The CTP program, rooted in the psychodynamic tradition, seeks to understand both the conscious and unconscious aspects of conflict, violence, and oppression—as well as the possibilities of creative relationship and repair.
Psychoanalytic and psychodynamic therapies have supported human liberation but have also marginalized individuals and groups based on race, ethnicity, nationality, language, gender, religion, sexual orientation, class, ability, and size. Oppressive forces exert constant constraint on the potential of free thought, limiting psychodynamic exploration of self, other, and the lived contexts we share.
Since all forms of oppression are interconnected, we must challenge any mindset that limits the plurality of human possibilities.
At CTP, we commit to furthering an anti-racist, anti-oppressive, and intersectional approach in our teaching and curriculum. This involves questioning inequities, examining privilege, striving for inclusion, and respecting the diverse identities and perspectives of our faculty, students, and the people they will treat. An anti-oppressive orientation in teaching and learning parallels the psychodynamic ethos, which aims to foster elaborative psychical processes and unclutter mental life of rigidity.
Our Centre supports ethical and just relationships among all people. We value the long-term work of Truth & Reconciliation and the remediation of injustices against Indigenous communities. We endorse efforts in our field to confront the enduring legacy of white supremacy, settler colonialism, and failures of intersectional social justice, which compromise equitable and moral relations in all contexts. We stand against the destruction of any group, in line with the international prohibition against genocide.
We seek solidarity with those reimagining a world of equity and justice.
This statement is a living document, responsive to the ongoing demands of social justice.
“What we must do is commit ourselves to some future that can include each other and to work toward that future with the particular strengths of our individual identities. And in order for us to do this, we must allow each other our differences at the same time as we recognize our sameness.”
—Audre Lorde