#leftist therapist

[defleftist]

Just took and PASSED my state licensure exam today! I’m on my way to being a fully licensed therapist!

[naturalbornlosers]

every time i get upset abt people saying that voting does nothing or "dont vote blue bc of biden" i have to remind myself not everyone has a trans-focused conversion therapists office right outside their neighborhood

[grapefruittwostep]

My cool ass cousin mentioned that my uncle was saying dumb anti-voting shit on Facebook so of course I swept in to tell him what a disappointment he was being and to think about how this impacted his marginalized family members and THIS BITCH. Deleted. My whole ass comment. In the middle of the night. Like wow I knew I was right that you didn’t respect us but I didn’t expect you to just be so blatant about it.

Anyway like … please vote. I do not care how much you hate people. Please vote and I will personally guarantee that you will not be Stained by Satan or whatever for putting a dot on a paper for someone. If your morality is questioned, send those people to me and I will beat the everloving shit out of them, I love doing it because I have heaps of anger issues.

[embers-burning-bright]

not to throw my hat into the discourse, but all this anti-doctor/therapist stuff i'm seeing around at the moment is genuinely a bit terrifying and also feels like a dangerous line of thinking

i saw some tags on a post recently saying that the poster would not go to the doctors even if they were severely ill, and would rather chance it being cared for by their own community

and i'm sorry but. this is anti-vaxxer logic, this is the same talk those culty essential oils mums spout

medical care systems are flawed around the world, yes, and they need to be reformed, yes. but i don't think this "all doctors/therapists are just like cops" narrative is a good one or even useful

demand better, but don't reinforce the all medical care is bad narrative, because you are shooting yourself in the foot and are like 2 steps away from cult thinking

[coochiequeens]

Women were attacked and pepper sprayed by......a group of mem claiming that THEY are the most oppressed group.

By Genevieve Gluck. November 20, 2023

A group of women critical of gender ideology were physically assaulted in Portland by masked trans activists associated with Antifa, resulting in several women being taken to the hospital. Leaders and members of the US chapter of Women’s Declaration International (WDI), which aims to protect “the sex-based rights of women and girls,” were also threatened with death, called “fascists,” sprayed in the eyes with mace, and had their car tires slashed in the middle of the night.

On November 19, WDI planned an event at the Hollywood branch of the Multnomah County Library, quickly cancelling the plans to due to security concerns. Speaking with Reduxx, WDI USA president and author Kara Dansky explained that the goal of the event was to “have a conversation about the importance of protecting women and children in society” and voice concerns about gender ideology.

“In the days leading up to the event, we were in communication with security about how to ensure the safety of ourselves, library staff and guests. Hours before the event was scheduled to take place, we were informed that county security would be unable to guarantee our safety,” Dansky said.

The WDI members then decided to take their demonstration to the street, and set up on a sidewalk near the library.

“We chose to take our message directly to the public. We stood on a sidewalk, with a banner that read ‘Woman = adult human female.’ Within minutes, a vicious mob of men first started screaming at us that we were fascists, and then approached us,” Dansky said.

The small group of approximately ten women were greatly outnumbered, with Dansky estimating that there were between 30 to 50 trans activists clad in black masks.

“They started throwing things at us, cans filled with liquid that fell and sprayed all over us. Speaking for myself, someone approached me and sprayed something in my face. The impact hurt my eyes physically and whatever they sprayed got all over my face and clothing, but it did not injure me,” Dansky explained.

“Other women were treated much more brutally than I was. Several of the women in our group were sprayed directly in the face with mace, causing immediate and temporary blindness, and excruciating pain. The men punched several of us and pushed them onto the ground and repeatedly kicked them while they were on the ground. Four women had to go to the hospital to be treated for their injuries,” she added.

“It looked like they were targeting those of us specifically who were filming,” said Sam Berg. “They punched me in the face. When I fell down they kicked me in the hip. They immediately went for the camera, and stole my phone as well. It was very scary. Women don’t deserve this. Men have no right to do this. This has to stop.”

Berg was one of three women who had strapped a camera to themselves to record the event’s speakers. Two of the women fliming had their GoPro gear stolen, and at least four women had their phones stolen by the trans activists. None of their property has so far been recovered.

One of the women that the trans activists sprayed in the eyes with mace described witnessing the men assaulting an elderly woman who was passing by.

