Smart Sex, Smart Love – Episode 55 Hayden Dawes on Doing the work: Talking Racism, Self-Compassion, and Radical Permission

Published: Dec. 21, 2020, 5:30 a.m.

On this week’s show, Joe is joined by Hayden Dawes, LCSW, LCAS, to talk about racism, self-compassion, and radical permission. Hayden, who describes himself as a Compassion Warrior, Social Worker, Mental Health & Intersectionality Therapist, believes radical permission is a powerful practice that is life-changing. His work examines the psychosocial challenges impacting people of color and LGBTQIA+ individuals, and he believes we have to see that race operates and permeates through many of our social systems, often leading Black people to be at a disadvantage. “Racism is such an ordinary thing in America, we often don’t even notice it!” says Hayden. Hayden and Joe discuss why self-compassion and radical permission is important for all of us. “Self-compassion slows us down,” says Hayden. “It is a better platform for us to do better work. And radical permission is a permission slip to help you move forward.”