helps you notice how internalized racism, internalized classism, or internalized colonial values may show up in your self-talk, relationships, or sense of worth. This is not about blame, relegating your agency, or being a victim, but about naming foreign things planted in you. Releasing negative systemic internalizations at releasing the system’s grip on you in order to unearth deeper human instincts of caring, grieving, and fighting that have been buried.
Understanding that wellness includes unlearning — Being well is not about becoming numb or indifferent to injustice. Rather, decolonizing your mind means working through whatever is in you that conforms to systemic dysfunction. Oftentimes, dis-eased times awaken us to times where we or close loved ones have taken in dis-ease as normal. Injustices that happen beyond our control can have us examine where we have tolerated or are tolerating injustices within our control. Being well can be about working through the parts of you that were taught to conform, minimize yourself, or tolerate dysfunction.
Increasing the capacity to bear pain — Not in the sense of “grin and bear it”, but in the sense of being able to stay with sensations of pain without being consumed by it. Being well is not about giving into emotional catharsis without a beneficial action, nor is it about emotional release that depends on dehumanizing other people or yourself. Being well includes being able to bear pain with clear eyes, to end cycles of harm within and without, and to transform pain into life. How often do we hear messages in our world that this isn’t possible? Decolonized therapy stretches what is possible.
Emphasizing community and connection — Decolonized therapy recognizes that healing doesn’t happen in isolation, and that the therapist recognizes there is a danger towards isolation trying to meet too many community-based or liberation-based needs in the therapy relationship. Personal therapy can support your wellness but it will not be enough for your wellbeing. Your therapist will encourage you to build or return to community, and if that feels difficult, they’ll help you explore the internal blocks that keep you from connecting with others.
This shared framework becomes the foundation for a therapeutic relationship that supports your wholeness and not your compliance.
Traits of a Therapist With a Decolonized Model of Therapy
Decolonized therapy is not defined by a therapist’s identity alone. While many BIPOC therapists practice from this lens, not all do—and many therapists of European descent are committed to anti-oppressive therapy as well. What matters most is how they release their sense of power-over you and the therapy process in the room.
Humble
A decolonial therapist does not position themselves as the expert on your life. Even with years of training, they don’t relate to you from a place of “knowing.” They don’t hold answers or directions. Instead, they approach you with curiosity, respect, and a willingness to learn from your lived experience.
Patient
Decolonial therapists know that change and growth are painful and multilayered. They do not rush you towards your goal or push you to “fix” something before you’re ready. They honor the layers of your story and the pace your nervous system can tolerate.
Non-controlling
Rather than telling you what to do, these therapists help you access your own wisdom. They draw out your natural intelligence, your intuition, and your capacity for self-direction. They trust that you have an inner compass, and they help you hear it more clearly.
Hopeful
Their hope is grounded, not idealistic. They don’t pretend the world is better than it is, nor do they collapse into pessimism. They help you see what is possible right now, in your life, your relationships, and your healing.
These traits create a therapeutic environment where you can explore, question, and grow without fear of judgment or coercion that belongs to the colonial model of relating and healing.
How You Should Feel Within the Therapeutic Relationship
A decolonized therapeutic relationship is not hierarchical, meaning that while there are roles of helper and receiver of help, you share respect, dignity, and power.
Like a Fellow Human Being
You don’t feel that your therapist is above you. You’ll get the feeling that when you’re talking about an issue in your life, they can help you with it because they have done their own work on this issue within themselves. They’re not pretending to be perfect or fully healed; they’re transparent that they’re actively still walking their own path, too.
You feel like you are both humans experiencing mutual growth and transformation, but the roles are clear: you are taking on the honor of healing and the therapist is taking on the honor of witnessing and gently guiding.
Open
You should feel free to express sadness, anger, grief, or frustration about things far bigger than your personal life. A decolonial therapist understands that your emotional responses to systemic issues are valid and human. They won’t minimize your feelings or redirect you toward “positive thinking.”
Free to Push Back
A decolonial therapist welcomes your perspective and celebrates pushback as part of a healthy, collaborative relationship. When conflict arises, it becomes an opportunity to practice understanding, repair, and mutual respect.
Not Pushed, But Challenged
You consistently feel yourself growing because you get to directly confront confusion, helplessness, and despair within yourself in a real way. There’s no shrugging off the things outside of your control, but rather a drive that seeks where you realistically have power, where you’re not using your power, and where you can build power.
When these feelings are present, therapy becomes a space where you can expand and not shrink.
Looking for a Therapist Who Can Hold Space for Your Liberation?
While this isn’t a fully comprehensive post, these are some starting points. Working with a decolonial therapist means entering a relationship where your political reality, cultural identity, and lived experience are not side notes—they are central to your healing. You deserve a therapist who understands that therapy is political, who practices anti-oppressive therapy, and who supports your growth without asking you to disconnect from your truth.
If you’re in Pennsylvania and looking for a therapist who can hold this kind of space, you’re warmly invited to schedule a consultation. Let’s explore whether this approach to therapy can support your healing, clarity, and liberation.
About the Author
Chelsea Adams, LPC is a licensed therapist with over 7 years of experience supporting clients in Pittsburgh. She specializes in intergenerational, relational, religious, and systemic trauma and uses a decolonized model of evidence-based approaches such as EMDR, Somatic Internal Family Systems, Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, and therapy intensives to help clients connect to their own wisdom, voice, and power. Chelsea is committed to providing compassionate, expert care online for clients across Pennsylvania.