“I saw a yellow-orange liquid and I knew immediately what it was, so I closed my eyes. My right eye got pepper-sprayed, it was burning,” Cass said. “As I was trying to turn away, I felt somebody either push me or punch me in the face. I fell down, my glasses broke. As I was walking away, I saw an unrelated elderly woman in her 70’s walking alongside us. They pushed her or threw something at her and she fell down.”

Another woman who was pepper-sprayed, Linda, said that “only one or two” witnesses to the assault attempted to intervene on their behalf.

“I didn’t realize how blinded I was going to be, in a lot of pain. We turned the corner and they just started attacking everybody. I was next to Lierre, and they blinded her, too, and started hitting her and hitting her,” she said, referring to Lierre Keith, founder of the grassroots women’s advocacy group the Women’s Liberation Front (WOLF).

“These brave women kept standing there calmly, and letting these people attack us. Only one or two passers-by tried to help us at all,” Linda said, incredulous.

“While we were being assaulted, several women called 911 as it was happening. No one in the Portland Police Department responded to these calls reporting active incidents of assault, battery and robbery,” Dansky told Reduxx.

After the women’s rights activists returned to their Air Bnb, they again attempted to contact police and officers were dispatched to their location. A report of the attack and thefts was made, but they were told by officers that the department’s official policy is to “not to get involved” in group conflicts “unless there is an immediate threat to life.”

The safety concern that prompted the decision to abandon the library as a venue was a result of a publicized plan coordinated by trans activists affiliated with the political group Antifa, promoted on social media. The trans activists had been threatening to pelt women with pies and tomato juice – a reference to a volatile mob situation earlier this year in New Zealand that saw women’s rights campaigner Kellie Jay-Keen attacked with the liquid.

“Anti-trans bigots and hate group Women’s Declaration International (WDI) are coming to town this Nov. 19th. Save the date to give them the welcome they deserve,” wrote Antifa propaganda artist “No Bonzo.”

“We arrived�� and the woman in charge of security said she could not keep us safe, there were too many of them and they were aiming for violence,” Lierre Keith said in a video clip shared by WDI.

“They told us that they were concerned for the library staff. They couldn’t keep them safe. We didn’t want to put them at risk because they certainly didn’t sign up for this,” Keith said.

“So our decision was to go out on the street near the library and give our speeches, because we have first amendment rights.”

They had also been informed by the Workplace Security Director of Multnomah County that a therapist had filed a report of a death threat from a patient. According to the report, the patient had stated, “I am going to the event and bringing my gun and if anyone messes with me I will use it.” The therapist had a legal obligation to report this information and did so. 

Chillingly, the women, who had rented accommodations together, had awoken Sunday morning to discover that their tires had been slashed during the night. They also discovered that flyers with photos referring to some of the more well-known women had been posted in public, calling them “anti-trans bigots.”

WDI’s Declaration on Women’s Sex-Based Rights calls for the elimination of trans people, trans rights & trans healthcare, specifically targeting trans women most heavily. In this work they have allied with the far right and international fundamentalist groups responsible for the end of Roe V. Wade,” reads one of the posters.

Additionally, Rose City Antifa (RCA), which has posted multiple smear campaigns on WDI to their website, revealed that they had deliberately undertaken efforts to discover where the women would be staying.

“Thanks to the work of multiple anonymous community members who infiltrated the WDI-USA event planning process, RCA has obtained a list of attendees and organizers, which includes both WoLF and WDI-USA members — most notably Lierre Keith, WoLF founding member and board chair, and well-documented transmisogynist bigot,” the RCA’s blog post reads.

“In leaked planning materials for the upcoming Portland event, WDI-USA and WoLF organizers openly admit that the event’s stated focus, ‘protecting women and children,’ was chosen deliberately to mask their anti-trans agenda. In order to maintain this illusion of respectable, sympathetic feminist activism, lead WDI-USA organizers have repeatedly told prospective attendees that they should avoid even using words such as ‘trans’ at the Portland event.”

While attempting to portray WDI president Dansky as “anti-trans”, RCA points to an email exchange between her and a reporter named Brandon Showalter, who holds conservative political views. The email was part of an orchestrated deception by the first individual in the United States to have been legally recognized as ‘non-binary,’ who claims that he pretended to be opposed to gender identity ideology in order to forge connections with politicians. Elisa Rae Shupe, 59, formerly James Clifford Shupe, has written in extensive detail about the sexual fetishes that motivated his “gender identity.”

