Mental Health Access is a Public Health Issue!
Increasing Trauma Informed Care for Activist Wellness
As a trauma therapist specializing in racial trauma and gender based violence I work with a lot of activists and social change workers. The trauma of this labor is often under-assessed and many frontline activists struggle to locate therapists who can both understand their political work and who offer accessible rates. This site offers concrete tools for insured individuals to better access quality care through a process called a "single case agreement". The US health and mental healthcare system is not working for the majority of people seeking care- and insurance companies are now being held to Federal Law to provide equal coverage for mental health care.
How to Use this Website:
Therapists can use this site to learn more about increasing access to their practices through developing more knowledge about health insurance utilization. There is a how-to guide that is downloadable for therapists, and a Resources page as well. Community members and people receiving mental health care can use this site to download and share tools to advocate for their insurance to pay for mental healthcare, and to learn about more specific forms of trauma that may be impacting their social justice work.
References
Reinert, M, Fritze, D. & Nguyen, T. (October 2021). “The State of Mental Health in America 2022” Mental Health America, Alexandria VA.
What is mental health parity? NAMI. (n.d.). Retrieved December 9, 2021, from https://www.nami.org/Your-Journey/Individuals-with-Mental-Illness/Understanding-Health-Insurance/What-is-Mental-Health-Parity.
Systemic Oppression and Our Mental Wellness
Western Medicine has framed our mental health as individualized, however we know our health and strength of resistance comes from collective action and collective healing. Here are some projects of resistance and healing you may want to connect with.
- Podcast
- Therapist network
- Tools for locating a therapist
-Training and consulting
-Courses and Workshops
" The National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network (NQTTCN) is a healing justice organization committed to transforming mental health for queer and trans people of color (QTPoC). We work at the intersection of movements for social justice and the field of mental health to integrate healing justice into both of these spaces. Our overall goal is to increase access to healing justice resources for QTPoC."
A QTPoC community focused on wellness through resting as resistance. Check out their newsletter, meditations and archive of articles.
"Working together to end the devastating stigma surrounding today’s most prevalent public health crisis."
Check out their BIPOC resource listing for specific mental health affinity communities.
Protests, Police Violence, and the Pandemic
TW: This video includes narratives about physical, emotional and psychological violence occurring during Black Lives Matter collective actions. These narratives validate the experiences of many activist traumas currently being healed through community wellness initiatives and response actions to abolish the police. These narratives may also be triggering for some. You may wish to share with your therapist to support a closer understanding of your experiences.
Impact of Racism on Mental Health
"This discrepancy in Covid outcomes has served to add more fuel to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement that arose to the forefront of national attention in 2020. This movement has sparked new conversations, initiatives, and programs focused on addressing racial disparities and ultimately improving quality of life for Black and Brown Americans."
Bianca Jones Marlin, PhD, Principal Investigator at Columbia's Zuckerman Institute Talk Title: "Sensing trauma: the neurobiology of intergenerational stress"
Danielle Camblard, Psy.D., Clinical Psychologist and Racial Trauma Expert at the Behavioral Wellness Clinic, Tolland, CT Talk Title: “Intergenerational Racial Stressor Trauma"