DBEI Accountability Report, June 2021

Read this letter and report in pdf format by clicking here

A Letter and Report to the AEDP Community 

Dear AEDP Community,

Last year in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the awakening of the US, North America and the world to the horrors of systemic racism, we at the AEDP Institute declared our solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and committed to a plan of action outlined in our letter of June 9, 2020.

At that time, we committed to being accountable and issuing a report one year later about these intended actions: what we did and how it went. This is that report.

Before getting into the specifics of what we have to share, we want you to know the following: 

— We will continue to offer Pay-What-You-Wish access to AEDP Institute courses for self-identified Black therapists.

— We will continue to offer Diversity Scholarships for self-identified IPOC (Indigenous and People Of Color) therapists and others

— We will continue to offer scholarships for those in need of financial assistance.

The report that follows (see below) is Part 1 of a two-part communication to you, our worldwide AEDP community. Part 2 will come no later than three months from now (we hope sooner) and will address many other areas of growth and change for AEDP.

While there is so much left to do, we are proud of what we have achieved this past year. And we have already begun setting new goals – some of them shared in this report – to make us a more diverse, equitable and inclusive Institute and community and to foster an increased sense of belonging, especially for those who have not felt this sense in the past.

We look forward to working with all of you to continue learning and growing – from both our mistakes and our successes.

Diana Fosha & the Faculty & the Administration Team of the AEDP Institute

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Accountability Report: June 2020 – June 2021

We have organized this document to report –point by point– on what we promised last June (which, again, you can find in its original format here.)

1) Accountability to the AEDP Community
While we have also shared interim reports, most notably in December, 2020, this is the promised 1-year accountability report.

2) Our own work — as AEDP faculty, as an institute, as individuals.
This has been a year of intense investment of time, energy, money, heart, body and soul in our work on anti-racism, black liberation, whiteness, racial trauma and more. Faculty members, certified supervisors and a huge number of AEDP community members pursued their own education/training and supervision in these matters. Resources were regularly shared in formal and informal ways.

Some specifics:

As an Institute, we sponsored a 14 week anti-racism training developed by Dr. Della Mosley and her colleagues and students who formed Academics for Black Survival and Wellness. This training included nearly 50 hours of on-demand programming plus 7 AEDP community member ‘accountability group’ meetings. At the conclusion of the training, Dr. Mosley led a live online seminar and discussion for and with all AEDP participants. The program was paid for by the Institute for Faculty, Supervisors, Administrators, Experiential Assistants and Listserv Moderators. More than 130 people participated. All faculty, except those who were not well at the time, completed the training.

In addition to this training and our work as individuals, the Institute and many of our faculty and certified supervisors have sought formal consultation and/or supervision from BIPOC consultants.

3) Development of new programs and policies 

a) A pilot program: No-questions-asked, Pay-What-You-Wish online AEDP courses for self-identified Black therapists. 

       Here is a breakdown of the numbers of self-identified Black therapists who participated in AEDP sponsored online trainings through our Pay-What-You-Wish  (PWYW) program in its first, pilot, year:

Training dates July 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021

Total participants: 79

    • Immersion: 64
    • Essential Skills (ES1): 31
    • Advanced Skills (ES2) Modules: 9 (some participants took more than one)
    • Core Training: 14
    • Seminars / Seminar Series’: 46

       Results from a recent (anonymous) survey of Pay-What-You-Wish (PWYW) program participants

Note: We surveyed the 67 program participants who completed one or more AEDP trainings as of May, 2021. To date, 65%  (37 people) completed the survey. Here are some highlights of the findings (review the detailed results here):

    • Responding participants gave the Pay-What-You-Wish program an average rating of 4.9 out of 5;
    • 86% say they are very likely to continue participating if the program is extended
    • 68% of responding participants consider themselves to be part of the AEDP community;
    • The vast majority of respondents say they are likely to pursue AEDP Certification;
    • 10 or more say they are likely to pursue becoming leaders or committee members in the AEDP community;
    • Belonging: 95% named a person, the model itself, a training experience, the PWYW program itself, or an Institute practice that they said specifically helped their sense of belonging; 5% of responding participants said they do not have a sense of belonging in the AEDP community;
    • 84% of survey respondents said they were very likely to recommend the program to a friend or colleague; 5 more said they were at least somewhat likely to recommend the program;

There’s more. Please feel free to review the results yourself by going here:

       What’s next with respect to the Pay-What-You-Wish program?

The Pay-What-You-Wish program for self-identified Black therapists will continue! We have learned so much together this year and we are committed to continuing growing the number and diversity of Black therapists in the AEDP community.

— We commit to providing online seminars, Immersion, ES1 and Advanced Skills, free of charge (or Pay-What-You-Wish if it’s more appealing) to all the PWYW year 1 pilot program trailblazers without any deadline – take as long as you wish to register and attend.

–We will be inviting all year one trailblazers who wish to continue in the PWYW program to participate in focus groups starting this summer.

And,

— We are also extending the Pay-What-You-Wish program for another year – through June, 2022 – to new licensed mental health therapists who self-identify as Black.

