Liberation Station 

Head/Heart recognizes the harms the mental health field has perpetrated against BIPOC individuals. Including, but not limited to, the role of social workers in stealing Indigenous children to be sent to abusive boarding schools as well as DCFS over-involvement in black and brown communities, the over-diagnosis of behaviors seen as normal when conducted by white bodies, and the complete dismissal of the traumatic impacts of living in a black or brown body in a white supremisist society. We also recognize the ways in which mental health providers have perpetrated white supremisist ideology through the focused treatment of individual pathology without recognition of broader societal violence perpetrated by systemic oppression, including police violence, racialized education, and systemic discrimination.

Head/Heart recognizes the harms the mental health field has perpetrated against TGNC individuals. Including, but not limited to, the pathologizing of identity through the diagnosis of Gender Dysphoria, the perpetration of cisnormativity through conceptualizing TGNC identity as a barrier to fullness, and the continuation of the concept of TGNC=sexually deviant.

We commit to using the names and pronouns that align with clients’ identities. However, in order for our therapists to be adequately compensated for their work and provide the highest access possible to clients, we must work within the confines of the insurance industry. Thus, when submitting billing, we must use legal names and “sex” (as designed by a cisnormative society). Our commitment is to continue to advocate for insurance companies to recognize the impact of misgendering and deadnaming its consumers, and the subsequent forcing of providers like us to perpetrate this harm.

Head/Heart recognizes the harm the mental health field has perpetrated against gay, lesbian, bisexual, asexual (etc) individuals-as well as those within the kink/BDSM community and those who identify as polyamorous. This includes, but is not limited to, the conceptualization of these identities as the source of mental health issues (e.g., if you just dated a man (woman, anyone, one person, someone vanilla, you wouldn’t be anxious), the pathologizing of these identities through DSM diagnosis and the understanding of fulfillment being blocked by these identities, and the lack of preparation specific theories and approaches have towards these identities, particularly when it comes to relational therapy. We recognize the importance of integration of these identities into full being.

Head/Heart recognizes the harm that has been enacted by the mental health field unto physically and intellectually disabled, mad, and neurodivergent people. There are barriers to access for many disabled folks including a lack of deaf therapists and accessible education for deaf students, inaccessible buildings, and reliance on health insurance for care. We also recognize the trauma from inpatient hospitalization due to mental illness either voluntarily or involuntarily. The use of physical and chemical restraints asserts a difference in power and is also traumatizing. The mental health field has a history of long term institutionalization as well as forced treatment for those who are psychiatrically and intellectually disabled, mad, and neurodivergent.

Head/Heart recognizes the harm the mental health field has perpetrated against sex workers. In particular, sex work is often seen as the cause of or the result of mental health strains. We understand that, in reality, there is no relationship between sex work and mental health status. Ultimately, it is a job like any other job. However, we do recognize that issues do occur as a result of the stigmatization and criminalization of sex work, such as pervasive fear and anxiety, trauma and internalized shame. In addition, the criminalization of sex work has created an environment of danger; most recently, the federal laws known as FOSTA-SESTA have created a lack of community engagement that would otherwise allow for safety in numbers.

Resources: Pineapple • Loveland Foundation • Sex Worker Outreach Project

Head/Heart Therapy recognizes the harm that has been perpetrated by the mental health field unto fat people and others living in larger bodies. These harms stem from largely untrue beliefs that impact work with clients. These beliefs include the assumption that all fat people are unhappy in their bodies; that their reasons for seeking therapy all circle back to their weight; that they are fat because they are unhappy (and/or vice versa); and that every fat client’s ultimate goal is to lose weight. We recognize the trauma caused by the widely held belief that fat people could not possibly have eating disorders other than binge eating. We acknowledge the damage done by mental health providers collaborating with medical doctors to perpetuate these oppressive beliefs and to deny fat people appropriate healthcare. We also recognize that fatphobia and its erasure are the real cause of mental health problems for many fat people.