Ep. 9: Want to be an anti-oppressive therapist? Train your intuition!
A 19 minute and 35 minute listen
In today’s episode, we’re going to cover just a few of my initial thoughts about how trained intuition can support mental health therapist’s work with their clients. By training our intuition, we gain the ability to identify what is most important for the client’s soul growth, what they truly want on a soul level, who they really are as the truest version of themselves that was designed by their higher self, and intuitively pull why they are going through the challenges that they’re going through. To me, this is peak anti-oppressive work. The information that you pull, the solutions you propose, and the direction you provide are all coming from the truest source of information: the energy of who they are meant to become and accomplish in this lifetime.
Learn how developing this skillset can enhance your levels of effectiveness as a provider. For clients, give this a listen as you’ll gain insight into how a therapist views this field and the future potentials for therapy.
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(0:01) Hi everybody, it's Nanai again with another episode of You're Here to Remember. (0:08) Okay, today I want to talk about anti-oppressive therapy. I hope you're as excited as I am because (0:16) this has been a topic that I've been mulling around in my head and channeling from source (0:20) and higher self for a long time and I could probably talk about this for 19 hours but (0:26) today I'm just going to talk about it for a few minutes just to give you a taste of what's rolling (0:31) around in my brain and get something out there that I have to work off of.So let's start with (0:40) what is anti-oppressive therapy? I've understood it to be the practice of not causing active harm (0:50) to my clients and the people that I have influence over through my work and what I mean by active (0:57) harm, I mean well it could mean a lot of things, it could mean a lot of things. So it could mean (1:03) haphazardly diagnosing clients with various mental health disorders so that I get a better payout. (1:10) It could mean that I treat my clients like they're damaged and they need me to save them (1:15) because I believe they can't do it on their own.It could mean that I apply the same protocols to (1:20) everyone regardless of how dysregulated they are or you know if they have unique circumstances. (1:25) Basically trying to fit everyone into a box because that's going to help me feel less (1:30) uncomfortable about working with them. It could mean that I stick to a really rigid treatment plan (1:37) and when they don't improve on my schedule that I set for them then I blame them because they failed (1:44) the plan.It could mean that I don't affirm or validate their sexual or gender identities and (1:51) tell them that they're wrong or I tell them that they're wrong about anything. (1:56) Being an anti-oppressive therapist could mean that I don't take into consideration what's going on in (2:01) the world and only focus on the microcosm of my client's life. There's so many many examples I (2:07) could go on forever.So today I want to focus in on and talk about intuition and mental health (2:16) therapy and how I believed I was being an anti-oppressive therapist. I was doing my best (2:24) but training my intuition and utilizing it in sessions it's showing me the true meaning of (2:32) anti-oppression and I'm so excited to share this with you because I believe I want to believe that (2:39) the mental health therapy will pivot and move in this direction and I believe so many of my (2:45) fellow therapist colleagues are pivoting in that direction and I also want to, maybe I won't get (2:53) into it in this episode, but dispel some myths about intuition and how to use it in therapy (2:59) and what is intuition and all that. I think I definitely want to go into those, maybe not in (3:03) this session, but so many topics that can branch off of this.Okay, you can tell that I'm excited (3:11) to talk about it. Okay, so with trained intuition, I can hone into the core of who the client (3:28) really is. I can see what they're really meant for, really meant to do in this lifetime.I can see (3:37) their potentials. I can see what their next steps are. I can hone in on exactly the right solution (3:44) that will help them the most in this moment.There is no trial and error because using trained (3:50) intuition, I'm measuring. I'm using my intuition like a scientific instrument and I'm measuring. (3:56) If I give them this tool, first of all, will the human be on board with it? Sometimes the human's (4:02) hell no, rejecting it and they won't do it anyway.Even if I give it to them, I'm like, (4:08) this is the best thing that they can ever utilize to change their life and they might not use it. (4:13) So I'm first checking, is the human on board with this? Can I get them on board with this by just (4:19) explaining how the universe works and how this is going to help them? I kind of lost my train of (4:27) thought there. Okay.I'm using intuition to, I'm looking at the core of who they are. (4:40) And this, I feel like this is the biggest point that I want to make today is if I want to be an (4:47) anti-oppressive therapist, I want to ensure that nothing external from me or that client, (4:55) institutions, government, other people's thoughts and beliefs about them, other people's (5:02) thoughts and beliefs about what they should do, society's expectations of that person, (5:08) none of that has influence in my session with them