Liberation Now Ep 10: Approaching Therapy from an Anti-Oppressive & Anti-Racism Lens

In this episode, Cherese Waight and Helen Neville speak with award winning psychologists Dr. Candice Hargons and Dr. Nikki Coleman about practicing therapy and professional work from an anti-oppressive and anti-racist lens. They share stories about their training and practice, and they talk about what it means to be authentic in and outside of the therapy room. Learn more about specific ways mental health settings and the field of counseling psychology can decolonize their training efforts.

ABOUT THE GUESTS

Dr. Candice Nicole Hargons is an award-winning associate professor of counseling psychology at the University of Kentucky, where she studies sexual wellness and healing racial trauma – all with a love ethic. Dr. Hargons is the creator of the Ally + Accomplice Meditation for Cultivating an Anti-Racist Mindset and the Black Lives Matter Meditation for Healing Racial Trauma, which has been featured in the Huffington Post and Blavity and used by universities and private practices across the US. She has been quoted or featured in the New York Times, Cosmopolitan, Women's Health, and other media. She serves on the Board of Directors for the American Psychological Association and is a Fellow of the Society of Counseling Psychology. Additionally, Dr. Hargons is the founder of the Center for Healing Racial Trauma.

You can follow Dr. Candice Nicole on IG @dr.candicenicole and learn more at www.drcandicenicole.com. 

Dr. Nikki Coleman is a PsyPact credentialed licensed psychologist and Sex Self Confidence Coach. Her expertise includes a diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant and trainer, writer, podcaster, public speaker, and therapist. She received her Ph. D. in Counseling Psychology from the APA-accredited top-ranked program at the University of Missouri-Columbia in 2002. For over 15 years she was a professor of Counseling Psychology with over 7 years as a tenured professor. During that time, she published peer-reviewed articles on identity and cultural factors impacting young Black adults. Her business Dr. Nikki Knows is a practice that focuses on the relational and sexual wellness of Black folx and racial equity consultation and training for small to mid-size organizations. Dr. Nikki’s mantra is: “Pleasure is my birthright” and she works to imbue that to her clients.

You can follow Dr. Nikki on IG and Twitter @DrNikkiKnows and learn more at www.DrNikkiKnows.com and https://linktr.ee/drnikkiknows.

GUESTS SELECT PUBLICATIONS

Dr. Candice Hargons Select Publications 

• Hargons, C. N., Malone, N., Montique, C., Dogan, J., Stuck, J., Meiller, C., Sanchez, A., Sullivan, Q.-A., Bohmer, C., Curvey, R., Woods, I., Jr., Tyler, K., Oluokun, J., & Stevens-Watkins, D. (2022). “White people stress me out all the time”: Black students define racial trauma.Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 28(1), 49–57. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000351
• Hargons, C. (2022). Mindfulness and matter: The Black Lives Matter Meditation for Healing Racial Trauma. In Beyond White Mindfulness(pp. 98-109). Routledge.
• Hargons, C., Malone, N. J., Montique, C. S., Dogan, J., Stuck, J., Meiller, C., ... & Stevens-Watkins, D. (2021). Race-based stress