Episode 107: Melody Li and Dr. Valerie Yeo on Collective Grief and Sacred Rage: A Conversation on Palestinian Liberation

This is a special episode, where Dr. Moon sits down with Melody Li and and Valerie Yeo in person to talk about the ongoing genocide in Gaza and of the Palestinian people. We dive into what it means to fight for the freedom of Palestinian people, the importance of doing this work in community, and how colonization impacts our capacity to experience collective grief and sacred rage. They also generously share the wisdom and knowledge they’ve gained through organizing and fighting against injustice. 

*Mel references a list of resources in the conversation, which you can find on the episode post @cutfruitpodcast 

Guest Bios:
Melody Li, LMFT (they/佢) is the founder of Inclusive Therapists: a mental health directory, resource hub & community centering marginalized communities. They also founded Mental Health Liberation, a non-profit bridging Black, Indigenous and People of Color with free, quality therapy, and empowering Students & Clinicians of Color.

Their activism focuses on decolonizing mental health care and mobilizing for collective liberation. The colony-born migrant and settler on Turtle Island advocates for Landback, Indigenous Sovereignty, and Black Liberation as priority.

Connect with Mel: @melodyhopeli @Inclusivetherapists , MelodyLi.com, Inclusivetherapists.com and Mentalhealthliberation.org

Dr. Valerie Yeo (she/they) is a queer Singaporean-Chinese-American psychologist. They grew up in Singapore, where they cultivated a lifelong love of art and food, before moving to the US at the age of 10. In her non-work life, she is an artist and community organizer, and values creating spaces for other queer AANHPI people to be in community together @pdxqueerasianmeetup.

When not at home painting or taking pictures of their cat, they have a private practice in which they see primarily BIPOC folks, with emphasis on those in the Asian-American community who have experienced racial and religious trauma. Valerie’s role as a psychologist includes providing individual therapy and immigration assessments, as well as teaching, supervising, and mentoring future mental health providers. She frequently provides workshops on topics including liberation and community psychology, and religious trauma. She believes strongly in honoring our full selves—emotional, somatic, mental, spiritual, and social, within our present and ancestral sociopolitical contexts. 

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This episode was sponsored by Inclusive Therapists, a simpler, safer way for BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and marginalized folks to find culturally-responsive, identity-affirming mental health care. You can find them at inclusivetherapists.com or @inclusivetherapists.