The Radical, Ancient Future of Psychotherapy…While Black
The Radical, Ancient Future of Psychotherapy…While Black A zoom round table with Kathleen Brennan, LCPC; Mellody Hayes, MD and LaMisha Hill, PhD. Hosted by Tonja Renée Stidhum and in partnership with The Root As we approach the shortest, darkest days of a profoundly unsettling year, our minds turn to care and curiosity in this round table event exploring mental health, therapeutic stigma in Black and brown communities, and bold, new—and sometimes quite ancient— treatments. Led by Tonja Renée Stidhum, a staff writer at The Root, and animated by leading thinkers and practitioners in the field, The Radical, Ancient Future… considers healing in tandem with accessibility, and self-discovery within the context of equity. We attend specifically to the practices of EMDR—a treatment incorporating lateral eye-movements to alleviate distress—and psychedelic-assisted therapies that integrate ketamine and MDMA. Among other things, participants explore ways in which these medications present the possibility of decolonizing one’s mind from an understanding of psychotherapy within a traditionally white, middle class framework that privileges individual wellness and mind/body duality in place of generational healing and social justice. A discussion is followed by a Q&A. Speaker Biographies The Radical, Ancient Future… is inspired by “Bilateral Stimulation While Black: How EMDR Transformed the Way I Processed My Childhood Trauma,” a Stidhum-penned piece for The Root in which she celebrates a recent, powerful therapeutic experience. The event is in conjunction with Troubleshooting Mind I, II, III , an exhibition at KADIST, San Francisco by Seoul-based artist Jeamin Cha. The Root is the #1 news, opinion and analysis website for African-American influencers. The Root provides coverage of breaking news, thought-provoking commentary and gives voice to a changing, more diverse America.