Dear ChicagoEFT Community,
We want to thank all of you who joined us for our two community-wide conversations, “Centering Marginalized Voices & Creating Opportunities for Healing Connection,” held via Zoom on July 23 and August 20, 2020. The number of participants we drew validated our sense that we are a community who care about one another and are motivated to address issues of social justice. At the same time, many of us do not know the best ways to do that and are looking for opportunities for learning, engagement, and practice.
In recognition of that, and to ensure that our trainings and the ChicagoEFT organization itself are focused on inclusion, equity, and accessibility, the Board has been working to identify appropriate next steps. In consultation with Dr. Cadmona Hall, the facilitator of our two Healing conversations, and through research into what other EFT centers are implementing, we are currently in the midst of the following:
- Conducting a needs assessment that will help us better understand what our ChicagoEFT community has experienced in terms of racial injustices and marginalization and also what our therapists want and need to better recognize and navigate issues of power and privilege in their work.
- Researching ways to broaden our accessibility to new or potential EFT therapists who identify as part of a marginalized community or who work with marginalized populations, as well as ways to reach people in marginalized populations directly.
- Being intentional about bringing in trainers of various backgrounds as we plan our upcoming events.
- Exploring ways to prepare our role-play coaches and home-group leaders to more effectively create safe spaces for participants in our trainings.
- Planning a peer-led, self-of-therapist group for therapists who identify as white, focused on helping them examine biases and privilege related to white identity.
We would love to hear your feedback regarding these next steps. Please send us an email and let us know what you think.
Warmly, and on behalf of the ChicagoEFT Board,
Anne Rossen, Membership Director
and
Ileana Ungureanu, Continuing Education Credits Director
