When I’m with my clients for the first time, oftentimes I interject words like, I’m a “human” first, especially if someone is new to therapy and brings cargo ships filled with a lifetime of trauma. I want to communicate that everyone is welcome to a non-judgmental safe space. My hope is to build rapport, so they walk away from that session feeling seen and heard and perhaps safe.

I started writing stories at age seven, and Miss Cooper, my second-grade teacher at Little Mountain Elementary School, let me go to the front of the class and read my stories. This lady with her grandmotherly wrinkles, boasting her age, gave me privilege and license to share my voice and my stories.

In the fourth grade, I was picked as one of a small group of students to be on the Father Bird Radio Show. Father Bird asked me about my opinions on Watergate and the president of which I knew nothing. I’ve had opportunities, and I’ve had trauma in my life, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve had opportunities. I’ve had privileged moments. I’ve had privilege in my life, thinking of language as legacy, because my greatest gift to me is my ability to speak and my ability to use words.