Mental Health and Trauma Management Workshops
The Trans community faces trauma on a regular basis; there is rampant mental, physical and sexual violence. Even a walk down the street results in intrusive, interrogative and hateful stares. Those who have the access to workspaces face discrimination, those who don’t are exploited and live in dire poverty. Trans youth face bullying in schools and colleges. For example, a trans woman has to act as a man with an erection in a sex comedy, in one of the most liberal colleges in the country; another trans woman faces discrimination in toilets, she isn’t allowed to use the ‘Ladies’ washroom, and feels incredibly unsafe in the ‘Gents’. These are violent acts that affect Trans individuals .
Spaces for counselling can also be biased, even when they take place in queer sensitive environments. In a recent case, a trans feminine person was refused a GD certificate, because they did not adequately ‘convince’ the counselor of their identity.
There is also a vocabulary of medical terminologies and pathologies that will not make sense to grassroots level community members. The process therefore, can be tedious and as a result counterproductive for the community members who live life in a constant state of urgency. We feel, that community building and therapy as expression will allow them to use the tools they already have to gain an outlet.
Activities
Our Activities include the following four segments:
- Therapy as Expression and moral Boosting Workshops
- Professional Consultation with Community Members
- Mental Health Workshops and Awareness Programs with Community Members and their families
- Awareness Programs in Colleges to sensitize students and faculty about Trans and Queer Mental Health
- Story telling method to act on certain traumatic situation and find a collective opinion to deal with that