What do you see when you walk out your door? When you look at your colleagues, your teachers, neighbors and friends do you see people who look like you? Does your world reflect the diverse world we live in?

This is a conversation about the importance of reflection. Of seeing ourselves when we walk through the world. Having role models to look up to who challenge and encourage us to be our best selves. And in the face of difference, to have those conversations that give us a window into experiences we have not lived so that we can learn and grow.

Dr. Samuel Aymer and I share commonalities. We’re both social workers of a certain age. We both east coasters and university educators. But each of us walks through life with our own experiences. With our own history. When we look in the mirror, it is us that we see.

Samuel Aymer teaches Clinical Practice with Individuals and Families and Violence Against Women at Hunter College in New York. His scholarly and research endeavors centers on the intersection of masculinity, African American men, race, trauma, intimate partner violence, fatherhood and psychotherapeutic interventions  

You can listen to his episode here.