Yesterday’s violence follows a long string of attacks on women vocalizing criticisms of gender ideology.

Last year, British women’s rights campaigner Kellie-Jay Keen held a US tour of pro-woman free speech events which were targeted by multiple incidents of Antifa violence and disruption.

Keen’s appearance in Portland, Oregon, had to be cancelled on October 25 after credible death threats were received. Despite Keen’s absence, a small group of women carried out an unofficial demonstration in the event’s place as an act of resistance. 

As the women spoke, multiple masked men rushed their area and pelted them with whipped cream pies.

Similarly, on October 26, the event in Tacoma, Washington, was quickly derailed by violent trans activists and Antifa. Multiple physical altercations were recorded, with some trans activists showing up wearing brass knuckles and attempting to grapple female speakers to the ground during their speeches.

At least nine people were arrested in New York City during protests that broke out in opposition to the last stop of Keen’s US tour. Like in Portland, Keen had been unable to attend the event as she was not able to get to the speaking podium safely due to aggressive counter-protestors.

[hilacopter]

NOOOOO NOT POP CULTURE DETECTIVE… what did he do????

I clicked on a video of his and a community post from him popped up for like an event he's gonna be hosting talking about colonialism in board games, and in the graphic for it there was someone waving a Palestinian flag. probably gonna be a bunch of bullshit there dismissing Jewish indigeneity to the levant and maybe even glorifying Hamas as resistance, which as much as it sucks would suit him to do.

[coyoxxtl]

its rly frustrating that if the democratic party doesn’t win the presidential election the blame will fall on american citizens who rightfully refused to support the biden administration and not the administration themselves for failing So Fucking Hard to act right so they could’ve kept that support. like they led this genocide and shat the bed and Yet centrist liberals will just chalk it up to stupid commies who hate voting for no reason and russian bots or whatever the fuck

[recovering-dungeon-lord]

Not to be an armchair psychologist, but speaking from personal (and ongoing) experience, yeah, that sounds like depression.

Also, (again speaking not as a trained therapist but just from personal experience) if you are experiencing feelings/thought processes similar to the first reply, please consider looking into assessment for OCD, because that is Textbook moral OCD if I’ve ever seen it. (And I have seen it, because I experience it daily).

People often think of OCD only in terms of the externally visible compulsions/rituals, but very often there is a lot going on internally as well, and for some people their experience of OCD is almost exclusively internal. This can include things like excessive adherence to magical thinking, feeling the need to keep your thoughts ‘pure’, trying to block out certain ‘bad’ thoughts/images, feeling that you need to meet certain criteria before you are ‘allowed’ to think/feel certain things (or that you are never allowed to think/feel them), and more. You probably see where I’m going with this.

Honestly, even if you don’t have OCD, if you’re having those kinds of thoughts processes frequently, there are probably still OCD management techniques that you could adapt to help yourself cope. Remember, if a coping technique helps it helps, there is no rule saying you can only use it if you Officially Have The Thing It Was Created To Treat.

I’m sorry but if there is one thing the Tumblr left needs crucially, it’s the ability to celebrate.

I remember when marriage equality was called and there were waves of rainbows and love wins posts. When we successfully defeated Donald Trump, there was lukewarm relief, a reminder that you were only allowed one or maybe two days to celebrate and then it was back to work. That is if you were even a good person for voting Biden. We never did settle if he was better than Trump. (We did.). We didn’t celebrate student loan debt relief or any of the accomplishments of the Biden administration, or any of the times Trump was blocked, or other countries succeeding in keeping fascists out of office. Who cares if we had successes? It’s not good enough. Back to work!

And this anti-celebratory attitude stretches back to the past. On the 100th anniversary of female suffrage in America, we were reminded that not all women had the vote and so we weren’t allowed to celebrate. The only post I saw about Juneteenth was reminding us that there were enslaved people who were killed instead of freed and therefore celebrating the end of chattel slavery was wrong, and besides, we have prison labor so nothing really changed or got better and there’s nothing to celebrate anyway. Trans Day of Visibility comes with Trans Day of Remembrance so that people don’t fill the tags with hate crimes and death. So on and so forth. Nothing gets better. Nothing changes. Back to work!

