With my level of trauma and disgust towards Google & the portion of the Internet that they promote, I certainly no longer browse or "research" anything related to race; however, I was looking for personal information to help someone seek mental health services, and I came across this information:
The Georgia State University Psychology Clinic
(Psychology clinic. gsu. edu/social-justice-and-equality)
The following affirmations reflect our commitment to all who seek our services:
- We will cultivate a safe environment where issues of racism, prejudice, and discrimination of all forms can be discussed openly, honestly, and without fear or judgment.
- We will listen and respond to your needs. We have created a survey for clients to provide feedback about their experiences with clinicians and clinic staff and we want to know how we can improve our services around issues of race and oppression.
- We will create a space to consistently engage our clinic faculty, staff, supervisors, and students in conversations about why the struggle for racial justice is happening, and to develop our own consciousness as individuals and a system that is critical to our shared liberation.
- We will continually learn and offer culturally sensitive therapy and assessment services that honor racial, ethnic, and cultural differences.
- We will strive to reach Black and other marginalized communities to offer affordable therapy, assessment, and referral services. We are specifically committed to providing these services for individuals who have been directly affected by police brutality as well as those seeking services to heal from racial trauma.
As a clinic, we stand for equal rights, opportunities, and treatment for everyone in our society. Protecting the lives of Black people is not a political issue, but rather a humanitarian concern that affects all of us. Therefore, we publicly voice our support for social justice organizations who are mobilizing for lasting change in marginalized communities and we dedicate ourselves to systemic change.
To our Black clients in particular: We see you. We hear you. We mourn with you. We are committed to listening to you, standing with you, investing in you, and fighting these racial injustices with you.
In strength and solidarity,
The Georgia State University Psychology Clinic
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We must act individually, collectively, and systemically to end bias, behaviors, policies, traditions, and practices that perpetuate racial and ethnic inequities and violence. Psychological and public health research shows clearly that prejudice and discrimination harm the physical and mental health of marginalized communities, particularly Black communities. We stand resolute in our condemnation of racism and oppression in all its forms, recognizing that systemic oppression may only be countered by systematic action. Further, we commit in our roles as researchers, clinicians, supervisors, and educators to promote the mental health and well-being of the diverse communities with whom we work, and to fight for their social justice needs. Therefore, we wish to make our stance in explicit terms:
- Anti-Black prejudice and discrimination have no place in our society.
- The systemic disenfranchisement, criminalization, and de-valuing of Black lives have no place in our society.
- The inequitable distribution of housing, education, healthcare, and economic resources has no place in our society.
- Mental health disparities exacerbated by the color of one’s skin, ethnicity, and/or other marginalized identities have no place in our society.
We know it is imperative that we as individual mental health providers, and as an organization, commit to lifelong learning, critical self-reflection, and systemic action to end racism and oppression and to provide the quality mental health services that Black and other marginalized clients deserve when they seek help.
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WOW!
How can Georgia State University lead the way for all Universities to follow with this plan for Black lives?
😀🦋🦋
