There is a problem in the counseling and psychology world, and that problem is injustice. It is not enough for mental health professionals to merely witness the suffering of others. We must move toward action and to resist the desire to be neutral. We can no longer ignore the social realities our clients face.
This is not how most of us are trained. We are taught to be a blank slate, and to leave our personal perspectives out of the counseling room. We are taught that we can help a client by helping them to manage their symptoms. But…
How do we help a client who is suffering due to the systems in our world? Teaching a client to adapt to oppressive systems is of no service to the client. Our clients need a more radical approach. We can’t treat clients independent of the systems they are in–we need to address the systems, examine the barriers our clients experience and acknowledge the very real impact those systems have.We need social justice & liberation psychologies and we need them now.
What does a social justice and liberation approach to counseling/psychology look like?