Our first Reading Group will happen in the last week of November! All tiers (even newsletter readers only tier 'Liberation Reader' will have an invitation!) are welcome. I have secured permission from Dr Proctor, the author of the book Burn Out, to share a section of the chapter on Bitterness. 1/

Looking forward to going to Historical Materialism in London next month. Will be speaking on the "Political Pathologies: revolutionary and counter-revolutionary approaches to mental health" panel. www.historicalmaterialism.org/event/twenty...

My dog is old. I'm so grateful that I can afford to treat her but OMG! Just been hit by one of those vet bills... I don't know how people are keeping their pets alive in this economy. Also, vets have been bought by corporations who pay profits to investors. Let that sink in.

💡Workshop: Power in Therapy Dec 8th, 6 to 8pm Concessions available Building on the definitions and questions presented during the webinar, we will gather as a small group to reflect on how power dynamics have impacted both our lives and our work. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1630744463...

🚨 New event South Dialogues: Migrant Subjectivity & Multiplicity 📌 Online via Zoom Tuesday 20th January | 1.30pm to 3pm Concessions available Free for Community Members www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/south-dial...

"We don’t just have a knowledge problem—we have a habit-of-being problem; the problem of whiteness is a problem of what we expect, our ways of being, bodily-ness, and how we understand ourselves as “placed” in time." - Alexis Shotwell

📝NEW BLOG Therapy and Liberalism part 3: Entrepreneurship of the Self Inundated with mandates to regulate and manage ourselves within this neoliberal system, we become navel gazers. There is no space left to consider the collective, the structural. southoftherapy.com/liberalism-a...

Training: Power in the Therapy Room Mon Dec 8th, 6 to 8pm Following from the introductory webinar on Power, we will explore this topic more in-depth by delving into the aspects of lived experience and power that can impact on therapeutic work. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/power-in-t...

The upcoming meetings schedule for our South of Therapy Community of Practice have been set for the 2025/2026 period. Complete with monthly newsletters that include reflections and resources for us to discuss. 1/

Questions of power in therapy are often missed in training and CPD. However, they are inherently linked to much of the work we do. We are prepared to deal with power and harm in interpersonal dynamics, but our profession often doesn't include structural and social perspectives.1/

Precision: Ce profil est 100% anti-colonial,l et pro-Palestine. Ici on considère que le colonialisme ne s'est jamais arrêté dans nos territoires su Sud, et que ces assemblages oppressifs sont toujours en marche pour assurer l'exploitation matérielle et l'écrasement mental de nos peuples. Voilou 😌

Bienvenue aux francophones qui m'ont suivi aujourd'hui 😊 Je suis une thérapeute et doctorante Peruvienne, qui se spécialise en santé mentale d'un point de vue social et anti-oppresion. 1/

Dreaming of therapeutic spaces: - grounded in social realities: Where family dynamics are considered as much as systemic dynamics, internalised messages we get from society, historical and intergenerational trauma, and the real impact of resource inaccessibility on our wellbeing. 1/

Happy to have delivered this event on Class & Intersections in Therapy for a training institution earlier this week! What an open and engaged group it was, I am grateful once more for this opportunity.

Training: Power in the Therapy Room Mon Dec 8th, 6 to 8pm Following from the introductory webinar on Power, we will explore this topic more in-depth by delving into the aspects of lived experience and power that can impact on therapeutic work. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/power-in-t...

We can remember Goodall’s accomplishments and legacy while recognizing that National Geographic created a narrative that erased the local people who contributed to her research. Her African colleagues deserve to be credited, not erased (10/10).

As a primatologist, Jane Goodall was a huge inspiration to me. I admired the way she describes chimpanzee behavior with such detail and empathy, and she’s inspired so many people and advocated for chimpanzee conservation and welfare. However, I'm dismayed at what her narrative leaves out (1/10)

Individualism may suit those who embody whiteness & capitalism. The entrepreneur mentality allows people to feel in control in their own lives, navigating society and wielding what little power they accumulate. 1/

"Results showed that participants preferred to learn autodidactically and had a preference to focus on tasks for longer periods of time as opposed to shorter tasks. Participants noted the many benefits of these interests" www.igi-global.com/chapter/an-i....

Just had our first community meeting. Small, gentle, deep conversations about purity. Forever grateful for the spaces that I have the honour to facilitate.

Our first community meetings: - Thursday 25th Sept - 2pm to 4pm - Friday 3rd Oct - 10am to 12pm All tiers (even newsletter readers only tier will have an invitation!) are welcome. We will have an important discussion about activism groups and how we want to BE together. 1/

Webinar: What Therapists Need to Know About On Donation Oct 13th 6pm - 7pm IN THREE WEEKS! This introductory session is an attempt to translate what philosophy tells us about power in our lives in a way that is directly applicable to therapeutic work. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/what-thera...

