I want to begin with a small disclaimer. While I am very appreciative of my academic background, it is my lived experiences and humanness that hold greater weight in the way I approach this work. My academic journey has indeed provided me with skills and resources that expand my perspectives, but before any of this... before being a psychologist... I am a human, just like you.
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This is the basis of everything.
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I’m not the expert of you or your life. Coaching, to me, is the powerful coming together of two human beings, engaging with the subject matter in a curious and transformative way.
Nonetheless, below are some key points from my academic background that highlight and inform my approach.
You’ve probably seen me say this often, whether on my Instagram or on the landing page of my website. Decoloniality and Liberation Psychology are at the very heart of this work. I would be doing both of us a disservice if I approached you purely as an individual in isolation.
In our work together, we often circle around some very important questions:
•Who taught us what we know?
•Which systems shaped these ideas?
•And who benefits from them?
Decoloniality does not only relate to political and systemic organisation, it is also deeply psychological. Many of us in the global South have been forced to organise our identities and communities around systems of coloniality.
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For example, we may:
• Shrink or change how we show up in proximity to whiteness
• Feel that we should strive toward perpetual “emotional control”
• Silence anger or disagreement when it challenges authority
These are just some examples. Does this mean we blame everything on colonialism? No.
Decoloniality is not to be reduced to being anti-West or anti-anything. It is an empowering process that increases our awareness of the systems that silently shape our lives and offers us the opportunity to choose more consciously and embody the change-makers we are.
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My academic background in psychology strongly guides my coaching work. This honours the rigorous exploration the field has undertaken when it comes to important matters such as sustainable change, rather than the idea of quick fixes.
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For this reason, I describe my work as coaching psychology rather than traditional life coaching. While the roles are fairly similar, my approach is informed by years of being a student of psychology, and training in evidence-based perspectives on human development.
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My orientation within Western psychology leans strongly on a humanistic lens. I place you as the expert of your life. I believe that people are inherently oriented toward growth, connection, and meaning-making. I believe we are resilient and capable of directing change in every realm of our lives.
My coaching work honours and reflects the legacies of Frantz Fanon and Paulo Freire.
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Liberation psychology chooses not to ignore the historical systems of power, colonization, and oppression and how they shape our psyche, relationships, and societies in ways we do not reflexively question. Systemic-relational awareness is just as important as self awareness!
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Why is this perspective so empowering?
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Increasing your systemic awareness allows you to focus on agency, rather than always accommodating systems that were never designed with you in mind.
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It is my hope (and yes, perhaps a small bias that shows up in my programs) that by the end of our work together, you recognize yourself as a change-maker. Someone who has agency in their relationship with themselves, with others, and in the impact they have on the world.
Lastly, I’d love to share a framework I created with so much love and very much in alignment with my Aquarius rebel energy (hehe); The Emotional Companionship Framework (inspired by my thesis research on emotional regulation).
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To be honest, I REALLY dislike the idea of emotional regulation. To me, it can sometimes promote a very mechanistic perspective on emotions. I was strongly inspired by Afro-communitarian philosophy, particularly its perspective on morality - doing things because they are good to do, not simply because they produce a result.
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This framework reflects this perspective...
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What would happen if we related to our emotions because they deserve connection, rather than because they need to be manipulated to produce a desired outcome?
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This approach invites those who resonate with it to imagine a more compassionate relationship with their emotional world. It explores what it means to BE WITH our emotions, rather than constantly trying to manage or suppress them.
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At its core, Emotional Companionship is about learning how to befriend your emotions, so they become beloved partners in our confrontation of reality, rather than something to constantly feel at odds with.
