A Hornet’s Nest: A Reflection on the Journey Toward Healing, Recognition, and Safety
“As I prepare to travel to Houston today, I can't shake the feeling that I'm walking straight into a hornet's nest. I'm traveling alone as a brown-bodied woman through Texas—a state with a troubling history of police brutality—for a DEI award on a weekend marked by unrest. To top it off, I’ll be accepting the award in front of a room full of white bodies.
In moments like these, recognition doesn’t always feel like the triumph it’s meant to be. Instead, it brings a heightened awareness of the complexities of safety, identity, and power that we navigate daily. While I am honored to receive this recognition, I’m also acutely aware that my presence in this space may not be physically or emotionally safe in our current political climate, and many in the room may have no insight into that reality. The tension between honoring this moment and considering my safety often takes away from the ability to fully experience joy in the recognition.
I recognize that my identity, as a Chicana therapist and advocate, can be a challenge to some in that room. Yet, this is the reality of moving through spaces where our presence can feel like an act of resistance. The work I do—fighting for safety, healing, and justice in oppressive systems—isn’t always understood or embraced by all. But it’s in these moments that I find the reminder of why I do this work and why it matters so deeply.
I am deeply honored to accept the 2025 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award from the Texas Association for Play Therapy. Play therapy has always been a tool for liberation—a space where children can reclaim their voices, rewrite their narratives, and be seen in their full humanity. But we know that healing doesn’t happen in a vacuum. The systems impacting children—their families, schools, and communities—are often shaped by oppression, disconnection, and harm.
As play therapists, our responsibility is to create not just safe spaces within our sessions, but to actively dismantle the barriers that prevent children and families from accessing culturally responsive, affirming, and just care. Safety and healing must extend beyond the therapy room to the systems that affect our communities.
Play therapy isn’t just for children; it’s for adults too. Many of us carry the wounds of childhood that are a direct result of oppressive systems. Through play therapy, we can reclaim parts of ourselves that were silenced, ignored, or forced to grow up too quickly. It’s in this process of healing that we find the strength to challenge the systems that perpetuate harm.
This award is not just for me; it’s for every child who has ever felt unseen, every clinician working to decolonize mental health, and every community fighting for collective healing. It’s about the generations before us who paved the way, and those ahead who deserve more. This recognition reflects the hard, relentless work of countless individuals who have fought for justice and healing.
As I accept this award, I do so in honor of the communities I serve, the colleagues who challenge and inspire me, and the ancestors who remind me that liberation is a lifelong journey.
We rise together!” -Alyssa Cedillo LPC-S, RPT-S
