Liberation Psychotherapy
Liberation Psychotherapy
Liberation psychotherapy comes from liberation psychology that is focused on liberating those who are oppressed and marginalized. Traditional psychotherapy can center individualistic values and adhere to a colonial mindset that not only is divergent from the values and needs of communities of color but also detrimental to the mental health of BIPOC folks. Liberation psychotherapy takes a more realistic perspective of therapy, centering social justice and a radical therapeutic relationship where the therapist walks along side of the client to help support the client’s liberation and healing journey.
I take this approach with my clients because no matter what the presenting concern in therapy is, there are ways in which the systemic and historical context plays a part in our pain. Liberation psychotherapy allows for the integration of these factors in the therapeutic work and relationship with the therapist. The goal is not just to become resilient to the systemic issues but to find a way to live outside of that system.
Resources
Writings for Liberation Psychology by Ignacio Martín-Baró
Liberation Psychology: Theory, Method, Practice, and Social Justice Edited by Lillian Comas-Díaz and Edil Torres Rivera
Somatic Abolitionism
Somatic Abolitionism
What is Somatic Abolitionism? Part of the liberation from white supremacy and oppression is to liberate not just our mind but every part of our body and soul. The practice of somatic abolitionism is including the body in the process of healing and liberating. Our nervous system and cells in our body hold generational and historical trauma that underlies our mental health and provide context for our ways of being. Somatic abolitionism helps address all of the trauma in the deep and layered context of our life, family, community, and ancestors.
I am a student of Resmaa Menakem and I have learned and continue to learn how visceral the impact of white body supremacy has had on all bodies of culture, in particular black and indigenous bodies. I utilize this approach in my work because in order to liberate from the systemic and historical effects of racism, colonization, enslavement, and genocide we must expel the internalized white body supremacy that is weathering our bodies. This work is also meant to find a new culture that is not centered around white body supremacy that allows for healing and restoring of our bodies and communities. Re-connecting to our bodies and metabolizing the trauma is key to passing on healing to the next generation.