Welcome to The WELLS Healing Center and our monthly newsletter. We're so happy to have you.
From Brittany Bridges' Desk:
Hi everyone! My name is Brittany Bridges, M.S., and I am a doctoral candidate in Counseling psychology at the University of Florida. I have been a WELLS member since 2019 and have worked on many projects exploring healing and liberation for BIPOC folx with Dr. Della. I recently had the privilege of co-presenting a critical conversation at the 2024 APA convention with Dr. Della and Dr. Pearis Jean. Our session explored the ways in which we as humans, scholars, and activists can apply wisdom learned from Academics for Black Survival and Wellness to urgently respond to the simultaneous genocides happening before our eyes in Palestine, Congo, Sudan, and elsewhere. Our session guided attendees in creating an accountability plan to use our own privileges to be in active solidarity with international movements for dignity and liberation.
This session felt deeply moving and meaningful for us as facilitators and for the collective in attendance. It was a privilege to honor the lives being lost as a result of Western colonialism. We honored queer Palestinians whose hopes for love were cut short by indiscriminate bombing in Gaza. We honored Congolese women who are being tortured with sexual violence. And we honored Hind Rajab, a 6-year-old Palestinian child who was murdered in Gaza as she sought safety with her family.
Using the Critical Consciousness of Anti-Black Racism (CCABR) model created by Dr. Della and colleagues (2020) as a guide, we discussed with session attendees the many ways in which we can hold ourselves accountable to be actively in solidarity with global movements for liberation. We discussed ways in which we can use our professional roles and organizational power to demand change. One great example of this is the recent APA statement calling for a ceasefire in Gaza that was passed after months of advocacy by a collective of psychologists and APA members.
We also discussed ways we can lean on and coalesce within our personal networks to change minds and enlist greater support for liberation work. Finally, we discussed ways in which we are already being in community and solidarity for global liberation, such as through space making, artivism, coalition building, physical resistance, modeling and mentoring, teaching, having urgency, engaging in self-reflection, being persistent, and maintaining future orientation.
As I celebrated my birthday this week, I am deeply aware of the thousands of Palestinian children who will never celebrate another birthday. I am deeply aware of the thousands more who will celebrate their birthdays in tents without access to food, medical supplies, or safety. Witnessing the genocide in Gaza for nearly a year, as well as the portrayal of this genocide in the US, has not only made me feel utterly powerless (as many of you may also be feeling) but has also reminded me of the power we hold as psychologists, scholars, activists, and humans, to resist. While the Western response to genocide is to strip us of our own humanity by normalizing violence, we have the opportunity to lean on Black feminist wisdom bestowed upon us by Audre Lorde, June Jordan, bell hooks, and many more who remind us never to compromise the humanity of the collective to preserve our individual privilege. They remind us that none of us are free until we are all free. They remind us that the Black feminist struggle for freedom and liberation does not confine itself to US soil.
If you would like to create your own accountability plan to be in solidarity with Palestine, Congo, Sudan, and elsewhere using A4BL wisdom and Black feminist teachings, click here. If you would like to join other psychologists working toward Palestinian liberation, check out the Psychologists for Justice in Palestine website and Instagram.
GET CONNECTED WITH WELLS + FRIENDS:
Just a couple spots left for the Fall cohort of the Healing and Wellness Grad Group for Transgender, Nonbinary, Gender Diverse Black, Indigenous, Students of Color! This group will meet Wednesdays at 6:30pm starting on September 11th - if you or someone you know is interested in joining, please fill out this form (and share widely with folks you know who need the space!).
Check out this virtual poster presentation on Anti-Blackness and Carceral Violence by WELLS Collective members Ollie Trac and Lovely Aristilde! Their presentation uncovers the ways in which the involuntary psychiatric hospitalization process criminalizes Black psychiatric survivors through carceral strategies. Additionally, it sheds light on the survival strategies utilized by Black psychiatric survivors to navigate the MHIC (Mental Health Industrial Complex). As a reminder of the ongoing work to address the anti-Blackness within APA and the MHIC broadly, this investigation follows the continued demands for accountability and justice for Black communities. Disclaimer: this recording is more research-centered as it was created for APA purposes - stay tuned for a more community-centered workshop coming soon!
Get Dr. Pearis' workbook, Strategically Navigating Anti-Black Racism in Professional Spaces! From her focus groups with Black early career professionals and graduate students, she developed the Strategically Navigating Anti-Black Racism in Professional Spaces (SNAPS) Decision-Making Model. Now, she has turned this research into a workbook that allows readers to move through the model, learn through vignettes how to apply the model to their lives, and engage in reflection questions that help them feel prepared to navigate anti-Black racism in the workplace. Check out her #WorkbookWednesday series on Instagram to work through example scenarios!
Join the waitlist for groups starting in the Spring! The WELLS Black Grad Student Mentoring and Community Care Group and the Blafemme Healing Sanctuary: A Virtual Black Feminist Healing Group have both closed for Fall enrollment! Click the group title to join the waitlist - to learn more about WELLS groups, check out our offerings page on our site.
This Fall, we have two Black Grad Student Groups running simultaneously! We offer our group at no cost to the members as we believe collective care and wellness is for everyone, no matter their financial situation. Please contribute what you can because your support makes a difference for these folks' wellness.
WELLNESS TIP - election stress.
How can marginalized people — specifically LGBTQ folks and people of color — protect their mental and holistic health heading into this presidential election cycle?
If we can stay present in our bodies, connected to ourselves and our surroundings, we can navigate toward what we need for our wellness more effectively. Slowing down allows each of us to identify what supports us when we feel scared, angry, isolated, or powerless. We simply need to remember these strategies and make a conscious effort to prioritize accessing them. We can also explore new possibilities for our healing that maybe we’ve imagined but never tried. And when we're unsure, reaching out to our community, expressing our emotions, and seeking support from our loved ones can help illuminate new healing possibilities and deepen our connections.
Dr. Roberto Abreu and colleagues conducted interviews with immigrant Latinx transgender individuals, exploring how they found strength and resilience in the face of an anti-transgender political climate of the Trump administration. Their coping strategies included cultivating pride and resilience, maintaining hope, drawing upon religion and spirituality, as well as seeking support from family and community, and sometimes employing short-term avoidance as a form of resistance. Our communities have been finding ways to survive and thrive amidst oppression, we just need to listen and honor them.
Another strategy that we highly recommend as a pathway to prevention and healing is to use the Blafemme Healing model to assess the eight chambers of wellness and to then develop a personalized care plan, focusing (perhaps) on the next three months. If we can be deliberate and explore our wellness from a holistic perspective, with specificity and compassion, then we can better protect ourselves in these stressful political times.
It's not easy; it can be incredibly challenging to motivate ourselves when we're already feeling depleted. Having a support network or being part of healing-centered communities and spaces is vital. Now is the time to reassess and perhaps strengthen our wellness teams, ensuring they provide the support we need during this season.
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Thank you for being a part of our community, The WELLS Healing Center Team
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