Our first community meetings: - Thursday 25th Sept - 2pm to 4pm - Friday 3rd Oct - 10am to 12pm All tiers (even newsletter readers only tier will have an invitation!) are welcome. We will have an important discussion about activism groups and how we want to BE together. 1/

Working with neurodivergent people has taught one important thing: sometimes intellectualising emotions is a defense mechanism that gets us stuck. Sometimes, it is a legitimate way of processing emotions. Things that therapy training do not cover... 1/

Open call for someone who would like to collaborate with me on the South of Therapy project. [please read till the end] I am looking for someone familiar and passionate about this project's ethics and political values, who is also communications & social media savvy. 1/

I you join our Community of Practice, you can claim your free ticket for this webinar... ... PLUS get the monthly newsletter with some pretty interesting resources and reflective prompts. Join us (and try it, or cancel anytime if you change your mind): buymeacoffee.com/sarmientover...

Social Determinants of Mental Health: We are social creatures made to live & grow in community and we can be deeply affected by factors that impact our experience in this society such as: Poverty Racism and Discrimination Social/Political Violence Gender Violence Migration 1/

In the confines of this profession that claims a desire for change, all I encounter is blinding whiteness.

I've had therapy spaces open up for online work. Weekly or fortnightly sessions, sliding scale. If you are looking for therapeutic support grounded in awareness of trauma & distress within the social context we live in, book your free consultation: www.luciasarmientoverano.com/contact/

An important part of the construction of identity, personally and collectively, is the idealisation of said identity around perceived (shared) values, (shared) experiences, and a (shared) history. 1/

Had to take a short break from looking at the data to regroup, read some of what I used for the lit review and remember what the focus of this research is... So here we are ready to tango with psychoanalytical understandings of colonial racism.

What's a verse? Everything, like the cry of a heartbeat.

I you join our Community of Practice, you can claim your free ticket for this webinar... ... PLUS get the monthly newsletter with some pretty interesting resources and reflective prompts. Join us (and try it, or cancel anytime if you change your mind): buymeacoffee.com/sarmientover...

📢Webinar: What therapists need to know about power Mon, 13th October Pay what you can afford *Free for Community of Practice members* We'll examine the social theories on power; the impact on mental health and possible applications in therapy settings. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/what-thera...

I write because the alternative is to let out a continuous scream at the top of my lungs until I disintegrate.

📝NEW BLOG Therapy and Liberalism part 3: Entrepreneurship of the Self Inundated with mandates to regulate and manage ourselves within this neoliberal system, we become navel gazers. There is no space left to consider the collective, the structural. southoftherapy.com/liberalism-a...

🚨 NOW OPEN The South of Therapy Community of Practice: A space for support & resources in your journey to develop an anti-oppressive praxis. A monthly newsletter with resources and reflective invitations, & regular meetings and reading groups. Join us: buymeacoffee.com/sarmientover...

The Feminist Imagination in Therapy is an in-person, one-day event for anyone who would like to think about ways of bridging the political and personal in therapy. Join us for a day of discussion and imagination! Ticket link in bio. #Feminism #TherapistSky #TherapistsConnect

Next newsletter will be sent next week, with a new blog, and news about the community. As always, it'll include extra resources on decolonial thinking and anti-oppression I've found online. Curated by moi. Subscribe here: bit.ly/3dLmP7l

An anti-oppressive perspective: Grief is sometimes denied or dismissed by society which makes it difficult to recognise. For example: Losses due to migration Loss of opportunities or an imagined life due to injustice Intergenerational losses due to colonial violence 1/

leaving a home: migration may be a source of excitement & opportunity. It can also be a source of disenfranchised grief & loss. Loss of a sense of home, relationships, cultural markers, paired with the imperative for adaptation and assimilation: the loss of a part of oneself. 1/

"the colonial order pathologises the emotional lives of people who are racialised non-white... And relegates the work of emotional expression and regulation to the most private of spaces and in disconnection with community or the collective." Read the full blog: southoftherapy.com/racism-and-t...

📝NEW BLOG: Weaving Homes A short & personal exploration of the deepest motivations behind the work I do, in the hopes that it will help with your own explorations. In these very dark times we sometimes need to hang on to what matters most. southoftherapy.com/weaving-homes/

Many others of course but these have been pivotal for me as well as those you mentioned.

Have you ever heard a therapist say: “I treat all my clients equally” ? This may sound fair, but only if you haven’t considered... 1/

The next newsletter will be sent out next Tuesday! A less-than-monthly email with new writings, announcements on upcoming events/goodies, and extra resources on decolonial thinking and anti-oppression. Curated by yours truly. Subscribe here: bit.ly/3dLmP7l

Neurodiversity and cultural diversity in relationships can be deeply enriching but also a source of complexities when it comes to navigating different ways of functioning, different boundaries, needs or ways to express them. Some things are important to acknowledge 👇 1/

Essential readings for mental health practitioners who want to develop a liberatory approach: 1/

I have a £5 voucher for waterstones and I'm keen on discovering good fiction books. Any recommendations? No young adult literature please, I can't stand it.

Grateful for my therapist suggesting intentional stimming as a way to support myself through the next few months, and helping me reflect on how that could be implemented.