Practice & Politics: An Essential Reader For Social Workers And Therapists

Is it appropriate for a therapist to be politicized? Can you be anti-oppressive as a psychodynamic therapist? What are the clinical implications of working with clients who request you as a queer or racialized therapist?

Practice & Politics: An Essential Reader for Social Workers and Therapists is a conversation-in-book form that explores these questions with depth and nuance. Edited by Rahim Thawer, MSW, RSW, this collection brings together the voices of queer and racialized clinicians who examine the intersections of identity, politics, and care within the fields of psychotherapy and social work. This first volume foregrounds the political nature of clinical and community practice. It emphasizes that therapeutic work never occurs in isolation but is continuously shaped by systems of power, privilege, and oppression, including colonial histories, racial hierarchies, capitalism, heteronormativity, and ableism. Readers are invited to reflect on how these forces influence both their clients and their own professional choices. Through essays, case examples, and critical conversations, Practice & Politics helps practitioners develop the vocabulary and conceptual tools to identify how systemic dynamics show up in therapeutic, organizational, and community settings. It encourages readers to move away from neutral or depoliticized approaches and toward more ethically engaged, reflexive, and socially attuned practices.

Rahim Thawer is a clinical social worker, psychotherapist, sessional lecturer, public speaker, curriculum developer, writer, and mental health and equity consultant based in Toronto. He has worked in LGBTQ and HIV-affected communities for 15 years and works from an integrated psychodynamic, Gestalt and CBT model of practice. He hosts a vodcast called The CBT Dive that explores intervention tools in real-time to demystify what therapy can look like. Rahim is interested in the intersection of mental health and systemic oppression as well as innovation in queer relationships. He's been named a Fellow at the Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies, at the University of Toronto, for his contributions to the field of sexuality. He was also an International Visiting Scholar at the South African College of Applied Psychology during the 2021/2022 academic year. He was a co-editor and contributor in a local anthology entitled Any Other Way: How Toronto Got Queer (Coach House Books, 2017) and his first book on queer guys and relationships will be published by Thorntree Press.

Carm De Santis, MSc, RP, RCFT, is an assistant professor (teaching stream) in the Department of Sexualities, Relationships, and Families (SRF) - formerly the Department of Sexuality, Marriage, and Family Studies (SMF) at St. Jerome's University in the University of Waterloo with a private relational and sex therapy and supervision practice. She facilitates courses that focus on the principles and practices of systemic thinking, social justice, inclusivity, and anti-oppression. Carm aims to support learners in conceptualizing and applying these practices into meaningful and therapeutic interventions while attending to intersecting identities in diverse contexts. She is constantly exploring innovative ways to weave theory and research into her practice as an educator, researcher, relational and sex therapist, and supervisor. Carm is invigorated by my interactions and conversations with students, clinical supervisees, and colleagues that tackle questions about justice, accessibility, and diversity, and that interrogate colonialism, white supremacy, and patriarchy. Her passion for lifelong learning and interdisciplinary training affords her the opportunity to work collaboratively with researchers and clinicians from various disciplines (e.g., sexology, family studies, social psychology, social work, counselling, medicine).Carm's research and clinical interests traverse sexual and relational well-being over the lifespan; diversity, inclusivity, and social justice; experiential learning; and self-reflection and transformational learning. Her doctoral dissertation focuses on consensual non-monogamy, inclusionary practices, and the constructs of pleasure.