       Additional Scholarships for IPOC and Others

Though it was not part of our June 9, 2020 commitment to action, we want to take this opportunity to report on all the AEDP scholarships we offered this past year, i.e. from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021: 

In addition to our PWYW program for self-identified Black therapists, the Institute continued and expanded our Diversity Scholarship program, added an extensive COVID scholarship program, and offered deep discounts to many non-US participants who could join our online trainings but whose local currency/economy and exchange rates make USD pricing impossibly out of reach. To see a full listing of scholarships and discounts granted during this period, see Addendum 1 below.

b) Increased accessibility for Black community members to AEDP supervision to facilitate their path to certification and leadership. 

This action item was brought to life as a program advertised through the AEDP website in which AEDP faculty and AEDP Certified Supervisors agreed to offer free or low cost supervision to BIPOC therapists; the program began in September, 2020.

       Here is a breakdown of the numbers:

37 self-identified BIPOC AEDP therapists are currently engaged in free or low cost supervision:

– 18 in free individual (one-to-one) supervision,

  8 in free small group supervision

  9 in low cost supervision

       What’s next with respect to AEDP supervision?

The vast majority of faculty and supervisors who have been participating in this effort say they expect to continue to offer free or low cost supervision to BIPOC AEDP community members.

c) The AEDP Institute will sponsor a BIPOC-majority Pay-What-You-Wish, faculty-led Online Core Training.

       Here is a breakdown of the numbers:

As promised, one faculty-led Online BIPOC Core Training is up and running and almost complete.

       What’s next with respect to Core Training?

A second training group has been put together with current plans to begin meeting in Fall, 2021.

d) Work hard to increase the number of BIPOC Experiential Assistants in AEDP trainings 

       Here’s where we are:

We have increased the number of BIPOC experiential assistants and BIPOC Lead Assistants in our trainings, and there is much more still to do here. We are in the process of developing a way to better track and report on this metric.

      What’s next with respect to increasing BIPOC Experiential Assistants?

We are focused on continuing to increase the number of BIPOC EAs in our courses and excited that 10+ PWYW survey respondents say they would very much like to pursue being Experiential Assistants; many are ready now or close to being ready.

4) Partner with mental health organizations committed to anti-racism work and organizations primarily composed of BIPOC clinicians and trainers.

        Here’s where we are:

We hired and worked with Black anti-racism and DBEI consultants and educators:

    • Connie Rhodes and Culturally Competent Consulting led two healing circles open to all community members in December and January and met with admin, faculty, Listserv moderators and with many individuals and small groups in our community when support was needed in courses, on the Listserv, and more. Connie and her team have guided us, provided training, tips and guidelines, and have helped us grow and improve; and Connie is now a (paid) member of our DBEI (Diversity, Belonging, Equity and Inclusion) committee, helping us decide what’s next as far as DBEI at AEDP – and helping us get there.
    • Dr. Della Mosley and Academics for Black Survival: not only as far as the training we contracted with her/them to provide (described above) but in advising more broadly.
    • Diana and several members of the AEDP Community attended the PISAB training (People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond).

That being said, we regret to report that we failed to partner with BIPOC mental health organizations this past year.

         What’s next as far as partnering?

We plan to continue to work with Black and BIPOC consultants and we are evaluating where partnering with BIPOC majority mental health organizations should fall in our ongoing priorities. Thanks to the PWYW program participants who participated in our (anonymous) survey, we now have a list of 13 recommended organizations to talk with and learn from.

5) Donations
This year the Institute plans to donate to organizations who support Black therapists and/or Black clients. More on this in our “Part 2” communication.

6) Dedicated address
Please email  dbei.committee@aedpinstitute.org with your comments about this report or questions or ideas you have related to our DBEI (Diversity, Belonging, Equity and Inclusion) initiatives.

In summary

We have done a lot. We have learned a lot. We have so much more to do and learn.
We acknowledge that some people in our AEDP community – especially some of our BIPOC and international community members – have experienced upset and pain as a result of our lack of diversity; and/or have felt hurt by experiences related to our Listserv, Institute actions, communications or lack thereof. We honor you and we will continue our work individually and collectively to keep moving the DBEI dial forward.

Stay tuned for further developments to be announced in our “Part 2” communication or before, including:

  • A working group for developing applications of AEDP for working with racial trauma
  • A re-imagined AEDP Listserv
  • Town halls for more ways of community communication

and much more ….

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Addendum 1:

Scholarships granted for AEDP courses July 2020 – June 2021*

505 Total scholarships granted

Immersion: 182, average grant 67%

PWYW: 64 (from 4 continents: Africa, Europe, North America and South America)

Diversity Scholarship: 61

COVID/ Financial hardship: 30

Non-US Purchasing Power*: Italy: 25

Other: 4

(*Does not include: Australia: 24 Israel: 31 Sweden: 22)

ES1: 127, average grant 73%

PWYW: 31

Diversity: 53

COVID/Financial hardship: 16

Non-US Purchasing Power*: Brazil: 23, Canada: 2,

Other: 1

(*Does not include Australia: 20).

Advanced Skills Modules or course: 38, average grant 68%

PWYW: 12

Diversity: 11 

COVID/Financial hardship: 10 

Non-US Purchasing Power: 5

Other: none

Seminars and Webinars: 139, average grant 67%

PWYW: 52 

Diversity: 39 

COVID/Financial hardship: 26

Non-US Purchasing Power: 21 

Other 2

Core Training: 13, average grant 90%

PWYW: 13

*These numbers include a few scholarships for courses July – Sept 2021.