Â鶹AV

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This is the first ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­lecture in the Â鶹AV School of Social Work's Transforming Social Work Speaker Series.  This series stems from numerous calls to action within our profession and broader society. Recognition of social work’s colonial roots requires reflecting on our past and present to determine how as a profession we can move towards liberatory transformation.

Kai Cheng Thom - The Work We Came To Do: Transformative Justice & Reclaiming Professional Ethics

What does it mean to be a "helping professional" in the current age of social revolution and renewed movement for racial justice? How can students, teachers, and practitioners reconcile social work's roots in colonization and collective trauma with our mission to transform society for the better? And what do we do when our own traumas and political disagreements seem to be tearing our communities of practice apart? Join award-winning author, speaker, conflict consultant, and former clinical social worker Kai Cheng Thom for an exploration of Transformative Justice and its implications for work in the helping professions such as social work and psychotherapy. Drawing from her extensive study and practice in the area of trauma-informed community mental health and conflict resolution, Kai Cheng challenges the notion of professional ethics from an anti-oppressive perspective. She outlines the pressing ethical challenges facing helping professionals today and provides an overview of her original Loving Justice conflict resolution framework.

Kai Cheng Thom is a trans woman of colour who completed her MSW and MSc (Applied) in Couple and Family Therapy at Â鶹AV's School of Social Work. After four years of practice as a public sector mental health clinician working with trans youth and families in downtown Toronto, she shifted into work as a consultant, coach, and mediator supporting helping professionals and organizations navigate pressing questions of conflict and social justice. She is the innovator of the Loving Justice Framework, a trauma-informed model of conflict resolution rooted in Transformative Justice and prison abolition, as well as the author of four award-winning books in multiple genres.

Register in advance:

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

There is no fee required to attend this event, closed captions will be available, and a recording of the event will be shared shortly after the lecture.

Image Description: An East Asian transgender woman with long black hair in a black dress stands beside a window.