The Narcissism of Our Field: Power, Privilege and Politics in Mental Health Education

Duration: 56m 46s

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In this special conversation, Akilah Riley-Richardson and Stan Tatkin engage in an honest conversation to examine the field of psychotherapy and its effect on marginalized people. They grapple with the questions: How can therapists undo injustice and marginalization? How can therapists center the knowledge of those who don’t have access?

Join Akilah and Stan as they discuss the field’s assumptions, name the privilege and access of thought leaders, and name the ways in which knowledge has been colonized. They will discuss the politics of the field, its blindspots, and the epistemological and ontological crises that the field faces. Most importantly, they will explore what we are now called to do.

Stan Tatkin, PsyD, MFT, is a clinician, author, researcher, PACT developer, and co-founder of the PACT Institute. Dr. Tatkin is an assistant clinical professor at UCLA, David Geffen School of Medicine. He maintains a private practice in Southern California and leads PACT programs in the US and internationally. He is the author of We Do, Wired for Love, Your Brain on Love, Relationship RX, Wired for Dating, and co-author of Love and War in Intimate Relationships, and the upcoming In Each Other’s Care.

Akilah Riley-Richardson, MSW, CCTP, is a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, a Brainspotting Therapist and Relational Healing Facilitator. She has received training in various areas including Somatic Experiencing, Playback Theatre, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, Neuroscience, Compassion Focused Therapy, and Internal Family Systems Therapy.