because I have trained intuition and I have (5:14) learned how to shield from any external negative limiting beliefs, thoughts, contagions. Contagions (5:23) are like anything that's kind of out there in social media or TV or Hollywood or writings, (5:33) anything that if they take in, it actually leads to a diminishing of being their core true self (5:40) versus allowing them to shine more and act more as their core true self, which is the core true (5:48) is who they are meant to be in this lifetime and being who they're meant to be in this lifetime (5:56) allows them to impact more people, have positive change.So truly, if I as a therapist want to be (6:03) anti-oppressive, then I must know how to tune in and hone in on the core essence of that person (6:13) quickly, efficiently, in moments because it shapes everything that I then say, (6:22) share with them and guide them to. So the first thing is clients come in at various stages of (6:31) their life and also various stages of their life lessons. So each of us experience at least one (6:40) major recurring soul lesson that we come in with to figure out, master.We gain tons of skill sets (6:48) as we go through them, but it is the thing that kind of repeats throughout your life and you (6:56) notice, wow, there's, this is a pattern in family and relationships and my partnerships, like all (7:02) these things keep happening. That's likely your recurring soul lesson that you're here meant to (7:09) master, meant to overcome and really work towards. It's going to give you the most on the other side (7:16) of it, well through it as well because of how it pushes you.Okay. So using intuition, if you can (7:26) hone in on that right off the bat, then all of your work can be shaped around that recurring soul (7:35) lesson and when we shape, when I shape everything around the recurring soul lesson of the person in (7:42) front of me, what they're, what they need to go through, then I know what they can handle. I know (7:48) what solutions to put in front of them.I know what direction to kind of move them towards. I know (7:53) exactly why they feel like they are suffering and in pain through this obstacle and I can help them (8:00) see the bigger picture using intuition. I can, I can see the outcome of what's coming after this.(8:05) I can see the multiple hills and slopes and dips and mountain peaks that they need to, (8:15) they need to, I don't know the word, master. They need to overcome to get to where their soul (8:26) really wants them to be. Okay.What else does intuition, how else does intuition really embody (8:36) anti-oppression? Okay. When someone comes in with various identities, maybe they feel turmoil (8:49) around trying to figure out who are they, who are they supposed to look like, who are they supposed (8:55) to be like, what are they supposed to act like, who are they at their core? A lot of people (9:02) come in and feel like this tumultuous like churning within, trying to figure out (9:10) who are they meant to be and who do they want to be perceived to be. And with intuition, I can (9:21) hone in on who are, what, what, what do they feel like at their core? What do they look like at (9:27) their core? I can, I can look into their soul energy.I can talk to their higher self and (9:33) determine who does their higher self have an image of them, like this perfect image of them (9:42) to, to, to step into throughout their lifetime. And the reason why we aren't already there (9:50) is because when you get born into this world and you have the families that you have and the (9:55) experiences that you have and the traumas that you experience, we, we kind of put on these heavy (10:03) blankets of other people's expectations, other people's views of us, (10:07) um, feeling like we're not meeting other people's expectations and just feeling not good enough. So (10:16) all these weighted blankets are kind of put on top of us as we move through life.And at some point (10:22) you get to a point where it's too heavy to carry any longer. And you kind of have like a spiritual (10:29) awakening. You kind of have this moment of like, no more, right? It's, it's truly a moment where (10:34) you're just like, I, I'm going to take a bet on me and do this thing that no one expected me to (10:41) do.Um, no one expected me how to do this in the way that I'm doing it. And I'm going to do it my (10:46) way. Like it's, it's truly like those pivotal life moments.I, I, I'm sure each of you have had at (10:50) least one. Um, okay. I keep going off on these tangents and then I'm like, wait, what was I (10:58) talking about? So the true core essence of the client, I think it's so important as a therapist (11:05) that I'm able to hone in to that right away, because they're going to come in with all these (11:11) weighted blankets feeling like, I don't know who I am.I don't know what I'm supposed to be or who (11:15) I'm supposed to act. And we can, we can, with trained intuition, um, hone into the core of (11:26) who they really are and then implement tools over time that get them there. (11:35) Okay.And it's, it's hard work. It's hard work because if we have this identity of I'm broken (11:41) or I can never get better, or I will never be good enough. It's really hard to implement (11:48) and practice a new way of just seeing yourself.Okay. I want to pause and just talk about mental (11:56) health therapy. It has benefited me massively.I am not dogging on mental health therapy at all. (12:03) I'm a mental health therapist and I have needed and loved my therapy experiences, good and