Therapists are not blank slates. We are human beings who are affected by the world we live in - its people, its communities, its laws, its injustices - and who are trying to help our clients heal in a broken world. Therapists are done being neutral and hiding behind the illusion of objectivity. 

Therapists In Action (TIA) was formed in response to the mass shootings in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas in May 2022. We were tired of the gun violence and tired of the violence of white supremacy. Shortly after forming, the Supreme Court of the United States overturned Roe v. Wade. Therapists and other mental health providers should have collectively acted sooner to use what influence and privilege we have to resist and prevent violence against Black people, women, and children. 

But we are acting now. And we are acting from the understanding that race and white body supremacy touches every injustice we currently face as a nation. Therefore, while Therapists In Action hopes to influence issues such as gun violence, reproductive justice, and LGBTQIA+ rights, we are also committed to “making race our work”. 

Please watch this video of psychotherapist Ken Hardy speaking at the Psychotherapy Networker conference in 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTFZ_3mMbLI

If you are a mental health provider and are ready to join with us, please sign this pledge.

As a member of Therapists In Action, I, _____________, understand that white body supremacy is inextricably tied to all social injustices and human rights violations in this country; that anti-racism work requires honest self-reflection and loving community engagement; that as a mental health provider I have power to influence social progress; and that progress and change is only possible through collective action, sustained over the long term.

As a member of Therapists In Action, I, _____________, pledge to use whatever power, privilege, or social advantage I have to protect the basic human rights of those most marginalized in our society; to resist and oppose oppression and further marginalization of these groups of people; to confront racism and white body supremacy in our society, in my community, and especially in myself; to mobilize others and to be mobilized to effect social change; and to support and respect the wisdom, experience, expertise, goals, and movements of mental health providers, healers, and activists who are Black, Indigenous, and other people of color/culture, as well as social justice organizations who are engaged in social justice and social healing.

Furthermore, I, _____________, pledge to co-create, with other Therapists In Action members, an embodied anti-racist culture within this organization; the kind of culture this society needs in order to have any hope at all of establishing true equality.

Ethical Guidelines for Membership in Therapists In Action

1. I will be self-reflective and acknowledge when I have societal privilege.

2. I will listen to and take in feedback from TIA members who are from communities or who are in identities most marginalized by racism and white body supremacy.

3. I will respectfully respond to feedback from TIA members who are from communities or who are in identities most marginalized by racism and white body supremacy.

4. I will also listen and be responsive to constructive feedback from TIA members who share my identities and societal privileges.

5. I will acknowledge the immense amount of wisdom, education, and action that has come before from people of the global majority. I will continue to seek learning from people of the global majority and I will encourage others to do the same.

6. I will seek networking and connection with groups who have already been doing social justice and anti-racism work, led by people most impacted by these issues, and will share access to our community, to our work, and to our resources with them.

7. I will connect anti-racism understanding to each human rights and social justice initiative taken on by Therapists In Action.

[Adapted from “Code of Ethics for Antiracist White Allies, by JLove Calderon and Tim Wise, Sponsored by SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice)”]

I, _____________, have read and agree to abide by the Ethical Guidelines of Therapists In Action.