Description

Workshop recording:  

Many times therapeutic spaces refer to the ‘parts’ of self, as parts of one single whole person. This approach can reinforce the premise that a ‘singular self’ experience is the only one possible, and more so, the only one desired. In this workshop, kitty lu bear dives into the lived aspects of multiplicity/plurality, from a Mad lens. They illuminate the process of depathologizing dissociative experiences and healing systemic psychiatric consequences. Madness acts not only as a lens but as a praxis to deconstruct the diagnosis of our lived experience and ground it in naturally occurring non-singular experiences of our world around us.

This is the first workshop in our People, Not Just Parts series — for the second workshop, see People, Not Just Parts: Redefining Peer Support for Dissociative Experiences

kitty lu bear is a white, disabled, queer, non-binary femme. Collectively, they are Mad and multiple, recognizing that their experience of ‘many in one body’ as a multidimensional state is the lens through which they experience the world. They are deeply connected to supporting interdependent solutions around healing justice and accessibility for the LGBTQIA+ community. From facilitating writing workshops to holding space in peer-led support groups, they are interested in the symbiotic nature of community care. They graduated from UMN-Twin Cities where they received an interdisciplinary BS in Engineering Studies, Holistic Health and Healing, and Plant/Fungal Biology.