Steven Licardi spent most of his childhood and adolescence, in his words, “in-and-out of psych wards.”  He emerged from our oppressive and brutal “mental health” system with his flame of creativity burning brightly. He now shares that creativity with his clients as a social worker, social therapist and innovative poet and artist.

In this fascinating, delightfully surprising and moving conversation with host Desire Wandan, Licardi shares his commitment to helping people “play in their wounds” and use “performance to go beyond the social roles” imposed on them.  “Healing doesn't happen alone,” he says. “Healing is a process we choose to engage in with others.” The healing he talks about goes way beyond the individual. “I refuse to accept the world and it is,” says Licardi, “I want us to imagine impossible worlds together.”

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Welcome to All Power to the Developing, a podcast of the East Side Institute. The Institute is a center for social change efforts that reinitiate human and community development. We support, connect, and partner with committed and creative activists, scholars, artists, helpers, and healers all over the world. In 2003, Institute co-founders Lois Holzman and the late Fred Newman had a paper published with the title “All Power to the Developing.” This phrase captures how vital it is for all people—no matter their age, circumstance, status, race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation—to grow, develop and transform emotionally, socially and intellectually if we are to have a shot at creating something positive out of the intense crises we’re all experiencing. We hope that this podcast series will show you that, far more than a slogan, “all power to the developing” is a loving activity, a pulsing heart in an all too cruel world.

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The East Side Institute is a hub for a diverse and emergent community of social activists, thought leaders, and practitioners who are reigniting our human abilities to imagine, create and perform beyond ourselves—to develop.  Each episode will introduce you to another performance activist or play revolutionary from around the world.To learn more about the East Side Institute you can go to https://eastsideinstitute.org/Made possible in part by Growing Social Therapeutics: The Baylah Wolfe Fund.