Continuing with the Exploring Emotions series, rather than focus on a specific emotion, I would like to share my thoughts and feelings about the symposium I attended. This is my second year attending the Zarrow Symposium. Keep in mind, each person views the world through ones own lens and this is my view.
The theme of the symposium was challenging injustices and inequalities. The presenters encouraged discomfort and said lean in and try to learn more. Many speakers emphasized white privilege, and I have what I call perceived white privilege. This means I appear white and receive those privileges despite having a different ethnicity. It was really cool to see almost every marginalized group you can think of being celebrated and strengths emphasized. I did not include every single thing I attended, because some were really boring, but I wanted to give an overall picture of my notable experiences.
Day 1:
The first thing I noticed was at the registration desk there were pronoun buttons. We wore these to avoid the awkwardness of wondering ‘what are you’ or asking ‘what do you like to be called’. After my morning coffee of course I found my way to the restroom.
I have been in enough shared restrooms, I did not think it would phase me. I was wrong. As a line of us stood waiting for the stalls, some people came in and used the urinals. I felt awkward. My previous experiences in all gendered restrooms were all stalls and the only contact we had with each other was in line or washing hands. The added component of being able to see someone peeing right in front of you, admittedly made me uncomfortable. I did not avoid the restroom though, I let it be weird.
Besides the keynote speakers, the most impactful breakout session was the three hour ethics training about transgender persons. I learned very helpful tips and got resources for clients who are transgender and non gender confirming. Three hours was not enough, days could be dedicated to educating about working with trans-gendered people and I learned there actually is an organization that does that: WPATH
Day 2:
Another great selection of keynote speakers.
Sebastian Margaret kicked off the day by diving into abelism and other forms of discrimination. Their unique speech style had many of us leaning in and listening closely. They touched on many of the same themes emphasized in the rest of the symposium and reiterated the importance of learning our biases and getting uncomfortable.
My favorite speaker was Dr. Cornel West, who eloquently spoke about justice and equality, then engaged in dialogue with the audience’s questions. If you haven’t heard of him, look him up! Unfortunately, the thing I will likely remember most about his speech is the feedback a fellow mental health professional gave. I was hanging out afterwards when an elderly counselor walked up and announced how appalled he was that they allowed such hate speech. He said he did not like anything Dr. West had to say. I know they told us to lean in to uncomfortable situations but I found myself unable in this instance. I walked away to talk with others.
Another common theme at the symposium was identifying, acknowledging, and challenging our own biases. This is a picture I took at the breakout session about implicit bias:
The best breakout session Friday addressed deaf discrimination within mental health.
As the ONLY licensed counselor/ASL interpreter in NE Oklahoma (1 of 4 in the whole state), Sandy Keesee, LPC provided much needed education about the deaf community, challenges in getting services, and cultural barriers with the hearing community. It was frustrating the limited number of attendees at this breakout session. I think more counselors would benefit from hearing Sandy’s information.
I concluded my second day with the breakout session about community policing.
The mayor, the police chief and others spoke about working together to make Tulsa a safer place. While their intentions seemed good…I couldn’t help but note the disparities between their words and…well…reality! By the end of it I was flustered with frustration. I won’t go into it on here, but you can watch and judge for yourself as it was broadcast live on Facebook by The Frontier @readfrontier