bad. (12:11) So I, I started going to therapy back in 2015, I believe it was 2015.And I stopped just a couple (12:23) of years ago, maybe in 2023, 2024, 2023. Okay. So for a very long time, I was utilizing therapy.I (12:35) was going to therapy. I was gaining a lot from therapy. It was a support that I needed at the (12:39) time.And at some point I realized I need the next thing, which is training my intuition, (12:46) connecting to source of the universe, more understanding how the universe works more (12:50) and really finding my own answers within me using intuition, trained intuition. And we'll talk about (12:57) that another day because, um, I would say like having natural gifts and inclinations is not (13:04) the same as having a trained intuition. I think it's something that you, you must develop and (13:08) practice.Okay. So coming back to why intuition in mental health therapy is anti oppressive. (13:21) I think the epitome of anti-oppression is that the person in front of you gets to feel (13:31) deeply understood at a level they never have before, because you are looking into (13:38) their unique path in this lifetime.Using trained intuition, you can also look at their past lives (13:46) and identify why they're having this life. Now, maybe they're on the third life of a (13:52) multi-life recurring soul lesson. And that's why it's so challenging this lifetime or feels (13:59) challenging this lifetime.So all kinds of things can be (14:07) honed in on, discovered, identified with trained intuition. Okay. What else do I want to say about (14:17) trained intuition and anti-oppression? (14:23) Oh, you know, one thing also is therapists are always encouraged to (14:31) work on themselves, right? Go to their own therapy, make sure that they're growing, (14:36) make sure that they're developing, make sure that they're working on their own inner wounds.(14:40) So yes. And with trained intuition, this is my experience with trained intuition, (14:48) I have grown at a pace I didn't know possible in one year. Let's just look at one year (14:58) of my life, the past one year of my life.I feel like I am a different person with a different (15:09) outlook and a different understanding of the world just in one year over many, many years (15:15) of practice. And it's because when something comes up, I can look at intuitively to understand (15:25) why is this happening? And what is it leading me towards? This is so important. I feel like, (15:32) I believe that without trained intuition, we can't quite get to the, what is this leading me towards? (15:39) I can see, I can pull in the visuals, the information, the data that shows what this (15:45) is leading me and the client towards.Whatever their obstacle is in the current moment, (15:51) I can see why they are going through it and what it's bringing them towards. So I can, I do feel (15:59) like I am moving through challenges and obstacles faster, easier, it's still difficult, it's (16:07) still challenging, it still triggers me, these moments. However, because I know I have (16:14) this skill set of trained intuition, and I have the knowledge of how the universe works, and I have (16:21) the ability to look ahead into my future and understand what is this for, then I can get out (16:30) of the emotions, the overwhelm quicker and process through what I'm supposed to learn from this moment (16:38) faster and then integrate it in right after that.So I feel like with trained intuition, (16:46) therapists can move through their own woundings, the things that are really blocking them and (16:51) holding them back from providing amazing, incredible, in-depth sessions to their clients (16:58) faster. Okay, what else do I want to say? You know what, I think I'm going to pause right there, (17:05) and there's so much more that I do want to say on this, but I'm going to pause here for now, (17:11) and I'm curious what you think, if you have any thoughts, if you have any worries too, (17:18) I want to hear them, I want to know what you think. Basically, the intent of this (17:26) audio today was to give clients, I want to give clients awareness that the therapy field (17:41) is, I believe, moving in this direction, but can have so much more depth and also, (17:51) I'm using my words, I'm choosing my words carefully because (17:58) as a therapist, if I heard this a year ago, two years ago, I would probably be offended because (18:04) I'm like, wait, I'm doing my best though, I am using my intuition, I just want to kind of share (18:11) this information and say, what if you can consider that there is an entire energetic side of things (18:19) that we're not utilizing to the best of our abilities for the benefit of clients, for the (18:25) of our own lives, there is something that has been kept from us systematically, because it (18:33) is so powerful when we embody and hold as true, and that is the abilities that we have, (18:43) the power that we hold when we train our intuition, client or therapist, no matter who you are, (18:49) no matter what you're going through, honing this skill set is something that has been (18:54) held back from you intentionally, and we're going to go into that, into the why, okay, (19:01) but for now, I want you to have some like light bulb moments and some like excitement and wonder (19:09) into what more is there, what could enhance my work with my clients, what could enhance my (19:16) processing as a client, okay, let me pause there and we will continue on in the next one (19:25) when I have a spark of inspiration, okay everybody, I will talk to you in the next one, bye.