Get to Know Us! An Introductory Interview.

This post has been transcribed from a video interview. There has been some editing for clarity.

Xanthia: Hi, everyone! My name is Xanthia Johnson, and I am here with my colleague, Kristian Owens; we are Compassionate Anti-Racism. Kristian, would you like to introduce yourself? 

Kristian: Yes, hi! I’m Kristian Owens, and I’m a licensed clinical social worker, as well as a certified trauma practitioner, reiki master, and certified yoga teacher. Xanthia and I are excited to introduce and roll out this incredible program that we’ve developed while working with our colleagues. It is for organizations, agencies, as well as anyone other individual persons who are open to doing compassionate anti-racism work. Would you like to give some insight on your background, Xanthia?

Xanthia: I am a licensed psychotherapist in the state of Maryland and Washington DC. I also am a certified yoga teacher, certified sound healer, and I am an expressive arts therapist. My practice is Urban Playology in DC, and we work with Black women, Black families, and Black queer folk in DuPont Circle. This work is important to me– to both of us– because Kristian and I really believe in healing from the heart. The only way to heal from the heart is to make sure that shame and guilt are in their right places. This is so that the brain and the heart can work together to make sure there is a symbiosis. That’s a big part of our model, and that’s why we’re doing this. We get lots of questions in our practice from folks who are saying, “How can I do better at this?” and we appreciate those questions. Is there anything else you wanna share, Kristian?

Kristian: We like to have fun! We like to make this learning process fun. We understand that anti-racism work– no matter what your cultural ethnicity or whatever your background is– can be difficult work to do. And so we like to make it fun, and we like to include media and arts. Both Xanthia and I are expressive art therapists, as well as play therapists so we like to incorporate those aspects of our work into our consultation and training as well. We are so excited to connect, and we’re looking forward to hearing from you! Anything else, Xanthia?

Xanthia: We’re currently working on building our business and internet presence, so at the moment, we’re the face of Compassionate Anti-Racism. Connect with us as we heal together. We look forward to hearing from you!