All About Social Justice- its importance for good mental health services

INTRODUCTION

When most people hear the word "social justice," what comes to mind? Better yet, what does the term make you, the reader, think of at first? Social justice means that resources, opportunities, and privileges are shared in a fair and equal way in society. When thinking about fairness in society, this blog shows how important it is for everyone to have access to good mental health services and how decolonizing services for mental health can help both the profession and the people who use them.

THERAPEUTIC APPROACHES

The year is 2023, and there are several therapy techniques available. The majority of these therapeutic techniques evolved from psychodynamic work. Psychodynamic treatment is a synthesis of psychoanalytic philosophies.

• SIGMUND FREUD ON THERAPEUTIC APPROACHES

Sigmund Freud, known as the "founding father of psychoanalysis," is credited with developing psychoanalysis in the 1900s. Psychoanalysis may be defined as the study of, or research of, the human psyche. Sigmund Freud addressed letters to his friends and coworkers on his working ideas when psychodynamic theory arose. Due to the early phases of his working theory, considerable literature evaluation did not occur until the late 1900s.

• THE GOAL OF PSYCHOANALYSIS

The goal of psychoanalysis is supposed to be to discover the depths of the mind and use them to alleviate suffering. Psychoanalysis is based on the idea that our upbringing impacts our adult experiences, hence molding our personalities. Sigmund Freud investigated himself, a Caucasian guy who identified as Jewish from Austria and lived in Vienna, and white, middle-aged women from Vienna, including his first hysterical patient, a Caucasian lady. Sigmund Freud did not introduce psychoanalysis to America until 1909, with a speech at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. Although psychoanalysis was created in the 1900s, it wasn't until roughly three decades later, there in the 1930s, that Sigmund's theory and practice gained traction in America, allowing more doctors to participate in the practice of psychoanalysis.

• INFLUENCE OF WORLD WAR II

As World War II raged on across the world, a number of recruited soldiers were assessed psychologically. As a result of World War II bringing in more Caucasian males and the growing interest in psychoanalysis among medical professionals, the majority of people who carried out psychoanalysis were white male medical professionals. Psychoanalysis was seen as a tool for determining what was going on in the patient's psyche.

As previously stated, Sigmund's caseload consisted mostly of Caucasian middle-aged women and men. From the beginning of the theory's development, the practitioners were Caucasian males who were doctors from Vienna who became followers of Sigmund and, afterward, other physicians all over the world. This resulted in less varied groups having access to such treatment procedures.

LACK OF DIVERSITY IN PSYCHODYNAMIC WORK

Whiteness in psychodynamic therapy has yet to be thoroughly investigated, handled, and comprehended due to the realities of white fragility and privilege. The amount of privilege that is clear in this therapeutic practice and theory is the lack of diversified journal publications since millions of Caucasians have written on and against psychodynamic treatment. This may be attributed to the lack of variety in the area of psychodynamic therapy.

• JOHN E. LIND VIEWS

John E. Lind, an American psychiatrist and student of Freud's ideas, wrote in 1914 that "the development of the black race is lower than that of the white race, and many black people have psychological traits that are similar to those of the savage." During the Jim Crow period, this was a widely held idea. If such a violent mindset can exist in mental health theory and the existing incapacity to further investigate and confront the racism that penetrates psychodynamic therapy, how can psychodynamic practitioners not reveal the unconscious mind driving their work? Mental health experts might also inquire and consider how this violent ideology subtly affects varied groups, such as the Black race, in terms of how they are diagnosed.

• SMITH JELLIFFE VIEWS

As Smith Jelliffe pointed out, diagnoses are produced for societal goals. Thus how can one claim that diagnoses and even "labeling" that are put on members of the Black race are not to unwittingly and purposefully maintain a narrative of the "black" being a savage? It is also crucial to highlight that while addressing the concept of psychodynamic work, there has been a lack of sampling from various different communities, as shown by a study of recent papers. There is also a dearth of a varied range of research work addressing psychodynamic work.