So of course when we have a major setback, we fall apart and have to start frantic damage control. Frantic discourse ensues over how much people are allowed to unplug before it becomes bad and selfish. Yes, maybe you can have this one day off Mr. Cratchit but you better be here and miserable early the next morning. Like abusive bosses always insisting you squeeze out more, more, more, and any achievement is just proof you were lazy the other times and impetus for more work.

If we are never allowed to acknowledge any of our victories, how are we supposed to survive our defeats?

[frail-and-freakish]

stop putting small talk discourse on my dash please and thank you

[snekdood]

yall want trump to win bc you wanna be able to endlessly bitch about the democrats and never give them an opportunity to prove you wrong lest you have less reasons to bitch and be such a miserable ass bitch to you and everyone around you in your life.

[defleftist]

Therapy, and especially psychiatry, are bourgeoisie institutions. You should quit your job, bestie.

I’m not denying the bourgeois roots of both therapy and psychiatry, however your statement is shortsighted. Myself and many other therapists (I won’t speak for psychiatrists as I am not one) put a lot of effort into decolonizing and deconstructing the more oppressive and harmful roots of our field. I work in a rural community clinic with folks primarily on Medicaid and Medicare who otherwise would not have access to mental healthcare. The waitlist for our clinic is in the hundreds. There’s a huge need for help, and I plan to be a part of giving it. My theoretical orientation includes both feminist and leftist therapy and I work hard to provide the care I would want myself as a queer, leftist woman. If therapy feels too bourgeois for you still, that’s okay. You can either search for a new therapist who fits your needs better or not go at all. I feel secure and fulfilled in the help I provide to others, bestie.

[pawberri]

My most hated counterargument to the idea that therapy is useful is:

"Therapy is totally individualistic. If you say that you're scared of climate change or racism they'll tell you to stop being scared and solve it internally."

Because you know... while this CAN and DOES happen... it doesn't encompass all of therapy. You know what my therapist tells me to do if I talk about oppression or systemic issues? Volunteer! Get involved in my community! Actively push back on the isolation and hopelessness I'm feeling by Doing Something About It. Plus, even if I tell my therapist "I'm freaking out about climate change" and she says "take a deep breath and remember that the world is not literally ending at this minute", that isn't more selfish or individualistic than posting on tumblr about how you shouldn't get treatment ever because suffering is inevitable. Especially in times like these, getting the help you need to be able to take action and be a part of your community is not shameful. Severe mental health issues that completely derail your life are also not the only or inevitable reaction to these things happening.

I think it annoys me so much because it assumes there are no leftist therapists, no leftist therapists of color, no leftist therapists of color who experience poverty, etc etc. It assumes that the whole scientific field is disinterested in itself and making itself better. I promise you that whatever question first pops into your head has been presented and debated and expanded upon by people whose entire life revolves around it. I read studies all the time that show how forming community around an oppressed identity and participating in activism helps mental health and hopelessness. Yes, the world is full of systemic suffering, but NO, the only solution is NOT to give up and give in. Therapy can genuinely be what you need to survive and get out there and make change, and it's as valid as any other form of medical care. Don't listen to any stupid disengaged therapist who tells you just not to care and disconnect from the world completely but also don't listen to anyone who discourages you from getting help on that basis. That is not the only kind of therapist that exists.

[david-talks-sw]

Hello. You and GFFA are probably the two most reliable blogs I know when it comes to what GL actually intended with star wars and also have the most on point finger on the pulse of fandom and such without letting the discourse get to you. So I just have to ask. Where does the idea of the jedi being space cops come from in canon? Especially in more left leaning circles. Haven't they seen that there are indeed actual cops in SW? And who are portrayed like how leftists view cops?

Hey there!

Firstly, it's always an honor when someone puts me and Lumi in the same sentence 😃 been a while since I reminded people, but my blog started because I read hers (and a few others) and I was like "oh shit she makes great points!" and started doing the research on my own.

I mostly attribute my rediscovering my childhood love for the Jedi to her early meta posts. Like, you think I'm good, wait til she gets started again! So thank you, for that!

Onto the subject itself: I've seen the notion pop up in all circles. And it's not exactly wrong, it's just not entirely accurate.

You can find a large collection of George Lucas quotes here, about the Jedi's place in the Republic.

