383) Gabes Torres: Re-rooting therapy and re-membering community

“One of the introductions to Counseling Psychology teaches the Freudian concept of neutrality—when the patient’s social identity, when politics leave the door and you start treatment. But if we leave out identity, if we leave out the very sources as to why my client is sick in the first place, then I don’t see why this is not a cycle.”

In this episode, we welcome Gabes Torres, a therapist, organizer, and artist who was born and raised in the Philippines. Her work focuses on imperialism and its vast impact our collective mental health. She has an MA in Theology & Culture, and Counseling Psychology; both graduate degrees were accomplished in Seattle, the city where she organized with abolitionist and anti-imperialist groups at a local, grassroots level. In her clinical practice, Gabes works primarily with women, femmes, and/or trans patients of the global majority, and she is a mentor to therapists, organizers, artists, and culture workers around the world.

Some of the topics we explore include the lasting impacts of intergenerational trauma, the troubles of over-pathologizing and arbitrary pathologizing, dreams of a world where therapy is no longer needed, and more.

(The musical offering featured in this episode is The Witness by Rowan Rain. The episode-inspired artwork is by Fernanda Peralta.)

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