Therapeutic Justice Project

Monday, September 14, 2009

Ethical Borders: NAFTA, Globalization, and Mexican Migration

This book takes on many great angles of eurocentrism, including the hypocrisy of blaming Mexicans for coming north for work when the US took their jobs in the first place. As the author sums up in an article he recently wrote (click here to view full article), "At the end of the day, economic investment in Mexico is what’s needed to solve the undocumented migration challenge." Two other great websites on this topic are www.racewire.org and www.lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration.

How does does this book relate to us? It challenges us to think about how we and our clients consciously and unconsciously blame others for taking their "rightful" piece of the pie by working to increase their security, stability, and happiness. We have the powerful and often difficult task of opening people's intrapersonal and collective awareness to the costs and inaccuracy of blame. "Illegal" immigration is a literal and metaphorical example of the ignorance of blame.

- Submitted by Anne Phillips

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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.

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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.