Statement of Solidarity and Support for Black Lives

 

Introduction
The Eastern Group Psychotherapy Society is committed to repairing the social, psychological and economic wounds of racial violence and oppression. We believe that creating a safe, just, and loving society—a “large group”— calls for a commitment to the collective reckoning and dismantling of white supremacist ideology and culture. We believe that responding in safe, just and loving ways to the needs of our members and the communities we serve calls upon us to confront the dehumanization of Black people, Indigenous people and people of color, including transgender and non-binary people within those communities.

Police Violence

We stand in solidarity with people from around the world who have been moved by sorrow, grief and outrage at the police brutality inflicted upon Black bodies. We stand against the violence that has resulted most recently in the murders of Black Americans: George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, David McAtee, and Rayshard Brooks. To their families, we offer our heartfelt sorrow. For them, and for the thousands of unarmed, Black people killed before and since, we call for an end to the racist attitudes and racial terrorism that permeates so much of the policing institutions in our country.

Life Support

We stand in solidarity with those who recognize how the insidious legacy of slavery and the instruments of institutionalized racism have contributed to the over-representation of Black, brown, and Indigenous people among those killed by COVID-19. As an organization founded upon the humane delivery of group services in multiple settings, we stand against the systemic racism that restricts Black families’ access to healthcare, housing, and educational and economic opportunity. We stand against the discrimination that deprives Black Americans access to the services and resources that constitute a basic right to life.

Conclusion
This statement will mean little, if our commitment to dismantling white supremacist ideology and culture is not matched by action derived from our values. We have taken and will continue to take important steps in addressing these issues through our ongoing programming, by creating a Reparations Training Program Scholarship, and by implementing a racial dynamics curriculum in the Training Program. Although we are
encouraged by the steps that EGPS has begun to take in calling for and working toward Reparations for Slavery, it will not be enough. The work of social and emotional healing calls on us to continually affirm our values through reflection and action, while energetically encouraging the participation of all our members, in order to build a safe, just and loving society.

2020-2021 EGPS Board of Directors

Claudia Arlo	Erica Gardner-Schuster	Rudy Lucas
Wayne Ayers	Kevin Gillette	Jason Marx
Fabiola Desmont	Robin Good	Libby O’Connor
Randy Dunagan	Brooke Greene	Christine Schmidt
Carolyn Ehrlich	Joe Hovey	Steve Schneider
Laura Eidlitz	Kathleen Isaac	Jonah Schwartz
Ed Elder	Sara Jenkins	Virginia Seewaldt
Cal Flachner	Teresa Lee	Leah Slivko
Eva Fyer	Hilary Levine