Decolonizing Mental Health Delivery with Melody Li (Part 2, Episode 228)

Discomfort is a necessary part of liberating ourselves from patriarchal and white supremacist ideology

Art by Nisha K. Sethi

This is part two of a two-part series with the founder of Inclusive Therapists, Melody and TU Co-host, Sue Marriott. This episode features challenging yet important conversations on active anti-racist practices, exploration of oppression, and dismantling whiteness in mental health structures. Melody emphasizes the need for white clinicians to examine their own complicity in upholding oppressive systems and to listen to and center the experiences of marginalized communities. They also highlight the interconnectedness of healing and the power of collective liberation through rehumanizing.

“…if I uphold a system that I know is dehumanizing someone, I become less human myself.” – Melody Li, LMFT (they/佢) About our Guest – Melody Li, LMFT (they/佢)  Melody Li, LMFT (they/佢) is the founder of Inclusive Therapists: a mental health directory, resource hub & community centering marginalized communities. They also founded Mental Health Liberation, a non-profit bridging Black, Indigenous, and People of Color with free, quality therapy, and empowering Students & Clinicians of Color. Their activism focuses on decolonizing mental health care and dismantling the industrial complex. The colony-born migrant and settler on Turtle Island advocates for Landback, Indigenous Sovereignty, and Black Liberation as a priority. Time Stamps for Decolonizing the Mental Health System (Part 2)

2:18 – Definition of QTBIPOC

3:22 – Deep dive into anti-oppressive and liberators practices

8:20 – Understanding cis-gender identity 

9:49 – Structural oppression is not about your feelings

15:34 – How white feminism can be exclusionary 

17:06 – Dismantling whiteness from the mental health field 

23:30 – Actions items for white clinicians to be more inclusive

25:52 – Top down versus bottom-down healing

30:40 – The core of oppression is to dehumanize

Resources for today’s episode – Decolonizing the Mental Health System (Part 2)

Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire – Literature recommendation by Melody Li

Melody Li’s Website 

Melody Li’s Instagram Profile

Inclusive Therapists Resource Library

Open Letter: End Mental Health Field’s Complicity to Genocide

Steadfast for Collective Liberation Newsletter: Confronting our Bullshit & Toxicity

Palestinian Liberation: Lessons in Solidarity for Mental Health Providers

Palestinian Liberation Resources

When is exploring whiteness clinically relevant? (Melody Li, LMFT)

Dismantling whiteness, white feminism and supremacy delusion: resources by Black, Indigenous and People of Color (Li advised against buying white authors on this subject)

Decolonizing Therapy (Dr. Jenn Mullan)

Stages of Colonialism in Africa: From Occupation of Land to Occupation of Being (Hussein A. Bulhan)

All psychologies are indigenous psychologies: Reflections on psychology in a global era (Anthony J. Marsella)

Mental Health Liberation: Website | Instagram | Facebook | BIPOC Therapy Fund | Liberatory Student Support Circle

Inclusive Therapists: Website | Instagram | Facebook 

And of course, our book is also a great resource – it’s for professionals and life-long learners of all kinds. If you’ve read it we’d love to hear from you and if you support it, PLEASE leave a review on either Amazon or Goodreads. Tk you!!

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