FACTORS TO FOCUS ON FOR MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

The reality of depression lies in the underlying structure of the mind in which Freud's libidinal drives and topographical structure of the mind bring forth conflicts in relation to an object. Freud delves into the fundamental causes of depression and points out that loss of an “object,” regression of libido into the ego, and ambivalence cause hidden conflicts, which manifest themselves as depressive symptoms and feelings. Whether these shifts fall within the category of genitality, as described in the libido theory, or fall under other categories, such as self-realization or the completion of one's own growth. Freud and his followers focused on adults' unconscious urges and how suppressed desires and memories shaped them in psychodynamic theory.

One premise and grounding of psychodynamic theory is its objective is not merely the eradication of symptoms but underlying characterological transformation.

The hypothesis does not account for the effect of the child's surroundings on the child's growth, which in turn influences the adult's psychology. The environment in this context may be subjectively or objectively stated; nonetheless, for the sake of this essay, mental health experts should concentrate on how the racial environment might affect libido. Mental health professionals need to conduct critical research on why these factors are crucial to take into account when analyzing the analysand.

They also need to think about how character changes may occur when the racial environment affects a child's and an adult's entire being, including their physical and mental health. Mental health providers must examine the possibility of a lack of characterological transformation for a Person of Color who lives in a marginalized neighborhood compared to a Caucasian person who has the luxury of their skin color to access better means to a better living. Mental health providers must recognize the impact that these variables may have on the unconscious mind of a person of color.

LACK OF DIVERSITY IN PSYCHODYNAMIC WORK CONT.

If the concept of "negro" development was inferior to that of the white race, then this may have contributed to the gatekeeping that has taken place in psychoanalysis, where only a tiny fraction of individuals of color are educated as psychoanalysts. The lack of diversity in the sector also has an effect on the populace getting the service.

If an analyst is responsible for analyzing an analysand, then who is responsible for analyzing psychodynamic methods' evident power differential? How could psychodynamic theory offer characterological improvement to its patients if its adherents are afraid to tackle the whiteness that has been absorbed via its veins as racism is visible throughout the work?

Psychodynamic therapy practitioners must address the whiteness that dominates this therapeutic practice and its effects on white and non-white people to decolonize this work. All analysts must prioritize decolonization because racial enactments impact how they analyze the analysand. We believe that psychodynamic education and training institutes would benefit from more diverse members as this would facilitate the provision of mental health care, more specifically psychoanalysis to neglected communities.

CONCLUSION

To properly implement social justice via psychodynamic therapy, the theory itself requires a facelift to attain a degree of self-actualization that racism exists in psychoanalytic work. Following this introspective process, psychodynamic work and its adherents will be better able to promote diversity, equal treatment, intersectionality, and a rejection of anti-racist efforts.

HELODIA DASTINE

References

Hysterie-Analyse, B. E. (1905). Editor's note to "Fragment of an Analysis of a case of Hysteria. In J. Strachey, The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud (pp. 1-122).

Jelliffe, S. (1913). The Technique of Psychoanalysis. The Psychoanalytic Review, 63-75.

Lind, J. (1914). The Dream as a Simple Wish-Fulfilment in the Negro. The Psychoanalytic Review, 295-300.

Marmor, J. (2022). Change in Psychodynamic Treatment. Psychodynamic Psychiatry, 269-278.

Mollenkamp, D. T. (2022, 07 08). Social Justice. Retrieved from Investopedia: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/social-justice.asp#:~:text=Social%20justice%20refers%20to%20a,deliver%20access%20to%20economic%20benefits.

Morgan, H. (2021). The Work of Whiteness: A psychoanalytic perspective. Journal of Child Psychotherapy, 141-154.

Rhee, S. (2017). Structural Determinist Aspects of Depression in Freud's "Morning and Melancholia". Psychoanalytic Social Work, 96-113.

Sigmund, F. a. (1916). The History of Psychoanalytic Movement. The Psychoanalytic Review, pp. 406-454.

Summers, F. (2021). What Is Psychoanalysis? A Brief Commentary on Bornstein and. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 315-326