FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - s4story -- A quiet revolution is reshaping therapy. The once-sacrosanct ideal of the "neutral" therapist is collapsing under today's political realities. Clients are no longer asking therapists to be apolitical. They want caregivers who understand that their anxiety, depression, and trauma are often logical responses to a world in crisis, not personal pathology.

This shift is driven by a generation navigating overlapping emergencies: rising authoritarianism, attacks on bodily autonomy, racial injustice, and economic precarity. In response, the Liberatory Wellness Network (LWN), founded by Black, Disabled therapist and organizer Patricia S. Duggan, has emerged as an essential hub. It connects people with practitioners who believe healing must be rooted in justice, not neutrality.

"Neutrality in the face of injustice is not therapeutic; it's complicity," says Duggan. "People come to therapy carrying the weight of systemic harm—racism, ableism, transphobia, economic violence. They need a witness who names these forces, not a professional who pathologizes their survival."

Launched in 2024, LWN began as a simple directory for justice-oriented practitioners. It has since grown into a national community of hundreds of therapists, somatic practitioners, Indigenous healers, and peer supporters. All are vetted for their commitment to frameworks like abolition, disability justice, and decolonial practice. The network operates on an equitable-access model, ensuring financial barriers don't prevent marginalized practitioners from joining or clients from finding care.

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The network's rapid growth underscores a fundamental change. Traditional therapy often focuses on helping individuals adjust to unhealthy systems. Liberatory care asks a different question: What does healing look like when we confront the systems causing the harm?

For a parent fighting a school system criminalizing their Black child, therapy might focus on preserving dignity amid relentless surveillance. For a climate activist experiencing despair, care could involve turning grief into sustained action. For someone navigating suicidal ideation, support might mean creating a safety plan that avoids police, a carceral system that often makes crises worse.

"Political care means we stop calling justified rage a 'symptom,'" Duggan explains. "It means we talk about abolition when discussing safety, about capitalism when addressing burnout. We honor the client as the expert on their own oppression and their own liberation."

Beyond its directory, LWN functions as a living community of practice. It offers monthly workshops on topics, around abolition, community care practices, and other areas,  including a bi-weekly group for individuals navigating suicidal ideation. A public resource library provides free guides that bridge theory and tangible survival strategies.
Sustained by community donations and grassroots support and fiscally sponsored by Zepp Wellness, LWN remains independent from institutions that often uphold the very systems its members seek to dismantle.

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The rise of the Liberatory Wellness Network is more than a trend; it is a correction. It signals a future where mental health care is accountable to the realities people are surviving and aligned with the more just world they are building. It offers a profound affirmation: your pain is not a malfunction. It is often a message. You deserve a therapist who can help you decode it.

About

The Liberatory Wellness Network (LWN) is a community-funded mental health directory and collective founded in 2024 by Patricia S. Duggan, a Black-Disabled therapist and mental health advocate to meet the growing need for politically conscious, anti-carceral, and justice-rooted care. Bringing together hundreds of therapists, peer supporters, bodyworkers, Indigenous healers, somatic practitioners, and coaches, LWN operates on an equitable-access model so no practitioner or community member is turned away for inability to pay. More than a directory, LWN offers monthly workshops, peer support groups, political education, and community resources.

Contact:
https://liberatorywellnessnetwork.com