Wove Therapy

  Living in New York City, the “concrete jungle,” can feel nature-depriving.  Whether this feels ~natural~ to you or you feel your cravings for greenery and open skies fester the longer you live here, it may bring up questions regarding your relationship with nature.  Research shows that one’s connectedness with nature, land, and the environment has a positive impact on one’s overall wellbeing and sense of self (Keaulana et al., 2021).  How has colonization impacted our relationship with nature, and how might we decolonize our relationship with nature? Colonial Mindset The first European settlers saw the environment as commodity to reach their economic aspirations.  They exploited the land to the point of complete exhaustion, void of concern about using the land and natural resources carefully.  Gold and silver were mined to depletion, rivers and waterways were poisoned along with the flora and fauna, and forests were destroyed.  A colonizer’s view o...

Like most aspects of our society and the systems in place to ensure ‘order’ among people, the mental health industrial complex is no exception to the premise that there is one objectively healthy way of being (white, wealthy, able-bodied, cishet, Christian, patriarchal) and everything else can be interpreted as pathology or illness. As a result, so much of the way mental health is conceptualized in the work professionals do is rooted in maintaining the status quo and weaponizing or vilifying oppressed peoples’ natural nervous system reactions to oppression. The truth is mental health is not experienced in a vacuum—it is deeply shaped by cultural values, social conditions, and historical contexts. Thanks to abolitionists throughout history, the colonized world has become increasingly more aware of white supremacy and its impact on the most vulnerable people. As a result, cultural competence has become an essential consideration in improving mental health outcomes. Cultural competence r...

Mental health stigma is a public health crisis as it impacts all individuals; however, the people who bear the brunt of this stigma are those whose identities and experiences are marginalized and minoritized. Stigma surrounding mental illness and mental health services doesn’t operate in a vacuum. It intersects with racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, classism, and other forms of oppression , creating a toxic environment that damages the mental health of those already navigating systems created to oppress them. When we examine how stigma affects marginalized groups, it becomes clear that addressing mental health disparities requires dismantling the stigma at both interpersonal and structural levels. Stigma as a Structural Force Historical abuses in research and healthcare shape how marginalized communities interact with mental health systems. From the Tuskegee syphilis study to forced sterilizations and unethical psychiatric experiments (all of which were done primarily if not exclu...

Parenting, at its core, is one of the hardest roles a person can take on. Despite one’s hopes or beliefs about achieving the best parenting techniques, child rearing is unpredictable and requires a healthy supply of patience, flexibility, and quick problem-solving- to name a few things. Single parenting is uniquely tricky in that one person (depending on the levels of community support they may have) has to become every single component of what is usually a team project. It makes sense that holidays such as Mother’s Day are bittersweet, complex, and possibly downright uncomfortable. While it’s meant to be a day dedicated to the appreciation and celebration of one parent by the rest of the family, for single parents it is seldom celebrated in that way. When there's no partner to help the kids plan surprises or to offer heartfelt thanks, the day can feel more like any other—except with higher emotional stakes. This time can stir up unpleasant emotions such as exhaustion, loneliness, ...

White supremacy has corrupted the world, fueling in all of us a desire to police ourselves and others by an impossible standard of who we should be—smarter, thinner, more successful, more likable. With all this pressure, it’s no wonder so many people struggle with accepting themselves as they are, especially when our survival within the system depends on this kind of self-loathing. As Octavia Butler said, there is no magic bullet, however, therapy can become one kind of solution; it can be a space in which a person can intentionally reflect and imagine a different world that breaks out of that cycle. Beyond addressing stress, anxiety, or depression, therapy is also a powerful tool for self-discovery and self-acceptance . Why Self-Acceptance Matters At its core, self-acceptance means embracing all of yourself as neutrally as possible. You are neither a good or a bad person, you are a person who sometimes makes decisions that have a good impact on you and your environment and sometimes ...

Systemic oppression is not only a sociopolitical issue—it is a significant determinant of mental health. From discriminatory policies to chronic marginalization, individuals whose identities have been historically oppressed are left to contend with disproportionate emotional and psychological labor that has a lasting impact across one’s lifetime and generations to come. This becomes even more nuanced when considering how multiple minoritized identities intersect. Individuals who exist at these intersections experience uniquely complex challenges that become increasingly difficult for mainstream systems to fully understand. Mounting evidence reveals that systemic and structural racism, along with other forms of oppression, directly contributes to widespread mental health disparities across racial, ethnic, gender, and socio-economic lines. For instance, the systematic targeting of Black and Brown communities through im...

  “Termination” is the word used to connotate the end of a therapeutic relationship and the process of ending a counseling experience. It can feel like a particularly harsh word, often associated with abruptness and finality, and at times, death. Although there is a chance that termination sessions within the realm of counseling can be harsh and final, termination is a very important part of the therapeutic process and can be quite healing. Reasons for Termination Whether you are leaving therapy entirely, going to work with a different therapist, or pausing sessions for the time being, taking time to acknowledge this transition with your current therapist can provide opportunities that are often not an option outside of therapeutic relationships and the therapy space.  There are many reasons that termination may come up in your therapy journey, including internal and external factors that are planned or unplanned.  Depending on the contributing factors, termination ses...