You will see that he uses varying terminology and that's what I think partially muddies the waters.

For example, early on, Lucas describes them as "police officers", but years later he says "they're not cops, they're Marshalls of the Old West" but actually "they're mafia dons" or "intergalactic therapists."

But the one that explains it best, for me, is the following:

"They're not like [the kind of] cops who catch murderers. They're warrior-monks who keep peace in the universe without resorting to violence. The Trade Federation is in dispute with Naboo, so the Jedi are ambassadors who talk both sides and convince them to resolve their differences and not go to war. If they do have to use violence, they will, but they are diplomats at the highest level. They've got the power to send the whole force of the Republic, which is 100,000 systems, so if you don't behave they can bring you up in front of the Senate. They'll cut you off at the knees, politically. They're like peace officers. As the situation develops in the Clone Wars they are recruited into the army, and they become generals. They're not generals. They don't kill people. They don't fight. They're supposed to be ambassadors." - The Star Wars Archives: 1999-2005, 2020

Bottom line: yes, they're authority figures. But they're not "beat cops" chasing after robbers and criminals.

They're, first and foremost, ambassadors/negotiators/diplomats. They're police for planets and their governments, not the people of the Republic. Again:

They're peace officers.

Now, they can investigate and take more active "police-like" roles during their mandate, but they're not gonna be called upon to investigate a murder (unless that murder is very strange and local authorities are unable to make sense of it).

It's why, when Anakin is talking about "we'll search for the killer, Padmé" Obi-Wan is like "uuuuh... no we won't?"

[jewishvitya]

Someone started sharing facebook posts from American conservative therapist groups, and those conservative therapists are talking about clients with election grief like they're delusional. They're talking about things like using CBT to challenge their clients' perception of reality, and wondering how to do it without "blowing their cover" because those clients simply don't want to associate with Trump supporters.

So, yeah, I'm feeling sick.

One thing I always do when I start therapy is check that my therapist is queer-friendly and holds leftist views regarding Palestine. The thought of a therapist knowing I want nothing to do with someone like them and hiding their views from me so they can try to manipulate me like that... no words.

[some-triangles]

I am now at a level of obsession with Disco Elysium where I am watching at least a little bit of every playthrough I come across. Last time this happened was with Undertale almost a decade ago. With UT this helped me get a very thorough handle on the way the game was designed and with the subtler bits of player manipulation. DE is not subtle about anything and so instead I'm getting insights into the people playing it, particularly as it spreads beyond the youtube leftist bubble.

The one I'm having the most fun with right now is by this guy named Brady, who is a therapist specializing in addiction. The fun part is not so much his insight into Harry as an addict - again, the game is not subtle - but his absolute discomfort with politics. He refuses to engage with any of the ideological choices, and that makes the game a bit of a bumpy ride for him. It's particularly striking because he's willing to read into everything else that goes on in Harry's brain - he breaks out his Johari windows and his CBT flowcharts and pins the butterfly right to the corkboard - but he shuts down when the game asks him to pick a side.

To extrapolate wildly from one dude's hangups, I think this is just part of the deal with therapy. The aim of a therapist is to make the subject more functional (particularly these days, when if you're lucky insurance will pay for ten sessions, and you better document exactly what worksheets you made your patients fill out) - and being functional means being able to be happy and productive in the society you're currently living in. If I go to a therapist and say I'm bummed out about all the murdering my government is doing they will suggest I stop watching the news, or, if I'm lucky, they'll try to help me figure out why I feel guilt about things I can't control. Delving into the whys and hows of said murdering is actively counterproductive.

This is not to say that therapy is inherently bad, or, like, counterrevolutionary, because making you a more functional person does help with a lot of things, including your ability to help others. It's just a useful thing to keep in mind when therapy and politics bump into each other. I read this paper when I was googling ABA for podcast reasons and it stuck with me. The thesis boils down to: because the world is imperfect and people need skills to live in it we should continue to torture children, and we don't have enough research to conclude that torture could be traumatic. This is on one level reasonable and on one level insane. It depends where you stand, and whether you think "ability to express affection towards parents" is worth that kind of intervention. But the authors wouldn't construe this as a political argument.

Anyway: with all this in mind, I very much recommend reading "The Saint of Bright Doors", which we will be covering on wizards vs lesbians soon.