The world is not easy for anybody. So many of us are carrying so much. I believe that therapy is not about letting go of what you carry; it’s about finding someone to carry it with you.
We are so often told that we are not enough; not doing enough, not good enough, not improving enough. The focus of therapy is not to improve or optimize ourselves, the focus is to accept ourselves. Radical self-acceptance and self-compassion are the antidote to shame and internal pain.
Liberatory therapy recognizes that just because you need help, does not mean something is wrong with you or that you are broken. I reject the standard pathology paradigm and the medical model of mental health.
I believe that everyone deserves mental health care that celebrates and honors our true selves and does not seek to change or fix that self.
Liberatory therapy also focuses on liberation from oppressive systems. It recognizes that often what causes so much suffering in our lives are the external structures in place that cause systemic injustice, including racism, sexism, classism, colonialism, ableism, homophobia, and transphobia. This therapy believes that we must decolonize mental health by challenging Eurocentric models of psychology that pathologize mental differences. It expands the focus of mental health from individual pathology to collective liberation. It also blends psychological healing with political awareness and resistance to oppression.
Often mental health services locate the “problem” in the individual. It says that you are not well and you need to be fixed. This therapy rejects that assumption and recognizes that everyone needs help in this world and that does not mean we need to be fixed or changed. Rather than having a strict focus on goals and outcomes, this type of therapy recognizes that life is a journey and so is healing. This will not focus on a “diagnosis” and a “treatment plan” because that assumes that something is wrong that needs to be corrected. Instead it will focus on allowing you a safe space to be your true self and to explore what you need to feel better.
