Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer

(En)countering

Vol. 7 (2026): Aesthesis: The Politics and Praxes of Un/bordering

From the Window to Wall: A Visual Commentary on Borders, Healing, and Transformation in Social Work

Submitted
January 16, 2026
Published
2026-06-17

Abstract

This reflexive visual essay draws on my lived experiences as a Black man social worker to explore how borders, both internal and external, influence the construction of identity within and through therapeutic spaces. Systemic oppressions, stereotypes, structural inequalities, and racialized and gendered expectations born of colonialism have historically delineated healing spaces and encounters, creating borders that ultimately inhibit and inform social work and therapy practices. On the one hand, practitioners such as myself are compelled to code-switch and recalibrate to navigate racialized biases within institutionalized care systems. On the other hand, the process of clients offering their lived experiences in therapeutic spaces is a political act that challenges the assumptions of Black men and minoritized communities within wider society. As such, reflecting on borders and their impact reveals possibilities for identity formation, therapeutic care, and liberation within the field of social work. With this, the following piece advocates for a culturally and spiritually sensitive praxis that resists colonialism to empower substantive care, using a blend of reflexive standpoint and photography to capture my approach.