Jeff Levy, LCSW
Mental Health, Relationships, Trauma, Identity
Jeff Levy, LCSW (originally posted on Branching Out: The Live Oak Blog, and Linked In, September 2016) News reports, radio, and the internet had been highlighting a recent sent to incoming undergraduates from the administration at The University of Chicago (U of C). Among other things, the letter states that the University does “not condone the creation of intellectual ‘safe spaces’ where individuals can retreat from ideas and perspectives at odds with their own.” It may be useful for all of us to further consider the concepts of safety and safe spaces as they manifest in the world, in therapy and in the classroom.
I am an enormous proponent of safety. In fact, it’s at the foundation of my work as a social worker, psychotherapist and as an educator. I believe that growth can only occur when enough safety has been established to allow us to experience discomfort. And sitting with the tension of discomfort is what challenges us to examine ideas, thoughts, feelings, and ways we have been moving through the world. If we don’t feel safe, our energy is diverted away from change and toward self-protection. It’s virtually impossible to change when we are afraid.
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Jeff Levy, LCSW (originally posted on Branching Out: The Live Oak Blog, March 2014) There is an exercise I facilitate during the first class meeting each time I teach graduate students about trauma. Before we do the exercise, I ask for people to think about the difference between safety and comfort. It might seem a strange request to make during the first class, but a relevant one prior to engaging in an activity that invites self-disclosure and possible vulnerability. Usually, several hands go up in response to the question. In addition to the hands, there are usually some looks of confusion. In part, I think the confusion relates to trying to distinguish safety from comfort. I also think my students are wondering why I am asking such an odd question on the first day of class.
1/6/2019 0 Comments Why Wait?Jeff Levy, LCSW (originally posted on Branching Out: The Live Oak Blog, December 2015) As the new year approaches, I review the past year for lessons learned and changes I’d like to carry with me into the coming year. I also use the end of the year to talk with my clients, and colleagues who seek me out for consultation or discussion, about how to create a clinical practice that is effective on both micro and macro levels.
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