Slowing Down to Grow Stronger Roots for Resistance
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The colours in the background are made up of blocked triangles and shapes which overlay to create a lighter colour palette.
An audio version of this blog post is available here.
Published on 26th November 2021
Capitalism has fooled us into believing that our capacity to work, to keep going, to push through, and to always be productive are 'good' qualities to hold. We have been tricked into believing that our self-worth is intrinsically linked to our professional working identities, and therefore, if we need to pause, stop or slow down, then we are failures.
This grind culture is not only toxic, but is fundamentally violent, especially towards disabled, poor and working class people, migrants and Black and brown people. Our right to safety, health, and time to heal should never be predicated on our worthiness in economic, or consumerist terms. Pressure to be productive, to always give and offer immediacy make us sick. Our work is not here to be consumed. Our bodies are not here to be consumed. Racial capitalism will have us pushing our weary bodies into sickbeds, in our attempts to survive a system that wants to kill us.
As Sins Invalid share "our communities are often treated as disposable, especially within the current economic, political and environmental landscapes. There is no way to stop a single gear in motion - we must dismantle this machine."
As therapist’s we understand that access to safe healthcare services and ethical therapy is a privilege. We know that time; a white, european, man-made construct is a privilege, as well as a tool of oppression. We understand that structural inequality and systemic violence is a conscious manoeuvre to subjugate and marginalize bodies that are not healthy, wealthy, or white.
Therefore, our ethical duty of care to our clients is to also dismantle the harmful systems that compound trauma and generations of colonial violence. We have a duty of care to prioritise slowing down to collectively nurture our own marginalised bodies as part of this work, because, in the famous words of Audre Lorde; “caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”
There is a fantasy that slowing down is not work. I strongly contest this and argue that it takes perseverance to centre sustainability as a practice of care towards self and community.
During this time between autumn and winter great energy is poured into the process of turning inwards; leaves falling from trees to conserve energy, animals gathering food for hibernation, and building warm places to take refuge in harsh winter conditions. RTN will also be turning inwards during this transitional period to focus more resourcefully on formalising as a Community Interest Company, and building a clear strategy for resistance and transformation within the therapy world.
We are dedicated to truly rooting ourselves within a sustainable, and community centred framework, whereby anti-racist and decolonial praxis is embedded within the foundations of anti-capitalism and disability justice. Therefore it is necessary to prioritise our own bodies and health as part of our shared values and long-term strategy.
During this period RTN will be;
Pausing new membership
Pausing Member’s internal support groups and learning groups
Honouring collaborations or commitments already in motion
Declining new projects
Sharing the workload between four co-directors
Prioritising our own health needs
Slow to reply to emails and on social media
Focusing our attention to becoming a CIC
Developing a rigorous membership and accountability process
Developing therapist training for the QTIBIPOC Therapy Fund
Continuing our closed groups ‘On Being White & Other’ and ‘Towards Somatic Abolition’.
We continue to be accountable to all Members of RTN through ongoing Community Meetings and transparent email communication. Our approach will always be collective, and this affords us permission to move towards our shared values and objectives with rigour.
We warmly appreciate your ongoing support, and look forward to re-emerging stronger, together.
Power to you,
Sage and Radical Therapist Network.
References
Lorde, A (2017) ‘ A Burst of Light and Other Essays’, New York, Ixia Press
Sins Invalid (2020) ‘What is Disability Justice?’, https://www.sinsinvalid.org/news-1/2020/6/16/what-is-disability-justice
About
Sage M Stephanou (they/them) is the founder of Radical Therapist Network, an art therapist and community organiser. Please consider paying this work forward by becoming a Patron and donating to the RTN QTIBIPOC Therapy Fund.