In this powerful episode of the Inclusive Minds Podcast, Dr. Carolyn Coker Ross speaks with liberation psychotherapist Liana Maneese about her personal and professional journey. Liana, a transracially adopted Afro-Brazilian and Black American woman, shares her "origin story" and the deeply personal impact of anti-Blackness within her own family and most intimate relationships.

The conversation explores how racism doesn't disappear in the presence of love and family. It instead manifests as an "unseen hurt," with microaggressions, unexamined biases, and a defensive lack of awareness from those we are closest to. Liana introduces the concept of undoing, a lifelong process of decolonizing our minds and rejecting the white supremacist ideas that are so deeply ingrained in society—and ourselves.

She emphasizes that true healing requires more than just calling out racism in public; it demands we confront it in private, and a liberation-focused therapy offers the tools to do this. Liana's lived experience highlights the critical responsibility of therapists to create a space where these difficult, painful truths can finally be seen, heard, and healed.

Guest Bio: Liana Maneese is a liberation psychotherapist and identity navigation specialist. She is the founder of Transitional Characters, a Pittsburgh-based liberation-focused practice, and is a member of the #NotWhite Collective. Her chapter in the book Anti-Blackness and the Stories of Authentic Allies is titled "Interracial Relationships: How Anti-Blackness Informs Kinship and Therapist Responsibility."

Guest Links:

@transitionalcharacters (instagram)

Dr Carolyn's Links

www.CarolynRossMD.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolyn-coker-ross-md-mph-ceds-c-7b81176/

TEDxPleasantGrove talk: https://youtu.be/ljdFLCc3RtM

To buy “Antiblackness and the Stories of Authentic Allies” - bit.ly/3ZuSp1T