Therapeutic Justice Project: TJP 2010 Year In Review

Monday, December 20, 2010

TJP 2010 Year In Review

by Liz Goodwin, in collaboration with Stacey Prince, Anne Phillips, Nathaniel Shara, Briana Herman-Brand, and Keren Lehavot

Since its inception three years ago, TJP has been through some significant changes. We wanted to provide you with an update and an overview of the evolution we have been through, especially in the last year with the formation of our new leadership council. Those of you who have been reading the TJP blog (www.therapeuticjustice.blogspot.com) have probably kept up fairly well with some of the changes, but we realize not everyone has the time or inclination to read the blog. So here, Liz Goodwin, Leadership Council Member, will provide you with a more detailed update about what we have been talking about as well as plans for the future.

Therapeutic Justice Project got started three years ago under the name The Limen Group. Stacey Prince thought it up with the primary goal of combining psychology and political advocacy and activism in deliberate, therapeutic ways. Stacey grounded the concept in impacting traditional psychotherapy tradition by providing professional development opportunities for psychotherapists to learn advocacy/activism skills as well as to develop a psychotherapy model that encourages clients, when appropriate, to become involved in activism/advocacy as an antidote to isolation, helplessness and depression. She deemed this approach “politically informed behavioral activation”, a term coined by Laura Brown, and on the professional development end felt this was very much in line with APA’s recent movement to add advocacy as a basic competency for psychologists entering the profession. She was also very interested in systemic change in the form of legislative change that improves and protects civil rights, and has been a strong promoter of the role psychologists can play as political advocates.

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About Us

Therapeutic Justice Project is a multidisciplinary collective of healers, advocates and activists dedicated to social justice. Our vision is to integrate social justice with health and mental health services at all levels including psychotherapy, service delivery, professional development, community/organizational support, and systemic change. In psychotherapy, our mission is to develop and implement a model that moves clients from unconscious to conscious, from an individual to a societal perspective, from depression and helplessness to activism and empowerment. We also aim to integrate therapeutic healing within social movement work. Socially, our intention is to make systematic change through community organizing, policy change, transformative dialogue, education, and special initiatives.

For TJP flyer, click here.

For more information or to submit to the blog, please contact:

sprince38@hotmail.com

Call to Action

Members of Congress are proposing substantial cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security in order to reduce the federal deficit. Instead of restoring taxes on the wealthy which could provide increased revenue, they are proposing cuts to the safety net to our country's most vulnerable. Call on congress to reach a budget agreement that will protect programs that disproportionately serve women, the disabled, the elderly, and people of limited means. Please sign this petition to strengthen social security, not cut it.

Announcements

Beyond Inclusion, Beyond Empowerment - now available!!!

The long-awaited book Beyond Inclusion, Beyond Empowerment, from Olympia’s Dr. Leticia Nieto, provides a breakthrough in the fields of liberation and cultural studies. It presents a powerful analysis of the psychological dynamics of oppression and privilege, and shows readers how to develop skills to promote social justice. It includes personal stories, exercises, visualizations and poetry. The book has roots in developmental psychology, theater, and liberation pedagogy. It was developed through collaboration among Leticia Nieto, Garth R. Johnson, Liz Goodwin, Margot Boyer, and Laurel Collier Smith. Beyond Inclusion, Beyond Empowerment is now available on Amazon.com, and Elliott Bay Books. More information is online at http://www.beyondinclusionbeyondempowerment.com/.

Fremont Community Therapy Project

The Fremont Community Therapy Project, a feminist, multicultural, queer-friendly, trauma-oriented clinic offering high-quality, low-cost psychological services is in need of assistance. While we are open for new assessment requests, we are currently experiencing a huge influx of requests for psychotherapy, to the point where we now have a 12-week wait list for psychotherapy.

We would like to be able to refer folks on this list, if possible, so that people are not stuck waiting for care for three months. Most of the people who seek our services have a complex trauma history. Thus, we are looking for therapists who share our values, and who would be willing to accept the referral of a person who you would see at our fees, which range from 20-45/session. Most of them require a longer-term commitment from a therapist (typically people remain at FCTP for up to four years). If you're willing to accept a referral from us, please contact Laura Brown, FCTP Director, at 206-633-2405 ext 1, or email Laura at lsbrownphd@cs.com.