Wove Therapy

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...

Endings are a natural and constant part of life, a companion to change and often associated with goodbyes.  In childhood and growing up to adulthood, perhaps endings were more anticipated and associated with positivity and excitement, thinking of the end of the school year, graduations, leaving home for the first time, turning 18 and then 21.  Still, goodbye rituals would persist, seen in the backs of year books and team parties at the end of a season.  At what point do endings, or change, become more of a source of dread, grief, and anxiety, desires shifting towards stability, consistency, and predictability?  Goodbyes can be really difficult for kids at times, but for some adults, goodbyes are avoided whenever possible.  Many factors influence our relationship with endings from childhood to adulthood and beyond.  Neurobiology and Attachment Style A study on rodents has shown that psychological loss (when feeling deprived) has an impact on brain functionin...

The mental health field has historically centered whiteness.  From the very beginning, leaders in psychology were almost exclusively white, heterosexual men.  The impacts of this narrow viewpoint are seen and felt in the racist, sexist, homophobic foundations of psychological concepts, theories, and diagnoses (e.g. hysteria, conversion therapy, etc.).  Devastatingly, diversity in mental healthcare continues to be largely lacking.  A striking example includes as recently as  in 2021, the American Psychological Association  acknowledged that the organization “ignored the opportunity to take a formidable stand to address poverty, racism, and social concerns affecting African Americans, despite the strong advocacy of our members, some of whom consequently left the organization.”  Although the mental health field is moving towards addressing long-standing health and wellness disparities and embodying the importance of tending to diverse identities and exper...

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 exclus...

While the field of psychology and mental health therapy has been around for thousands of years, the topic of therapy remains a social mystery shrouded with speculation, assumption, misunderstanding, confusion, and fear. Views on therapy and mental health as a whole vary widely based on cultural background, socioeconomic positionality, and lived/shared experience individually as well as within one’s immediate community (such as family, neighborhood, and school). Let’s get into some of the myths about therapy and get into the nuanced truths about it.  Myth:Therapy is the same as talking to a friend Nuance: There can be overlapping aspects between talking to a friend and talking to a therapist- namely, that it is comforting and validating to be witnessed by another person. However, a therapist is trained to be inquisitive and notice patterns. Therapists are also trained to consistently reflect on their own biases and their own hopes/goals/agenda for clients. Talking to a therapist o...

  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...