Aida Manduley, MSW

Sometimes I forget that buying concert tix can be an extremely wild endeavor because I *generally* don't go to concerts that A) cost a hellacious amount and B) sell out within a minute of them being posted online...but wow, what a reminder that that's how it works for many ppl?

...yikes.https://twitter.com/surfinbrat_2010/status/978485627766403072 …

These three are GORGEOUS, so nuanced and expansive, and made specifically with a lot of attention to symbolism, artistry, and underrepresented communities. I'm a huge fan, and even if you never use them for "tarot readings," you can think of them as tiny, framed art.

Also, we KNOW it can be v. useful to bring in expressive arts into talk therapy. We can further incorporate tarot by having clients remake existing cards, find better decks 4 themselves, &/or consider which cards they would make + add to a deck. Again: power, agency, creativity.

Now, of course this won't work if you're the kind of therapist that's very invested in Being The Sole Authority in the room and/or if you feel There Is One Sole Objective Truth & Reality. But if you're that kind of therapist, frankly, I already don't trust you as a colleague ;)

It's also a way where we can decentralize power from ourselves if the clients are bringing the cards to us! It's a way that they can author the story, they can take active lead, rather than have us be seen as/assumed to be "the wielders of the therapeutic tools & interventions."

This process of integration can also help therapists connect with clients and vice-versa, this can be a space to ask clients HOW they use their cards, WHAT they think is going on, WHY they feel helpful. We can ask when/why they turn to them, when/why they turn to other sources.

What I've learned through the years, though, is that we have so many tools to derive meaning, so many ways we can interact with the world, that it matters less to 100% agree & have a double-blind randomized control trial, & more that we find ways to engage with e/o's realities.

Many years ago, as someone whose roots were anti-Pagan & then Super Science+Logic-focused, I was slightly open to but mostly weirded out by tarot. I was under the impression that there was only One Way of understanding their use, & it felt way too unmeasurable & unverified.

Discussing cognitive distortions from CBT, discussing thick and thin storylines from narrative therapy, all that can use the vehicle of tarot cards. Rather than imposing frameworks my question always is "how do I align my knowledge to THEIR frameworks & offer tweaks to theirs?"

So hell yes, when I have clients that care about/do/read tarot, I'm happy to talk about it, work on spreads in the room, and interrogate the process. It's also a place to talk about alternative meanings and readings because that is PART of a lot of folks' tarot practice already.

Narrative therapy is all about excavating life stories, seeing how we hold and make meaning, using tools to externalize our thought processes and our feelings, and tarot cards can be SO GOOD FOR THAT. It's all about meaning-making, symbolism, weaving a narrative. #mentalhealth

You know why I absolutely love the idea (and reality) of connecting tarot cards and #therapy? Because, not only might it align with someone's spirituality and allow them to bring that aspect of themselves into the room, but also because it aligns SO WELL WITH NARRATIVE THERAPY.

Oh wow I just learned about the violence Vietnamese shrimpers faced in the south at the hands of the KKK in the 70s. I didn’t even really know there was a large Vietnamese population in Houston but here we are!

I’ll be speaking at this symposium at @MIT in a couple of weeks doing a session titled “From Margins to Center: Working Toward Intersectional Justice and Sexual Freedom.” If you’re in Boston, join us? #metoo #bostoneventshttps://twitter.com/ethelmickey/status/979066292148887553 …