Land Acknowledgement

Hi ya'll and welcome to this living document,

To my fellow colonizers, Houston sits on the ancestral land of the Sana, Karankawa, Coahuiltecan, & Atakapa-Ishak tribes. Our ancestors brutally stole this land from these tribes. This is not our land or our water. We are guests and part of a problematic legacy that we didn't choose but share a responsibility to correct. To those readers of Indigenous ancestry, this document is just a small gesture - with room for improvement - to convey my commitment to ending Indigenous erasure.

Like my fellow Gen Xers, I grew up with offensively stereotyped, dehumanizing representations of Indigenous people and thought it was normal. I attended a fundamentalist southern baptist school that taught me the lie of thanksgiving. The one about mutual respect, the spirit of friendship, gratitude, and all that other garbage they wanted us to believe. It wasn't until college that I developed a nascent, and admittedly apathetic, awareness of real Native American history. Indoctrination runs deep. 

That apathetic awareness eroded over time and was replaced with curiosity, humility, and a genuine desire to change. The original stewards of this land lived harmoniously with it and its waters for countless generations before the onslaught of colonization. These caretakers experienced genocide, ethnic cleansing, theft of their land and waters, and forced removal at the hands of my European ancestors. And the collective trauma of such atrocities has been woven into the nervous systems of oppressed generations to follow. I have a responsibility to support the Landback, Indigenous Sovereignty, and Reparations movements using my privilege and platforms. I refuse to participate in the continued dehumanization, systemic oppression, and gaslighting of Indigenous people. 

My ability to live, work, and enjoy the Houston area is connected to the unfathomable barbarities against Indigenous people and their deep losses. My place in life is upheld by generations of suffering. Colonialism and a system of discriminatory and racist practices paved the way for my psychotherapy practice to exist. With humility, sorrow, and respect, I want to express gratitude to the elders, both past and present. 

But it's not enough to just say those words.

Without action, words are meaningless and that morphs into complicity. I'm committed to learning about Indigenous history, cultures, laws, and world views from the right sources; sharing my knowledge and resources with colleagues, loved ones, and on social media; respecting the land on which I reside in my commitment to environmental preservation; connecting with Indigenous Houstonians in support of reconciliation efforts; and raising awareness of the ongoing issues of violence and repression of Indigenous peoples, including health inequalities, murdered and missing Indigenous women, lack of access to resources, and economic disparities. As the Chair of the Houston Psychological Association DEI Committee, I'll encourage more dialogue among members, suggest workshops on Native American topics, and recommend certain initiatives in support of Indigenous people. In my work with therapy clients, I'll be intentional about integrating Native American values like humility, community, compassion, shared responsibility, and generosity into the therapeutic process. My ancestors apparently did not have these values and nothing has changed in a meaningful way, especially in 2025 “America.” I'll be mindful of the dynamics of power and how my whiteness shows up in the room. The voices of my clients will be centralized. I'll keep in mind that psychology as a field was founded by white men who continue to dominate the field. Psychology isn't decolonialized and predominant therapeutic approaches are rooted in a colonial worldview.  

In my active allyship, I hope to expand my awareness in a way that it becomes a deeper understanding and sense of attunement to Indigenous folks. If you have suggestions for how I can do better, please contact me at drstanleypsyd@outlook.com. I welcome your feedback.