by Dr. Jem Tosh CPsychol AFBPsS FHEA RCC
Content warning: Discussion of the impacts of oppression, mention of racial and transphobic trauma and violence.
How Activism Can Be Therapeutic
Activism is borne out of distressing contexts. Whether it's addressing discrimination, violence, a lack of basic needs, environmental harm, exclusion, erasure, and more - the harm that is being addressed through collective action is having a negative impact on individuals and communities. The microaggressions of racism and transphobia, for example, can become 'death by a thousand paper cuts' - each act in itself seemingly a small pain that can accumulate into something that becomes unbearable and overwhelming. The frequent reminders that you are seen differently, viewed by others as 'less than' themselves, or not even viewed as human, can contribute to a general sense of disconnection, not belonging, and existential loneliness. Much like bullying, being singled out and treated differently, particularly when it's based on who you are, can have negative impacts on self esteem and self concept.
This flow of a quieter form of harm coincides with bigger and louder acts, such as transphobic and racist violence. Whether that is experienced directly, or in the witnessing of such harm occuring to friends, family, or other community members (even through watching reports on television or social media), the result is more harm and more distress. This is why anti-oppressive practice in therapy is so important, and why topics such as racial trauma and affirmative therapy are so important (among others).
Oppression makes us feel powerless because it is based on a power imbalance that is being used to direct harm. The other way that it makes us feel powerless is in how intimidating and invincible it seems. The longstanding nature of institutional racism, patriarchy, or social class that keep millions of people coming up against the same barriers and hostilty over and over again can lead to a sense of helplessness and hopelessness.
This is where activism - in all it's forms* - can be therapeutic and healing. Not only does it counter that sense of loneliness by bringing people together with a shared goal and outrage at inequality and oppression, but it counters that sense of hopelessness too. Managing the distress of oppression can be helped by taking action because it can help make you feel more empowered and less alone.
How Therapy Can Be Activism
If you have been a part of any kind of activism or effort towards social change you will know that progress can be painfully slow, with ups and downs, moments of success and setbacks, internal disagreements, and burnout. So, unfortunately, depending on the type of activism and goal, activism can make us feel powerless too. Staying motivated over (very) long periods of time while groups address complex and extensive issues like the harms of settler colonialism, for example, can be difficult. It can be made all the more difficult as those microaggressions and acts of violence keep coming year after year.
Each moment can be a moment of trauma. The microaggressions can be the kind of 'slow burn' trauma that we don't notice until it's already too big to manage, or the combination of all those moments end up being much more painful and bigger than any single misgendering or mispronunciation of a name. Add in all those bigger traumas, such as direct hostily and violence, or hate crimes, and the vicarious trauma of witnessing it happen to others, it's not surprising that the longer we live in oppressive contexts, and the longer we engage in collective action, the more exhausted and traumatised we can be.
This is where therapy can be a form of activism. It can help give us our capacity back. It can give us our life back, our ability to trust others, and feel connected to our communities again. It won't stop the causes of oppression, and there are certainly forms of therapy that are harmful and oppressive (I've written about plenty of them), but it does mean that we don't have to carry the weight of each moment of harm for the rest of our lives. So if you're a therapist, consider reading up on the ways that different kinds of oppression can impact on your clients and think about how that could be showing up in sessions and in their lives. If you're a client, consider spending some time working on or healing from the times you have experienced discrimination, hostility, vicarious trauma, and/or violence. Not only will healing that trauma make your life happier in general, it will increase your capacity to continue to engage with activist work.
I recommend EMDR and OEI therapy for healing trauma, and working with an affirmative and anti-oppressive therapist for addressing this kind of trauma.
*Activism can take many forms beyond public protest - it can be education, art, creating awareness through conversations with friends and families, where you choose to spend your money, and more. Not all forms of activism are accessible to everyone, so having a broader idea of what activism is enables more people to participate and for everyone's contribution to be valued.
Dr. Jem Tosh (they/she) is a Doctor of Psychology and an EMDR and OEI Trained Trauma Therapist. They are an award-winning academic and author based in Langley, BC, Canada.
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