We create this content from the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh, and Squamish Nations. As settlers providing therapy services in so-called Vancouver, we’re committed to moving beyond acknowledgment into active accountability.
In This Guide:
- Decolonizing Toxic Positivity in Mental Health
- Understanding Rage as Wisdom in Anti-Oppressive Therapy
- Embodied Approaches to Processing Rage
- Cultural Safety and Anger Expression
- Rage as a Tool for Collective Liberation
- Social Justice Oriented Approaches to Anger
- Building Cultural Safety Around Rage
- Next Steps
Decolonizing Toxic Positivity in Mental Health
In the landscape of anti-oppressive therapy and culturally responsive counselling, we must examine how toxic positivity perpetuates harm, particularly for BIPOC communities navigating systemic oppression. The “good vibes only” narrative isn’t just annoying – it’s a tool of oppression that dismisses legitimate anger at injustice.
When therapy spaces push positivity without acknowledging rage, they participate in tone policing that has historically been used to silence marginalized voices. Through anti-oppressive therapy approaches, we understand that forced positivity often serves to maintain systems of oppression by making anger – a natural response to injustice – seem “unprofessional” or “unhealthy.”
Reflection Questions:
- How has toxic positivity impacted your relationship with anger?
- What messages have you received about expressing rage?
- When have you felt pressured to “stay positive” in the face of injustice?
Understanding Rage as Wisdom in Anti-Oppressive Therapy
Within social justice oriented therapy, we recognize rage as a form of ancestral wisdom and protective intelligence. Your anger carries important messages about boundaries, justice, and what needs to change. In culturally responsive counselling, we understand that rage often points us toward what matters most.
This understanding challenges colonial mental health frameworks that pathologize anger, especially when expressed by marginalized communities. Through decolonizing mental health care, we see how rage can be a compass pointing toward healing and liberation.
Embodied Approaches to Processing Rage
In anti-oppressive therapy, we explore how rage lives in the body and how culturally safer spaces in therapy allows for its full expression. This might manifest as:
- Tension in the jaw and shoulders
- Heat in the chest and face
- A surge of protective energy
- Changes in breathing patterns
- Physical urges to move or sound
Understanding these sensations through culturally responsive counselling helps us honor rage as a natural part of the human experience, especially for those navigating systemic oppression.
Culturally Safer Spaces and Anger Expression
Different cultures hold varying wisdom about anger and its expression. Through anti-oppressive therapy approaches, we honor these diverse understandings rather than imposing colonial standards of “appropriate” emotional expression.
Cultural safety in therapy means creating space for rage to be expressed in ways that align with cultural values and practices. This might include collective expressions of anger, cultural rituals, or traditional practices that honor the transformative power of rage.
Rage as a Tool for Collective Liberation
In social justice oriented therapy, we understand that rage has historically been a catalyst for change. From civil rights movements to indigenous land protection, justified anger has powered liberation work for generations.
Through anti-oppressive therapy, we explore how channeling rage can:
- Fuel movements for justice
- Protect boundaries and dignity
- Challenge oppressive systems
- Build solidarity in community
- Transform pain into power
Social Justice Oriented Approaches to Anger
Culturally responsive counselling recognizes that working with rage requires creating genuine safer spaces that addresses power dynamics – not just comfort. This means:
- Acknowledging systemic contexts
- Honoring cultural expressions of anger
- Supporting collective processing
- Challenging tone policing
- Validating rage as wisdom
Building Cultural Safer Spaces Around Rage
Through anti-oppressive therapy approaches, we understand that healing with rage often happens in community. This might look like:
- Collective spaces for expressing anger
- Cultural practices that honor rage
- Community rituals for transformation
- Shared understanding of systemic contexts
- Mutual support in liberation work
Next Steps in Your Healing Journey
Ready to explore anti-oppressive therapy approaches that honor your full range of emotions? Here are some ways to connect:
- Take our 3-minute questionnaire to receive personalized therapist recommendations that align with your experiences and needs.
- Explore our free resource database for more information about decolonizing mental health care and cultural safety in therapy.
- Book a free consultation to explore how anti-oppressive therapy might support your healing journey.
Your rage carries wisdom. In culturally responsive counselling, we create space for all your emotions as part of the journey toward collective liberation.
