Leading Sidewalk Talk in Washington DC with Esther Boykin

Stand Out Quotes

• I think therapists need to be more visible outside their offices and be seen as accessible warm people.
• We forget how important belonging is to almost every aspect of our wellness.
• Part of how we define who we are in the world is through our connection to other people.

Esther Boykin was the very first city leader outside of California to bring listening to her community. Sidewalk Talk turned into an organization, if you really think about it, because of Esther nudging Traci to bring Sidewalk Talk out to the East Coast.  

 

Esther is a psychotherapist, a group practice owner, leads Sidewalk Talk in the DC area, as well as runs a project called “Therapy is Not A Dirty Word”.

 

She listens because she believes love needs to be the centerpiece of her community and at the root for her, sitting out on the sidewalk and offering to listen to members of her community is the way to make that happen.

 

Listening on the sidewalk is unique because unlike therapy, you don’t self-select who you are going to listen to based on a person’s background, religious beliefs, and political stance.  Esther believes that is important because we can get caught in political conversations or policy conversations and forget that there are real people with real stories that we have to hear to really do right by people.

 

Part of why Esther became a therapist is because she believes our wellness is tied to our connection with one another and when we can broaden those connections the better we become.

 

If you want to support more leaders like Esther bringing love and connection back to the world, consider becoming a monthly investor in Sidewalk Talk.  It is #GivingTuesday on December 3 and we need 100 monthly investors to sustain the impact of Sidewalk Talk across 92 locations and 15 countries in 2020.  Find out more here.

And you can learn more about Esther Boykin and her work at Therapy Is Not A Dirty Word, Esther Boykin, and Group Therapy Associates.