214 - Dee Albert - Sprinkling Your Spice Into Therapeutic Spaces
“The best of me is when I am being my authentic self, when I'm not trying to fit into these square holes that people feel that we should fit into.” - Dee Albert
We're in it now, folks: the first episode of the rest of our lives. And, oh my, does Anne bring the sauce. Even better, her first guest delivers the spice!
Dee Albert is a UK-based psychotherapist and trainee supervisor offering both long and short-term therapy plus group and individual supervision focused on navigating the impact of racism, the challenges of personal and cultural identity, and empowering women. Dee is also a shamanic student who weaves massage techniques, yoni steaming, cacao ceremonies, and other spiritual practices into her psychotherapy. This conversation is a vibrant reminder to all practitioners (regardless of modality) that showing up as our authentic selves is a therapeutic salve.
Shamanism and Western theory might seem like antagonistic collaborators, but Dee's known for deftly applying the former to bridge spiritual gaps in the latter's colonial past. "It's about using [psychotherapy's] white foundation and making it my own. It's not about eradicating what exists already because that's what I feel sometimes whitewashing tries to do to myself as a Black woman," she says. "It's about building on it and making it my own."
Does she ever! In addition to her clinical work, Dee hosts holistic retreats that are legendary for their empowering atmospheres. Anne recalls assisting at one such event and being equal parts energized and challenged by the experience. "It was transformational to watch. I was left thinking we've lost so much as a culture by saying, 'This is right, this is wrong.'"
The integration of Western theory and ancient ritual is healing in and of itself for Dee, whose parents immigrated to the UK from St. Lucia as part of the Windrush generation. Dee’s lived experience is a mix of Caribbean heritage, British identity, and Peruvian medicine wheel practice. She doesn’t shy away from presenting this unique wholeness in professional settings or separating her healing journey from that of her clients. "It's cyclical. Go 'round, learn, heal, grow, learn, heal, grow. We do it again and again, but every time we do it," she says, "we shift a level. We get into the deepness of who we are."
Sprinkle your spice into every space. Without apology.
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Dee Albert is an England-based psychotherapist who incorporates the personal navigation of her internal world in the work she does with her clients, culminating in a unique therapeutic approach. She is inspired by shamanism and spirituality.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
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