Cultural and Systemic Oppression

John has received extensive education and clinical experience in understanding and working with cultural and systemic oppression. John often incorporates identity development models, philosophies of dual consciousness, and phenomenology into his therapy with oppressed individuals.

I believe that most of our mental health “problems” are rooted in the problematic social environments that have impacted us. I am hella good at creating space to deep dive into the ways you have been shaped by systems of oppression and cultural experiences. Together, we can unlearn damaging and false narratives and heal the pain they have caused you.

As a Women's Studies major at the University of Minnesota in the early 90's, my knowledge of and interest in oppression of all sorts grew enormously. It was truly one of the most valuable aspects of my education. That interest has only increased since the 2016 election. From that time on, our political and social climate has felt surreal. Unfortunately, it seems the progress we've made since the 1960's has been crumbling before our eyes. Ultimately I'm an optimist though, and I still have hope.

I chose to complete my studies in Social Work, specifically to study systems of oppression in our society, with a strong focus on religious systems of oppression. I am well-versed in religious systems of oppression, but this understanding translates to any hierarchical system: racism, workplace discrimination, family systems of oppression, interpersonal oppression (abuse and neglect), and financial oppression (capitalism). Where you have humans in societies together, there is always risk.

Humans are brilliant learners, absorbing messages from our environments — families, society, culture — these external influences shape our identities based on creed, gender, colour, etc., which then shape our realities. Knowing who we are requires understanding these influences, and how it has influenced our lenses and behaviours. Only then, can we be empowered to feel in control of our lives.

The assumptions of Western psychology focus primarily on factors within the individual. However, for many individuals, the source of their suffering emerges from oppressive forces within their social environment. Therapy needs to be able to offer alternatives to adjusting to or coping with oppressive forces. I utilize liberatory strategies to empower clients experiencing marginalization, alienation, and other forms of oppression.

Seeking out a therapist who understands systemic oppression, cultural factors related to identity, and how they may exacerbate organic symptoms should be easier. With this in mind, I orient my therapeutic work (and life) in acknowledgement of the many systems (overt and covert) that impact folks whose identities fall along the margins.

Yams developed familiarity working with cultural and system oppression from necessity acquiring the skills to advocate for clients facing bias and discrimination as inherent parts of the therapeutic system, as well as from personal experience.

Clinically, I work from a holistic, relational, empowerment focused and intersectional feminist perspective. I recognize that areas of oppression are linked and cumulative. In response, I work to help clients navigate these complex dynamics and improve their quality of life. As a Cis-White, Able-Bodied female, it is my job to do the background work and create a space where clients can explore, learn and understand themselves better. You are the expert of your life.

Anti-racist, liberation-focused approach

Identifying as part of the global majority in a system that was created to marginalize and oppress people of color is challenging, to say the least. Though dismantling the system is a goal, taking care of your individual self is vital. The conversation around systemic oppression often uses active language like "fight", but when it comes to you, I wonder if we can incorporate more rest. Part of what is stolen (among labor and time) is rest and the energy to take care of yourself.

As a white, queer, gender-fluid person I am committed to consistently exploring my relationship to my identity and social location. My therapy practice seeks to be a highly inclusive space, and a container for exploring the ways systemic oppression impact our internal and external psychological experiences. I invite each of my clients to consider their gender, sexuality, racial perspective, ability and socioeconomic status as part of their work in therapy.

Humans are brilliant learners, absorbing messages from our environments — families, society, culture — these external influences shape our identities based on creed, gender, colour, etc., which then shape our realities. Knowing who we are requires understanding these influences and how it has influenced our lenses and behaviours. Only with this deeper insight, can we feel empowered to regain control of our lives.

Being an immigrant and minority in a foreign country, I personally experienced more systemic oppression. I related with clients who also experience in oppression

until all of us are free, none of us are. my practice centers the reality of our interconnectedness and deeply acknowledges the consequences of late-stage racial capitalism and legacies of white-supremacist colonialism. i work to help folx externalize what these systems have made us to believe about our realities so that we direct our rage and grief at the true roots of our suffering instead of ourselves.

Humans are brilliant learners, absorbing messages from our environments — families, society, culture. These external influences shape our identities based on creed, gender, colour, etc., which then shape our realities. To know who we are requires understanding these influences, and how it has shaped who we are. By doing so, we can tease out who we are at our “core,” from what we’ve been taught. Let’s sift through these layers to find your true self.

Cultural and systemic oppression are a pervasive element across our country and our world. These erode our spirit and sense of self. We my lived experience and training regarding strategies to attend to the sense of self and healing interventions, I strive to tend building the sense of self that they have chipped away.

I believe that individual therapy is just piece in a pie of our overall healing, and that therapy has historically been a space to further individualize clients, and pathologize what is often a normal response to a system that is built on violence. I work to hold space for those impacted by this violence, while also advocating for the important work that can happen outside of the therapist’s office: that of communal healing and revolutionary activism.

The need for social justice comes from the heavy emotional and physical toll that cultural and systemic oppression takes on us. Many of us carry the symptoms of oppression. It is in our bodies and spirits and shows up in work and in our relationships. I work with clients by teaching somatic techniques that help create inner support as well as strategize for ways to develop nourishing practices and cultivate interpersonal and community supports.

"Racial Trauma" is REAL and "microaggressions/microinsults" are not your imagination. They are equally as REAL! When you suffer form "racial Trauma," you move through the world with a slight feeling of being gaslit and/or not believed. Let's confront this trauma and offer you some relief from systemic, systematic and institutionalized oppression, vis a vis "racism."