US with Dr. Crystallee Crain: Critical Conversations On the Challenges and Opportunities of Our Times: Unpacking Stress, Trauma, and Systems of Oppression

Dr Darlene Hall is a black lesbian psychologist with strong social justice. Born on the same day as the legendary bell hooks, Dr Hall is unwavering in her commitment to mental and physical health, eliminating oppression and improving life chances. Dr Hall has 25 years experience in the mental health field as a direct service provider in community mental health, nonprofit, and private practice settings working with communities that are diverse, underserved, and disenfranchised, including low income, people of color, women, the LGBTQIA community, children and youth. Dr Hall has a thriving psychotherapy practice and a consultancy - called Intersections consulting where she provides training, coaching, facilitation, technical assistance and much more.

I have brought Darlene on the show to share with us her analysis and perspectives on the impacts of oppression on our mental health and to discuss potential strategies to heal ourselves.

I, like many others, understand how we can be directly and indirectly impacted by the “isms” of the world. Over a decade ago I ran a violence prevention certificate program for practitioners in Oakland, and I used to tell my students that the things that happen to us don’t define us. I remind myself about our internal strength and ancestral knowledge of what we know and how we got that knowledge.

In this episode Dr Hall and I discuss the connections between stress, trauma, and systems of oppression.