when we are all free
Social Justice is Mental Health
Why Social Justice Must Be Addressed in Mental Health
The more I learn about mental health, the more confidence I have in social justice being an essential, inextricable part of mental health. We cannot heal our individual wellness, compassion, empathy, and self-worth without connecting to our communities—and if we connect to our communities, then we must address our collective wellness. Systems of oppression destroy our wellbeing, create disconnection, and craft hierarchies that continuously debilitate and disempower huge groups of people, and this affects us all.
It’s 2025, and we need now more than ever to connect with our communities in the name of social justice.
HEXACO Personality Inventory
What I Like:
Free for everyone, easy to take
Written by Ph.D.’s with clear consent for privacy and use of information
Checks for attentiveness, so you’re answering with intention
Expands on the Big 5 in a way that I think is helpful and applicable to daily life
What to Watch for:
The results page is not the easiest to interpret, it’s a bar chart with 10, 50, and 90th percentile for each category.
Take what works for you, leave the rest.
Starting with the Basics
Oppression 101
What I Like:
Easy to understand AND research-backed citations
Written specifically with clinical implications in mind
Written by Filipino professor EJR David, who also wrote “Brown Skin, White Minds”
Free copy of Chapter 1 (Oppression 101) online! Great starting point for definitions. Click on the image to check it out.
What to Watch for:
As with anything discussing the harm of oppression, some of these chapters can be very emotionally triggering or heavy, sometimes bringing up confusion or shame or resentment or anger. Honor your emotions while also balancing the support of grounding and coming back to the present moment. In this way, we can grow, and continuously engage with this work.
