Rebecca Hyman, LCSW, Ph.D.
PHILOSOPHY STATEMENT
My work as a coach and a consultant draws upon my experience as a trainer, a trauma therapist, and a professor. I bring a unique blend of skills to leaders and teams: I know how to anticipate and account for the impact of interpersonal, intergenerational, and historical trauma on individuals and groups; and I know how to identify and work through the ways teams and organizations are impacted by–and often reproduce–larger systems, many of which are vectors of violence and oppression.
I’ve been told by my clients that I am at once tough and supportive; that I make complex ideas easy to understand; and that I bring a combination of humor, humility, curiosity and patience to my work. I work best in collaboration, tailoring my approach to a client’s specific needs.
I believe that individual growth alone won’t get us to the systems-wide change we need. Instead, I see personal work as preparation for change–the self-understanding necessary to allow each of us to get out of our own way and “show-up,” as best we can, for collective work.
I am particularly skilled in helping white people identify, understand, and work against whiteness as a way of being, rather than an identity position. This structural vantage point helps white people as individuals and as participants in multi-racial contexts to address and challenge the legacy of whiteness, instead of falling into dynamics of personal shame, defensiveness, or guilt.
I help people of all identities broaden their focus by placing current conflicts in their larger historical contexts. I translate concepts from critical theory into ordinary, accessible language. I focus on power–seeing it as a force, an energy that is always in play, whether to help people take risks, build self-confidence, and move into action, or conversely to prevent growth, collaboration, and creativity in order to maintain the status quo.
Areas of Expertise/Results
- Systems thinking and organizational change
- Leadership development and coaching
- Emotional literacy and grief work
- Individual, historical, intergenerational, and racial trauma
- Gender and power
- Whiteness as a way of being, rather than an identity
- Systemic violence and oppression; particularly patriarchy and white supremacy
- Curriculum design and pedagogical practice
Experience/Selected Projects
Mental Health and Emotional Intelligence
I have over ten years’ experience as a mental health therapist, specializing in trauma, oppression, and personal transformation.. I’ve worked with individuals and couples, with a particular focus on veterans and members of marginalized communities.
Teaching, Training, and Group Facilitation
I have over 25 years’ experience as a trainer, workshop facilitator, and professor. I’ve taught courses and trainings on diversity and social justice; critical thinking and pedagogy; understanding and combating structural violence and oppression; identifying and working with trauma and secondary trauma; gender and power in the workplace; coping with anxiety, grief, and loss; finding meaning and purpose versus prioritizing efficiency and productivity.
Leadership development and personal empowerment
I have worked with organizations and solopreneurs on areas such as career exploration; financial and organizational planning; strategic planning; conflict management and resolution; team building and identity politics; gender, race and power; anxiety and self-doubt; interpersonal and structural violence.
Credentials
- Master’s of Social Work; LCSW in Private Practice, with prior work experience at the Portland VA Medical Center and Central City Concern in Portland
- Part-time Faculty in the MSW Program at Portland State University
- Part-time Faculty in the Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership, Lewis & Clark College
- Ph.D. in English and Women’s Studies/Cultural Studies; former Associate Professor of English and Women’s Studies
Selected Clients
- Lewis & Clark College
- Vista Counseling Center
- Tri-County Behavioral Health
- Salome Institute