There's a moment I still catch myself in, even now. I'll walk into a Walmart, see a family friend from a distance, someone my mother's age, and before I've even thought about it, my body's already moving toward them for the kiss on the cheek. I've since learned to tweak it, cheek to cheek instead of the full lean in, but the instinct itself never left. It's automatic. It's been automatic since I was a kid. Growing up in a Haitian household, greeting someone with a kiss on the

What happens when the box doesn't fit? Do you suffer through it, give up on the idea altogether, or circle back with more intention? Let's take some time to discuss the power of representation and the critical role it plays in the therapeutic relationship. Consider a young Haitian American man, the son of two immigrant parents, who comes to therapy years after his parents' divorce, a split that had ended his relationship with his father almost entirely. In session, he starts

I want to start by saying that strength in Caribbean culture is not small. It is not quiet. It is not the kind of strength that gets celebrated in a LinkedIn post or acknowledged in a performance review. It is the kind of strength that moves across oceans. I remember the day I moved from New Jersey to Georgia. I was born in this country, raised in this country, and educated in this country. I spoke the language fluently. I had the world at my fingertips with just a flick of a