At Cultivating Connected Living, the practice of decolonizing mental health includes approaching healing from a sustainability and community centered lens. Bettering mental health outcomes requires the removal of shaming and stigmatizing language to explain the ways that we experience and respond to the world around us. It also means being aware of the history that the mental health field has played in participating in upholding oppressive and harmful practices.

As we deepen our understanding of how colonization, capitalism (honestly, all of the -isms), government-sanctioned violence, systematic under-resourcing, and oppression enacted upon our lives, our families, and our communities, we are able to begin repairing the harm we have caused and experienced.

This is an important first step to learning how to explore our own familial, cultural, and ancestral wisdom as a means of leaning into the strengths and experiences that these connections afford us. Centering our connections to our roots allows us to build a strong foundational base from which to ground the work that we hope to do in strengthening meaningful connections, increasing our understanding of who we are, and laying the foundation for the generations we inspire.