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My big problem with CBT and similar therapies are how they deny systemic causes of anxiety, stress & other mental health issues.
You can reframe your thoughts all you want, but "the world hates me & is actively trying to remove me" is still going to suck for marginalized folks.
You can reframe your thoughts all you want, but "the world hates me & is actively trying to remove me" is still going to suck for marginalized folks.
I've definitely used them to manage extended mental health episodes and get through major phases of pressure, and they're useful when used for the right things.
But. There's only so much they can do...and at a certain point, thinking it's the End All solution is gaslighting.
But. There's only so much they can do...and at a certain point, thinking it's the End All solution is gaslighting.
Early in my career, I was constructively terminated after requesting accommodations. Illegally, they straight up denied them, and any further conversation about them.
So, after I finished working there, I started looking for a Toronto therapist.
So, after I finished working there, I started looking for a Toronto therapist.
I will never forget looking at this man, telling him I had been constructively terminated due to disability discrimination, and was panicked every day that I wouldn't be able to support myself...
His response?
"Let's focus on what we can control. What can you do for free?"
His response?
"Let's focus on what we can control. What can you do for free?"
Friends, this may come as a surprise to you, but I knew things I could do for free. I did not pay $150 out of pocket as an unemployed person to create a list of Fun Free Things Around Toronto with a therapist. That, amazingly, I had done my own long before.
This ties into a long line of unfortunate and awkward therapy experiences I've had (I've also had AMAZING ones!) where therapists try desperately to distract you from and minimize the systemic oppression you experience, rather than digging in and seeing how we can COPE with it.
Frankly, it's too common.
It's too common for therapists to engage in the exact same way that many doctors do, asking: what is the fastest way I can get this person out of my office?
What is the quickest, most low key "fix" for them?
Answer = Gaslighting.
It's too common for therapists to engage in the exact same way that many doctors do, asking: what is the fastest way I can get this person out of my office?
What is the quickest, most low key "fix" for them?
Answer = Gaslighting.
Bc, honestly, until the world is fixed...the anxiety, stress, & other mental health concerns aren't going away.
There is no fix.
People who are discriminated against can only learn to acknowledge & cope with discrimination, & not perpetuate the harm on ourselves and others.
There is no fix.
People who are discriminated against can only learn to acknowledge & cope with discrimination, & not perpetuate the harm on ourselves and others.
CBT and its similar therapies can, when used properly and with informed compassion (and consent!), be excellent tools to use on an ongoing basis to mitigate overwhelming mental health episodes. For me, it helps a lot with anxiety-based insomnia & to divert meltdowns.
But they aren't the solution. Because there is no solution.
The closest thing? More marginalized therapists, with lived experience, practicing every day. An entire rhetoric of treatment shaped around coping with discrimination & oppression, worked into current therapies.
The closest thing? More marginalized therapists, with lived experience, practicing every day. An entire rhetoric of treatment shaped around coping with discrimination & oppression, worked into current therapies.
Specialists are great, sure. But the therapeutic industry is kidding itself if it thinks the majority of people who would benefit from therapy aren't dealing with multiple forms of systemic abuse, discrimination & oppression.
Although, that's WHOLE other thread. ;)
Although, that's WHOLE other thread. ;)
Thank you for all the support on this thread! I'm going to mute it now to save my mentions, but please consider donating to The Most Nurtured, a community-based holistic wellness space created by and for Black womxn. https://www.themostnurtured.com/
