Subversive Counseling

Catalog description

The course uses Ginwright's (2022) work to scrutinize how dominant mental health paradigms can perpetuate systemic oppression and explore alternative approaches that center the lived experiences of marginalized communities though the four pivots: 1) from lens to mirror, 2) from transactional to transformative, 3) from problem to possibility, and 4) from hustle to flow. Students will develop practical strategies for implementing liberatory practices within conventional mental health settings while maintaining professional ethics and standards of care. The course will frame the use of inner-system subversion from the viewpoint of Angela Davis, who defines subversion as in partnership with processes of system redesign, and who challenges us to "continue to be subversive until we have subverted the whole damn system of oppression." Students will have the choice to use one of three mental healthcare systems as a framework for planning subversion counselor practice: carceral systems, child protection systems, or systems of disability care management. RESTRICTED TO ICP AND ICPW STUDENTS