Course Name

The Golden Thread of Power, Privilege, & Oppression in Psychotherapy

Continuing Education Credits

Completion of this course will provide six (6) Continuing Education Credit hours with the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists (AASECT), and the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC).
Instructor

Eduardo Viezca, LCSW, ABD (he, they)

Format

*3 Separate 2-Hour Live Online Webinars
Total time:
6 Hours

*Jan. 31st - 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM MST
Feb. 21st - 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM MST
Apr. 4th - 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM MST
Price
Various pricing for students, DFI Alumni, and Professionals.(See below for pricing table.)

Course Description

This is one of two foundational 6-credit courses that make up the Queer Youth Certificate Program at the Denver Family Institute (DFI). In this foundational course, students will interrogate the various expressions and mechanisms of power, privilege, and oppression that are prevalent within the American mental health system and marriage family therapy. This course is grounded upon DFI’s values of diversity and inclusivity. It explores critical frameworks that can guide the practice of a systemic family therapy that is inclusive, anti-oppressive, and affirms queer youth. Some topics that students will explore are European colonization’s impact on present-day mental health, histories (or ourstories) of queer identity in the US, theories of intersectionality, reflexivity, socio-cultural humility, and the connections between values, theory and practice. 

Additionally, students will explore how power, privilege, and oppression operate within interpersonal and intrapersonal levels, and will engage in an ongoing reflection of personal and institutional biases that can hinder inclusive clinical practice with queer youth and their families. This is an interdisciplinary course that threads together different fields—within and outside of mental health—that have made strides towards unpacking and making meaning of social justice in the world. Some of these fields and their respective frameworks include LGBTQ+ studies, feminist studies, decolonial studies, and liberation psychology.

Learning Objectives

  • Students will be able to identify ways in which they can engage in anti-racist and decolonial practices in therapy.
  • Students will be able to identify feminist family therapy frameworks and describe their relevance to marriage and family therapy practice.
  • Students will deepen their understanding of the links between values, theory, and practice as they pertain to marriage and family therapy.
  • Students will be able to identify examples of various ways in which European colonization continues to impact present-day mental health and psychotherapy.
  • Students will demonstrate a deepened understanding of theories of intersectionality, reflexivity and socio-cultural humility.
  • Students will review historical examples of the ways in which power, privilege, and oppression have impacted the mental health perceptions of sexually diverse individuals.

Detailed Agenda

Class 1 (2 hours):
  1. Opening meditation (5 minutes)
  2. Housekeeping items (5 minutes)
  3. Instructor introduces course (30 minutes)
  4. Personal Introductions (20 minutes)
  5. Instructional Lesson on values; ontology, axiology, epistemology (30 minutes)
  6. Discussion (25 minutes)
  7. Closing Remarks (5 Minutes)


Class 2 (2 hours):
  1. Opening meditation (5 minutes)
  2. Learning objectives (2 minutes)
  3. Check-ins (8 minutes)
  4. Review Key Information Regarding Queer History & Mental Health (45 minutes)
  5. Discussion and exploration of practice application (55 minutes)
  6. Closing remarks (5 minutes)


Class 3 (2 hours):
  1. Course Agenda (2 minutes)
  2. Opening Meditation (5 minutes) 
  3. Learning Objectives (3 minutes)
  4. Brief Check-Ins (10 minutes)
  5. Review concepts of colonialism and coloniality (40 minutes)
  6. Review examples of present-day coloniality in mental health (30 minutes)
  7. Discussion on decolonization in MH practice (20 minutes)
  8. Closing Meditation (5 minutes)
  9. Concluding Remarks (5 minutes)

*Note: This course will be taught live on three Fridays:
Friday, Jan. 31st - 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM MST
Friday, Feb. 21st - 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM MST
Friday, Apr. 4th - 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM MST

It will be available for a la carte purchase & viewing the following week.

ABOUT THE Instructor

Eduardo Viezca, LCSW, ABD (he, they)

Eduardo Viezca, LCSW, ABD (he, they) is a licensed therapist by way of social work, a Maya Priest, an emerging scholar-activist-creative, and therapist in private practice. He joined the faculty at DFI in 2024 where he designed and taught the new course, “MFT 651-Self of the Therapist II: Advanced Use of Self and the Reflexive Therapist,” for DFI’s marriage and family therapy training program. Eduardo will be teaching DFI’s new course for the Queer Youth Program titled “The Golden Thread of Power, Privilege, and Oppression in Psychotherapy.” 

Eduardo is currently the owner Eduardo’s Integral Wellness LLC, a therapy private practice that focuses on providing relational, mindfulness-oriented psychotherapy to multicultural and queer individuals and couples. He is also owner of The Love Coach LLC where he provides spiritual, shamanic consultation to highly creative, highly empathic individuals wishing to cultivate more soulful living and love in their lives. Eduardo is also completing his Ph.D. at the Pacifica Graduate Institute based out of Carpinteria and Montecito, California. The preliminary title of his dissertation study is “Liberating the Colonized Wounded Healer in Depth Psychology: Dialoguing Decolonial and Jungian Studies Via the Creative Works of Gloria E. Anzaldúa.” Eduardo’s scholarly interests explore the psychological impacts of European colonization, with specific attention placed on the impacts on the coloniality of gender, race, sexuality, family, and spirituality. 

Eduardo received his bachelor’s degree in environmental design from the University of Colorado Boulder, his MSW from the University of Denver, and is a graduate of the Denver Family Institute’s MFT training program. He has presented interdisciplinary scholarly papers at international venues such as The Journal of Analytical Psychology’s International Congress, the Harvard School of Divinity's Program for the Evolution of Spirituality, and the Latin American Studies Association’s International Congress. 

He and his husband Javier currently reside in New York City.

Enroll Today!

Our Pricing Policy: 
In order to make our material as accessible as possible, we offer the following discounts:
Established MFT / Mental Health Professional [5 yrs+]
$420
Newer MFT / Mental Health Professional [1 - 4 yrs] 
$357
Use code "NEWPRO" at checkout.
DFI Alumni
$315
Use code "DFIALUMNI" at checkout.
Non - DFI Student
$273
Use code "STUDENT" at checkout.
Current DFI Student
$181
Use code "DFISTUDENT" at checkout.
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