Hayden Dawes is a licensed social worker whose practice experience includes hospital social work, mental health, and addiction treatment, in addition to people involved in the legal system. Although grounded in relational-experiential approaches to mental health treatment, Hayden has been trained in advanced trauma modalities and remains curious about all forms of mental health treatments. Hayden is currently a Ph.D. student at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill’s School of Social Work.  His research is in examining the psychosocial challenges impacting people of color and LGBTQIA+ individuals. He is also interested in seeking advanced methods to intervene on providers’ implicit and explicit biases. In response to racial injustice within the mental health practitioner community, Hayden wrote an article that was featured on Medium titled “An Invitation to White Therapists” it has since been widely used in direct practice education, consultation, and supervision. Hayden currently resides in Greensboro NC with his partner of 10 years. Hayden is an avid crossfitter, traveler, dance partner, and reality-tv specialist. During the COVID pandemic, Hayden expanded his personal “radical permission”practice to create a #radicalpermission project for the greater community across social media platforms, to encourage people to set intentions with grace.