The Activist Practitioner Magazine

Our editorial team came together for a discussion about how clinical language can advance sanist ideas and to consider some more humanising alternative terms. Some people will prefer some terms and some people will prefer others. These are our suggestions. In the future we would like to create a living glossary that reflects how the meaning of these terms changes over time as they are used for different purposes.

Does the way mental health professionals talk about, diagnose, document and refer people with mental distress do justice to their humanity and their personal recovery, or do they perpetuate sanism? A conversation between Holly Vine and Ruth Wells 

'Embrace' is a poem written by Emma O'Donnell following a session with her therapist. In it, she re-lives her "adventurous, wonderful, carefree childhood."

Content warning: Suicide, sexual violence, abortion Fi Peel takes us on a profound journey through extreme mental distress and suicidality, against the backdrop and stress of bushfires, coronavirus, a housing crisis and the "invisible pandemic" of sanism. This is about the power of music and theatre, and the strength of Fi Peel.

Content warning: Suicide This episode is a poem written by Damian Rayner. It explores the traumatic loss of his brother to suicide and the ways it has shaped both his personal growth and his work as a clinical psychologist.