This workshop for clinicians will explore the harmful origins and history of the mental health field, and offer a perspective on the detrimental impact this has had on past and current therapy practices. We will acknowledge how the mental health profession has upheld white supremacy, patriarchy, and other oppressive practices. Additionally, we will explore ways to mitigate systemic harms and incorporate decolonial and antiracist practices into the therapy process.
To this end, attendees will be called upon to reflect on their own implicit biases and prejudices, as an intentional movement toward approaching mental health from a decolonial perspective. We will explore this movement together as a series of choices toward equity and justice at individual, interpersonal, institutional, and cultural levels. We will also explore liberation psychology and community psychology perspectives as a means of moving outside of traditionally taught therapeutic methods, and addressing harms caused by systemic oppressions.
Following this workshop, participants will have the ability to:
- Describe the colonial and hegemonic origins of the mental health field
- Name at least two ways in which systemic oppression and white supremacist ideologies have been upheld within the mental health field
- Define implicit biases and understand their impact on client-therapist relationships
- Name at least two ways in which liberation psychology and community psychology perspectives can present a means of extending culturally affirming and humble care within therapy
Dr. Valerie Yeo (she/they) earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Denver, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. She has worked in many settings, including universities, community mental health centers, and residential facilities. She currently works in independent practice providing individual therapy and immigration-based assessments to adults, and with psychology and counseling trainees in supervision and teaching roles. Dr. Yeo believes strongly in fostering connection between all parts of ourselves. Her work is centered around navigating the ways in which our sociopolitical environments impact our internal experiences.
