Liberatory Disruption & Sacred Rage: In Conversation with Dr. Jennifer Mullan
In the last several decades, mental health counseling and other therapeutic modalities have become more common and widespread, but the therapeutic field has been largely formed and formalized through white, Western, male perspectives. Dr. Jennifer Mullan, founder of Decolonizing Therapy, works to bring awareness of intergenerational trauma, colonization, and ancestral memory into the field. In this episode she talks about her approach with individuals and with collective movement building, the links between trauma and intuition, and some of her current work with sacred rage. Follow Dr. Mullan on Instagram @decolonizingtherapy and check out her website www.drjennifermullan.com *** Dr. Jennifer Mullan creates spaces for people and organizations to heal.
She believes that it is essential to create dialogue to address how mental health is deeply affected by systemic inequities and the trauma of oppression, particularly the well-being of Queer Indigenous Black Brown People of Color (QIBPOC). Dr. Mullan has earned her Doctorate of Psychology (Psy.D) in Clinical Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies; a Master’s in Counseling & Community Agencies from New York University’s Steinhardt School of Education; and her Bachelors of Arts in Psychology and Elementary Education, from New Jersey City University.
She notes that her dissertation: “Slavery and the Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma in Inner City African American Male Youth: From the Cotton Fields to the Concrete Jungle,” has been a primary foundation for her current work in furthering emotional wellness on a larger collective scale for communities of color. Dr. Mullan is currently a full-time Psychologist at New Jersey City University’s Counseling Center, facilitator for the campus LGBTQIA+ Support group, Coordinator of the University’s nationally recognized Peer Education program (Peers Educating Peers), Instructor for Graduate Counseling courses, and a proud LGBTQIA+ Gothic Knight Ally Safe Zone Trainer. She has almost 15 years of experience in clinical practice, higher education, teaching, and grant writing.
She is passionately committed to solidarity work that effectively addresses inequities based on race, gender, class, ability, gender identity, and sexual orientation. Her professional research and clinical interests include complex and intergenerational trauma, group psychotherapy, LGBTQIA wellness, spirituality & mindfulness practices, racism as trauma, healing in therapeutic settings, self-love as a revolutionary act, and the process of decolonizing mental health. Dr. Mullan also centralizes Historical and Intergenerational Trauma, which she identifies as Ancestral Trauma, at the crux of decolonization work. Through the movement of Decolonizing Therapy, Dr. Mullan can be found providing international keynotes, holding Radicalizing Rage workshops, doing Coaching sessions while un-training mental health professionals, providing Ancestral healing sessions, or spending time with her Goddess cat, Isis.