Liberation Psychology
What Is Liberation Psychology?
Liberation Psychology is a framework that centers the impact of systemic oppression, colonization, and social injustice on mental health. Rather than treating distress as an individual problem, this approach honors how personal pain is often rooted in collective experiences — including racism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, ableism, and other systems of power.
Developed by Latin American psychologist Ignacio Martín-Baró, Liberation Psychology calls on us to move beyond Eurocentric models of healing. It challenges the idea that therapy is a neutral space and instead invites critical reflection, community care, and action. This approach is especially helpful for clients navigating internalized oppression or the weight of generational trauma.
Challenging Internalized Oppression
Many of us carry stories that were never ours to begin with. Messages that told us we were too much, not enough, or fundamentally wrong — because of our skin, our body, our gender, our desires, or our struggles.
Liberation-focused therapy offers a space to name and unlearn those narratives. Together, we explore how systems like colonialism and white supremacy may have shaped your inner world, and we work to restore your connection to pride, agency, and belonging.
This may include confronting:
- Internalized racism and colorism
- Internalized homophobia, biphobia, or transphobia
- Shame around class, immigration, or language
- Religious trauma or cultural disconnection
- Disembodiment or self-silencing as survival strategies
Healing Through Cultural Pride and Resistance
- Center your cultural and personal identities as sources of strength
- Explore the impacts of intergenerational trauma and legacy burdens
- Use narrative and creative practices to rewrite internalized stories
- Integrate activism, spirituality, or ritual into your healing process
Who This Work Is For
Clients who benefit from this approach often include:
- BIPOC individuals navigating cultural trauma or colonial legacy
- Queer and trans clients facing intersectional discrimination
- Neurodivergent folks impacted by ableism and pathologizing systems
- Immigrants or adult children of immigrants negotiating identity
- Clients engaged in activism, community work, or decolonial practices
You don’t need to have the language for all of this. You just need to be curious, ready to unlearn, and open to redefining what healing can mean for you — on your terms.
Decolonizing the Therapy Space
Traditional therapy spaces often emphasize neutrality, individualism, and Western norms. Liberation Psychology disrupts this by inviting both therapist and client to name their positionality, challenge dominant narratives, and co-create a space that honors your lived truth.
In my practice, this may look like:
- Recognizing how culture, power, and history show up in the room
- Supporting political and community-based forms of healing
- Working collaboratively, not from a place of “expert” authority
- Allowing space for rage, grief, pride, and joy to coexist
Let’s Begin the Work
If you’re ready to explore your healing through a lens that honors culture, power, and collective liberation — I’d be honored to walk alongside you. Therapy should be a place where you can come as you are, name the truths that have shaped you, and begin to imagine what freedom might feel like in your body, your voice, and your relationships.