July 22, 2020
Written by
Sarai Thach
On Wednesday, July 8th, 2020, we hosted a video AMA with Courtney Watson, LMFT on the Osmind community. Courtney has dedicated her life to the decolonization process for BIPOC and incorporates psychedelic-assisted therapy into her work. She is the founder of Doorway Therapeutics, a group therapy practice based out of Oakland, California. You can watch a video of the full AMA here. Here are some of the key questions and answers in the summarized form:
Look at white supremacy in the medical community. Black people receive less pain medication than others because of the myth that the black community has a higher pain tolerance. Look at the education system and see where white supremacy and anti-blackness lies. Is there space for queer folks in this area? How do we look for the phobias that are present in this system? How can we educate ourselves?
When I have a client I know that the hour between patient and client is safe but once that hour is over they may feel unsafe in their outside environments and in the rest of their lives. A provider should take that into consideration.
The mental health space needs more representation and diversity from the BIPOC and nonconforming community in leadership spaces, like APA and AAMFT. Conversations need to be guided by these communities because they have been guided by the white community for too long.
Surgeries are only affirming for what trans patients already know to be true and will likely have a positive effect on their mental health.
Marginalized communities are less trusting of medical professionals because of the systemic issues and discrimination that are happening within the community. There is a higher chance that a black woman will die giving birth compared to a white woman and statistics like this have caused me to feel a sense of distrust for the healthcare system.
I myself have had to search high and low for a doctor after experiencing issues with my provider. There are health disparities for the black community, and the roots of white supremacy in the medical community do not make it safe for anybody. The people who are marginalized should not only have to be advocating for themselves; others should advocate for them as well.
Thank you for tuning in! For our next AMA on Wednesday, July 22nd, check out Chi, a global psychedelics advocate and founder of Tripsitters. You can sign up for an account on the forum to post your questions for Chi.
Osmind’s mission is to maximize patient access to innovative mental health treatments where other therapies have failed. We do that by building software to improve the patient experience, empower providers to deliver better care, and help life sciences organizations get psychedelic medicine and other groundbreaking therapies onto the medical market.
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