A Message from A Good Place Therapy: Our Commitment to Anti-Racist Work
Author: Kerrie Mohr
The killing of George Floyd was a turning point for many of us. The video of his murder confronted us with the ugly face of centuries-old, racialized violence against Black people in this country. For too long, many of us have turned a blind eye. Too many of us have been unable to see, or haven’t wanted to believe, the experience and testimony of millions of Black people. Our outrage and our grief have mobilized us these weeks to confront the vast, encompassing scale of racial injustice in the United States. While racism may dominate, indeed, constitute our life in the present, it has no place in our future. Enough. We must all do our part.
At A Good Place Therapy, it’s time to step up as a community and redouble our efforts against the systemic racial oppression and anti-Blackness that plague our city and our country. We stand in solidarity with Black communities in their struggle against oppression, discrimination, and police brutality. As a predominantly White mental health practice, we believe that the burden of combating racism should fall not on the shoulders of People of Color but upon White people who benefit from the privilege of living in a society that was built for them. The approach we are taking as a practice recognizes that the work we do, like all things in the world, is political.
Wisdom traditions, and more recently neuroscience research, show us that we are all connected. We are all pained in our hearts when we see the images of George Floyd’s murder. We all deal with feelings related to exclusion and inclusion, power and powerlessness, and we all seek belonging at our core. We belong to each other, and we are connected in community. Louis Cozolino, psychologist and neuroscience researcher explains: "The brain is a social organ, it evolves to connect with other brains. When others feel something, we do too." We are hard-wired to connect as a people and a polis; this is the basis of our biological and political survival.
We encourage you to walk alongside us as we take tangible actions to support Black communities by doing the following:
We urge our White and Non-Black People of Color (NBPOC) counterparts to join us in demanding justice from our representatives by signing a petition
We urge our White and NBPOC counterparts to join us in a commitment to donate money
We recently raised funds for Brown Sisters Speak, which provides therapy stipends for Women of Color. We sponsored free therapy during Mental Health Awareness Month in May and continue to support Brown Sisters Speak through our participation in their therapy partnership program. To make a contribution, click here.
Other foundations we have contributed to and ask you to consider include:
The Loveland Foundation also provides support for women and girls of color to receive therapy
We urge our White and NBPOC counterparts to join us in a commitment to attend protests and support the protests
White and NBPOC people can ease the burden Black people may feel when showing up to protest
Check out tips here on how to stay safe when protesting
We urge our White and NBPOC counterparts to join us in a commitment to support, learn from, and amplify Black voices in the movement
Good accounts to follow on Instagram include Check Your Privilege founded by Myisha Hill, Rachel Cargle , Ethel’s Club, Lettie Shumate, Dynasti Hunt, Andrea Ranae, Ijeoma Oluo, The Conscious Kid, Munroe Bergdorf, and Giselle Buchanan
We urge our White and NBPOC counterparts to join us in a commitment to educating ourselves, our colleagues, our friends and our families about anti-racism and White supremacy via resources, and toolkits.
Actions we are taking inside our practice
Defining our values, our theoretical frame and praxis for social justice therapy. We are committed to knowing ourselves in a society that structures our identities based on racial constructs.
Acknowledging White privilege in our practice.
Supporting our clinicians with ways to interrogate their own racism as well as the ways they benefit from racist institutions.
Understanding white privilege is the beginning. The work requires ongoing commitment and perseverance to identify, understand, and restructure our internal biases.
Conducting anti-racism trainings on an ongoing basis for current staff and new hires.
Honoring diversity on our team and hiring more Clinicians of Color.
Committing to growth, development, and learning through shared readings and discussions hosted by experts. Hiring consultants to train us to ask hard questions, and challenge ourselves.
Using our voices to talk about white privilege, racism, police brutality, and systems of oppression within our personal and professional networks, and publicly through media channels.
Redistributing financial resources and donating to funds that support anti-racism to help level the playing field.
In the therapy room
We are committed to challenging our assumptions about what is ‘natural’ in our society. We continue to interrogate our history, our cultural and racialized assumptions, as well as the social constructions of race. We reject racism, White supremacy, sexism, toxic masculinity, homophobia, and transphobia. They oppress us all and stunt our potential. Therapy is, partly, a practice of expanding self-awareness in relationship, for both client and clinician alike. Thus, we continue to examine how our therapeutic interventions are informed by our race, gender, class, and sexual identities. We do not pathologize, turn a blind eye, or spiritually bypass these issues as they arise in treatment or inform our clients’ experience. We hold space for clients, as they grapple with issues of oppression and privilege as they impinge on our lives. And where possible, we help foster critical consciousness and nurture clients’ impulse for solidarity, and we provide resources for clients to take action.
In the community
We want to play a role in bringing about changes to our system through advocacy and fundraising for causes that work to reduce racial disparities. We will speak up against police brutality, systemic oppression, and structural racism. We bring our unique lens and expertise in the fields of social work and mental health to this work, while recognizing the NASW Code of Ethics, which compels us to challenge social injustice.
We value community connections and support approaches to holistic healing that are not available via traditional psychotherapy. We volunteer with Sidewalk Talk, a global organization dedicated to inculcating the virtue and skill of listening across difference in our communities. In partnership with Modern Health, we facilitate Healing Circles for People of Color working in corporate environments. We are members of Therapy is Not a Dirty Word and the Zencare, community therapy collectives that share our values and our faith in connection. We will continue collaborations with other health practitioners, and we court innovation in our roles as therapists in our community.
We will also continue to speak on panels and webinars and facilitate constructive dialogue about race. We won’t stop writing and contributing to online publications and journals, or collaborating with individuals, corporations and practices who share our values. We will continue to partner with Brown Sisters Speak, both in donating, raising money, and participating in their Therapy Partner Program.
And, of course, we take to the streets. We protest against injustice in support of liberatory movements.
Additional Resources
Guides and Toolkits:
Books:
Podcasts: