Letter To PESI & Psychotherapy Networker Regarding Promotion of Antisemitic Program & Book: Decolonizing Therapy by Jennifer Mullan, PsyD.

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Jewish Therapist Collective w/Halina Brooke

Dear PESI/Psychotherapy Networker,

Thank you for providing such an important service to clinicians, we are long term customers based in the US and Canada who always look forward to your offerings. Jennifer has also subscribed and attended more than 20 years+ of the Psychotherapy Networker’s Symposium and Tracy for the last 15 years. We have both benefitted greatly from your services as have our colleagues who have added their signatures to this letter below.

It has come to our attention that at the present time you are selling and promoting a book and program called ‘Decolonizing Therapy’ by Jennifer Mullan, PsyD.  Dr. Mullan has shared antisemitic propaganda (see attached photos) on her professional social media. Some of these images are taken from a known antisemitic nonprofit called Slow Factory (https://slowfactory.earth). Dr. Mullan shares these disturbing images to promote her message that Zionists, aka the Jewish people and the democratic state of Israel are colonizers and oppressors.

The term Zionism simply denotes a belief that Israel has a right to exist and the Jewish people have a right to self determination. Mullan is misappropriating the term when she twists it to appear threatening thereby spreading false information as fact. These disturbing associations are actively contributing to the normalizing of antisemitism and are placing all Jewish people and those who support them at risk.

Since the horrific terror attacks by Hamas on October 7, 2023 when innocent people were murdered, tortured and kidnapped, reported acts of antisemitism have increased 200% compared with the same period a year before (ADL.org). When a mental health professional uses his or her platform to incite, minimize the indigeneity of Jewish people and malign the meaning of Zionism all of us are placed at risk.

This also makes us question Dr. Mullan’s professional ethics as she is sharing propaganda as truth. Clinicians who have been trained in Dr. Mullan’s approach are incorporating it in their work with vulnerable clients. This puts these clients at risk.

In his paper, Healing the Traumas that Shape Society; Thomas Hubl, a collective trauma expert outlines that there is room for the voice of all people when addressing the impact of trauma, however no one experience should trump that of another. He states,

“When traumatic events happen, we’re quick to point fingers. But we should examine how each and every one of us contributes to the ecosystem that brings these traumas forth. We are not merely separate individuals acting independently. We are ecosystemically interrelated. We always exist in interdependent relationships with the systems we are part of” (Hubl, Nov. 2023) .

We ask that you take a stance against Jennifer Mullan’s campaign against the Jewish people and the democratic state of Israel by stopping the representation and sale of all of Jennifer Mullan’s publications and courses in your magazine and offerings online and in person.

With warm regards ,
Tracy Friedman MSW, RSW, Ed.D and Jennifer Kogan, MSW, LICSW, RSW
on behalf of The Jewish Therapist Collective Advocacy Council

 

pesi letter colonized mind

Photo and post shared by Jennifer Mullan

pesi letter decolonizing therapy

Photo and post shared by Jennifer Mullan

pesi letter decolonizing therapy post

Photo and post shared by Jennifer Mullan

pesi letter complicity to genocide post

Photo and post shared by Jennifer Mullan

pesi letter colonialism post

Photo and post shared by Jennifer Mullan

pesi letter solidarity toolkit post

Photo and post shared by Jennifer Mullan, on her Instagram page, Decolonizing Therapy

pesi letter gaza war effects post

Photo and post by Dr. Saeed Al-Kahlout, Gaza Ministry of Health which is overseen by Hamas. Shared by Jennifer Mullan on her Instagram page, Decolonizing Therapy

About the Author: The Advocacy Council of The Jewish Therapist Collective works tirelessly to provide crucial feedback and invitations for remediation to professional organizations and individuals who fall short of cultural competency, integrity, collegiality, or ethical standards in the psychotherapeutic arena and those related to it.

About the JTC: The Jewish Therapist Collective is a trans-denominational and trans-disciplinary association of 7,000+ members, most of whom are in the United States but can also be found worldwide. One of many of the big causes we’re passionate about is supporting clinical mental health professionals as they experience antisemitism and exclusion within professional spaces. We connect therapists and therapy students, Jewish and not, with support around Jewish cultural competence, coping with antisemitism in the field and society, self- and community-oriented advocacy, and inclusion of Jewish cultural and identity concerns in justice-oriented clinical and lay spaces. To donate click here, and to volunteer please reach out here.

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A note to our readers and community: for anyone impacted by this or other instances of overt or covert antisemitism within clinical therapy spaces, please feel free to reach out to us for supportive resources and community.