Hiding Behind the Mask of Professionalism

An Open Letter from Alternative Solutions Center (ASC):

October 12, 2006

Dear Colleagues in the Mental Health Field:

Like many people in the Deaf community, the Gallaudet University protest
weighs heavily in our hearts today, as we are sure it does in yours, whether
or not you have taken a public stand.  As Deaf-centered psychotherapists and
alumnae of Gallaudet University, we cannot sit back on the couch in silence,
hiding behind a mask of professionalism, while grave social justice issues
are at stake.  We address this letter to our fellow colleagues in the mental
health field – psychotherapists, social workers, psychologists,
rehabilitation counselors, program administrators and coordinators,
educators, interpreters, lawyers, medical personnel, and other specialists
in the field, Deaf and hearing alike.

Neutrality or Authenticity:  Those of us who work in the mental health field
have often been taught that neutrality is one of our necessary professional
behaviors.  Outside of the therapy office, we ask, in what way does
neutrality serve us, our clients, and our Deaf community?  How do we act as
role models of authenticity and social responsibility by remaining silent,
by pretending to have no opinion, or by looking the other way during
discussions about the issues of oppression underlying the Gallaudet protest?

Oppression = No Mental Health:  Audism and racism (and many other isms) have
a negative impact on our clients’ and our own well-being.  Years of
oppression have taken their toll on the mental health of our Deaf community,
both at individual and collective levels.  Mental health cannot exist where
there is oppression, for oppression leads to hopelessness; where there is
powerlessness, for powerlessness leads to despair; where there is
inequality, for inequality leads to anger and resentment; where there is
audism and racism, for audism and racism lead to self-hatred and low
self-esteem.  As professionals, how can we be neutral about oppression, when
it is the enemy of mental health?

Social Justice is the Issue:  There can be no such thing as neutrality when
it comes to oppression, inequality, and prejudice.  When there is outrage
about the appalling statistic that only 3% of Gallaudet faculty members are
Deaf African Americans or Deaf Black Africans, when there is anger about the
University’s continuing hiring of hearing faculty, despite the already
existing excessively high ratio of hearing to Deaf faculty members, when
there is bitterness about departments refusing to provide interpreters for
professors when students cannot understand their signing, social justice is
absent.  No matter if we agree with the specifics of the Gallaudet protest
or not, the greater issue of the day is social justice, and it should be one
on which we all can agree.

Our Concerns:  We are concerned for the well-being of the protesters, who
have spent long days and nights fighting to be heard by the Gallaudet Board
of Trustees and administration.   We are concerned for the parents, who
worry, with good reason, about their children’s safety on a campus with a
less than stellar record for protecting its students from harm.  We are
concerned for the staff and faculty, who are taking great risks by joining
in the protest.  We are concerned for the alumni, near and far, who dream
that future generations of Deaf children will be able to attend an
oppression-free Gallaudet.  We care about our Deaf community and we are
concerned.

The Harm in Hiding behind Professionalism:  Being mental health
professionals does not preclude us from having our own opinions, nor does it
preclude us from taking a public stand.  What is more harmful to our clients
and our Deaf community:  hiding behind the mask of professionalism by
remaining neutral, or choosing to be authentic and speak up against
injustices?  

Fear or Freedom:  Some of you, at Gallaudet University and elsewhere, may be
afraid that speaking up could result in the loss of your job or future job
opportunities.  If you are Deaf, we ask, what price are you willing to pay
to work in a place free from oppression?  If you are hearing, we ask, is not
the likelihood that you can find other employment in a hearing environment
sufficient to inspire you to rally for social justice? 

Willing Participants or Not:  Do we, as mental health professionals, want to
be willing participants in the social injustices of audism and racism?  If
not, we must take a stand.  Supporting the request for the resignation of
Jane K. Fernandes is one way to begin; true progress toward social justice,
however, can only continue if all of us, individuals, University
departments, professional organizations, and mental health centers, commit
to righting what is so obviously wrong, now and in the future.

We ask you, our colleagues in the mental health profession, to get off the
couch and take a stand.

Respectfully,

Candace A. McCullough, PhD
Sharon M. Duchesneau, MA, LCPC