Doin' The Work: Frontline Stories of Social Change

Anti-Racist, Anti-Oppressive Mental Health - Hayden Dawes, LCSW

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Episode 41 Guest: Hayden Dawes, LCSW Host: Shimon Cohen, LCSW

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The University of Tennessee Knoxville College of Social Work (UTK) has a phenomenal social work program, with the opportunity to do your bachelor’s master’s, and doctorate of social work online. Scholarships are available.

In this episode, I talk with Hayden Dawes, who is a PhD student, researcher, therapist, clinical social worker, speaker, and compassion warrior in Greensboro, North Carolina. Hayden talks about his work on mental health disparities and equity, training clinicians with a cultural humility and anti-racist focus, and how all of this connects to policy. We discuss the need to talk about race, racism, and other forms of identity and systemic oppression within the clinical setting, as well as work on ourselves. Hayden explains some of his approaches to teaching and talking about racism, white privilege, and homophobia, rooted in a structural analysis. He shares how he looks at how internalized oppression affects him, particularly negative internalized messages, and how he has done that work clinically with clients – who are primarily people of color and LGBTQIA – to identify when “the oppressor is speaking.” Hayden emphasizes the need for White therapists to talk about race and racism with White clients and how racism should not only be a conversation for Black and Brown folks. We get into a discussion about identity, spaces, and different ways of pushing for change. Hayden also shares about how he got into this work. I hope this conversation inspires you to action.

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