Erica Woodland Is Giving Culturally Delicate Care a Predominant Platform

Whereas psychological healthcare and repair suppliers are (rightly) being profiled and promoted, there’s a vital want for extra culturally responsive providers to be platformed. Specifically, providers devoted to queer and trans individuals of colour are wanted, as these communities face distinctive psychological well being challenges which might be typically missed or misunderstood by mainstream psychological well being providers.

Whereas there are lots of providers offering glorious care to those communities, the Nationwide Queer and Trans Therapists of Shade Community (NQTTCN), based by Erica Woodland, is actually one to be aware of.

Introducing Erica Woodland

Erica Woodland is a black, queer, non-binary therapist, and the founding father of the Nationwide Queer and Trans Therapists of Shade Community (NQTTCN). He’s a licensed medical social employee, therapist and he obtained his grasp’s diploma in social work from Hunter School in New York Metropolis.

Woodland’s journey started within the early 2000s when he labored as a therapist at a group well being heart in Brooklyn, New York. It was right here that he grew to become conscious about the shortage of assist for queer and trans individuals of colour inside psychological well being providers. Notably, Woodland noticed firsthand the influence of discrimination, trauma, and lack of entry to care on his shoppers’ psychological well being and well-being.

Founding the NQTTCN

Noticing a necessity that wanted to be stuffed, Woodland created the NQTTCN — a community of psychological well being practitioners, organizers, and activists devoted to offering culturally responsive psychological well being providers to queer and trans individuals of colour — in 2016. Moreover, the NQTTCN additionally works as a nationwide useful resource that gives coaching, schooling, and assist to psychological well being professionals who work with queer and trans individuals of colour.

Moreover, the NQTTCN additionally advocates for insurance policies and practices that assist queer and trans individuals of colour’s psychological well being. This advocacy consists of working with organizations, and collaborating with policymakers and funders to make sure that psychological well being providers are accessible and culturally responsive. The NQTTCN additionally advocates for the inclusion of queer and trans individuals of colour in analysis and information assortment, as a way to higher perceive and serve the psychological well being wants of those communities.

By his work with the NQTTCN, Woodland has turn into a number one voice within the motion for LGBTQ+ psychological well being advocacy and his contributions have been acknowledged by quite a few organizations, together with the Nationwide Heart for Transgender Equality and the Nationwide LGBT Activity Drive. In 2018, he obtained the Presidential Management Award from the Nationwide Affiliation of Social Staff (NASW).

And in 2019, he was chosen as a TED Fellow and delivered a TED speak titled “How Queer and Trans Individuals of Shade Are Saving Psychological Well being Care.” Woodland’s work with the NQTTCN has additionally been featured in publications equivalent to The New York Instances, Forbes, and The Huffington Publish.

Thus, the NQTTCN’s work is grounded within the perception that psychological well being is a basic human proper and that everybody deserves entry to care that’s culturally responsive. It additionally operates on the precept that queer and trans individuals of colour have distinctive psychological well being wants which might be typically ignored or marginalized by mainstream psychological well being providers. Subsequently, his work additionally serves as a robust reminder of the significance of intersectional advocacy and the necessity for culturally competent psychological well being providers for us all.

Why Culturally Responsive Care Is an Important Useful resource

Queer and trans individuals of colour expertise larger charges of discrimination, harassment, and violence, which may result in larger charges of despair, suicidal ideation, and PTSD. Moreover, attributable to his intersecting identities he additionally faces added stressors and hurt, equivalent to racism, homophobia, and transphobia.

As a way to fight this, culturally responsive psychological well being providers present psychological well being care that’s knowledgeable by a nuanced understanding of the cultural, social, and political components that influence the psychological well being of queer and trans individuals of colour. Woodland and NQTTCN are on the forefront of guaranteeing entry to this sort of care.

Particularly, the providers offered are performed from a basis that understands the ways in which systemic oppression—equivalent to racism, homophobia, and transphobia—impacts psychological well being outcomes. For instance, one research discovered that transgender and gender numerous people had been disproportionally burdened by substantial psychological well being disparities.

He additionally works to create a secure and affirming area for queer and trans individuals of colour by giving care that acknowledges the wants and experiences of those communities, whereas additionally creating an atmosphere the place they really feel seen, heard, and valued. As a fierce advocate for equitable care, Erica Woodland continues to be a serious chief within the psychological well being area.