Anti-oppressive practice
Why is Anti-Oppressive Care Important?
Anti-oppressive care is about more than providing mental health services; it’s a commitment to actively challenge inequalities and break down the barriers that can make it harder for people from marginalised communities to access the care they deserve. Many people whether due to race, gender, sexuality, disability, or socio-economic status — experience additional stressors and barriers to accessing care. These can range from outright discrimination to more subtle biases and microaggressions.
Oppression can show up in many ways, both obvious and hidden. Anti-oppressive care is about recognising these dynamics and actively working to reduce their effects on our clients' mental health. It's about making therapy a space that genuinely feels supportive, empowering, and healing for everyone — no exceptions.
What Anti-Oppressive Care Can Look Like
Anti-oppressive care is an active process. It means consistently examining and questioning power dynamics, both in the counselling room and in broader society. This can take many forms, including:
Cultural Humility: We don’t assume we know everything about your experiences. We strive to understand and respect your cultural background, identity, and everything that makes you you. This requires continuous learning, self-reflection, and openness to hearing from our clients—because you’re the expert of your own life.
Inclusive Language: Words matter. We choose our language carefully to ensure it’s not only respectful but reflective of your unique identity and lived experiences. For many in marginalised communities, this can be especially important, since they may have faced having their identities misrepresented or erased in the past.
Challenging Systemic Barriers: Working to dismantle systemic barriers that impact access to mental health care, such as stigma around mental health in certain communities, financial difficulties, or lack of culturally appropriate services.
Client-Centred Empowerment: This isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. You’re not just a passive participant in therapy; you’re the driver in your healing journey. By collaborating with you, we empower you to take control of your own process, setting goals and shaping the therapeutic techniques that work best for you.
Marginalised Communities: Approaches to Counselling
There is a range of counselling approaches that can be adapted to help individuals from minority backgrounds:
Culturally Sensitive Therapy: Your culture, experiences, and identity shape who you are. That’s why we tailor our therapeutic approach to honour your personal story. We work with you to understand your cultural context, ensuring that your experiences are respected, so you feel safe and truly understood. By recognising the richness of your background, we can build a stronger, more compassionate connection in therapy, reducing the chance of misunderstandings or biases that could get in the way of your healing.
Trauma-Informed Care: For many people from marginalised communities, the wounds of trauma are deepened by the effects of systemic oppression, racism, homophobia, transphobia, and other forms of discrimination. In our trauma-informed care, we acknowledge these layers of pain and offer a space where you can feel supported and empowered to heal.
Intersectional Approaches: We understand that you are not defined by just one part of your identity. Your race, gender, sexuality, disability, age, and many other factors all come together to shape your experience. That’s why our approach to therapy is grounded in intersectionality—acknowledging that your challenges are influenced by the unique combination of your identities. By understanding the full scope of your experiences, we can better support you in ways that honour all the parts of who you are.
Advocacy and Social Justice: We are here to walk with you in challenging times. We believe in advocating for change, and we are here to stand alongside you as you navigate the barriers that systemic oppression can create. Whether it’s challenging social inequalities or finding ways to empower yourself within those systems, we are here to support you every step of the way. When it feels like the world is working against you, know that we’ll work with you to face those challenges.
How Anti-Oppressive Practice Helps
Counselling can be transformative for people from marginalised communities. It offers a space where individuals can explore their identities, process trauma, and gain tools to manage the additional stressors that come with living in a society shaped by systemic inequalities. Through counselling, you can develop strategies for dealing with discrimination, managing the impacts of microaggressions, and building resilience against the mental health impacts of oppression.
Marginalised individuals often face feelings of isolation, disempowerment, or invisibility. Therapy can help you reconnect with your strengths, build a sense of community, and reclaim your agency. It can also help to address co-occurring mental health challenges, such as depression, anxiety, or trauma, which may be exacerbated by experiences of discrimination or exclusion.
Moreover, counselling can be a critical tool in fostering self-acceptance. For those who have faced stigma or rejection because of their identity, therapy offers a space to affirm and celebrate who you are. By engaging in anti-oppressive care, we help you to feel validated and empowered, improving your quality of life and overall mental well-being.
At Riverside Counselling, we are committed to providing care that not only addresses individual mental health concerns but also challenges the broader systems of oppression that contribute to those struggles. Our anti-oppressive approach ensures that all clients, regardless of their background, receive the compassionate, inclusive support they deserve.