As February begins in New England we find ourselves cold, dry, and grateful (in most parts) for not having another Sunday interrupted with snow and travel concerns.
Wonderful
This time of year, is a celebrated mid-point between the Winter Solstice and the Vernal Equinox. As we appreciate the increase in sunlight and motivation to create, challenge, grow, and heal we hope you are finding opportunities to make healthy connections, play, and support each other through exhaustive times.
Darling Mental Health has been processing job applications and is happy to announce the onboarding of two new therapists to the team in January, structuring contract supervision to further support our clinical staff, and continuing to update the resource directory WooSex.org with our AASECT Certified Sex Educator beginning a regular blog this month.
The Director will be traveling this week, attending the FLMHCA conference in Orlando. Any Florida based providers who may be in attendance are encouraged to reach out for networking opportunities as we focus on the provision of ethical support to the most vulnerable populations in one of the more dangerous and legally ambiguous states of the US to be queer or a queer-safe provider.
Always: Black Lives Matter, Trans Lives Matter, Immigrant & Asylum Seekers Lives Matter, Free Palestine, Free Tibet, Fight Racism, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Relatives deserve more, Question Authoritarianism!
In response to the murders of Minneapolis residents, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, the student organizers responsible for last Friday’s large-scale shutdown in Minneapolis have called for a broader, nationwide strike. The ICE OUT Strike calls for “NO BUSINESS AS USUAL” (no shopping, no school, no work) today, Friday January 30th.
Darling Mental Health wholeheartedly supports organized protests, strikes, and other mobilization efforts that disrupt capitalist systems of oppression including the use of colonized lenses to justify murder.
As a small business who provides healing services, we are unable to participate in the “no work” aspect of this strike. We cannot let our clients down who rely on us for care, especially during such precarious times. Instead, we take this day to do our part in other ways, and to reflect on what it means to stand in solidarity with those who have historically and continue to experience oppression.
Beyond allyship- which describes a loud or visual act to show others that we are informed about oppression and against it- solidarity requires a more intentional action. It not only says, “this is a problem and we are against it,” but also, “this is what we are doing about it.”
Action is both individual and communal, and can look like many things. It can mean organizing a neighborhood watch program, protesting, delivering groceries to folks who are not safe to leave their homes, or contacting your representatives.
It always means learning the weight of your words.
When white people post on social media: “I feel unsafe doing x, y, z” thinking they are calling to end ICE occupation, they are really feeding into the very system that allowed ICE occupation to happen in the first place. It happens because these very people say “I feel unsafe” when their safety is not actually under threat. This is often used to justify systemic violence. While feelings of unsafely are valid given the circumstances, it is important to keep in mind the historical implications of these statements when made public, and who these statements are giving attention to. Because it perpetuates the systems of oppression we all would like to dismantle.
It always means listening to immigrant and BIPOC people around you, but not relying on them to educate you. So many BIPOC and immigrant folks have made their lived experiences and knowledge easily accessible through books, videos, blog posts, and more.
It can mean showing up to that protest, that meal share, that informational webinar, and for those around you, but it always means doing what you can. Not everyone can be on the front lines, but we all have a part to play in the revolution.
Here are some examples of easy ways to play your part, and resources we love:
Choose your shopping wisely. Here are some of ICE’s top corporate collaborators:
Amazon/Whole Foods
Target
Palantir
Every major hotel chain
Home Depot
Lowe’s
AT&T
Dell UPS
Eastern Airlines
Aramark
Global X
Flock Systems
FedEx
Delta
Put your financial support elsewhere. Shop small businesses, donate to the below organizations, or use your time and skills to raise money for organizations (e.g. if you enjoy crafting, sell your crafts and donate a percentage).
Don’t forget about individual funds for folks needing lawyers, food assistance, and more.
Add to your reading list:
Dear America, Notes of an Undocumented Citizen by Jose Antonio Vargas
Everyone Who is Gone is Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a Crisis, Jonathan Blitzer
The Land of Open Graves, Jason De Leon
The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border, Francisco Cantu
The Undocumented Americans, Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
Dominicana, Angie Cruz
The Distance Between Us, Reyna Grande
“Revolution is not a one-time event. It is becoming always vigilant for the smallest opportunity to make genuine change in established, outgrown responses.”
Darling Mental Health hopes that the year-end holiday season was kind to you and that you were able to find moments of rest and restoration as well as begin appreciating the increased sunlight while weathering a very cold Winter season!
Our schedule for free (donation supported) support groups is out for the next 6 months with updated pages for each individual group for easy referring and registration. If you or someone you know may benefit from a support group geared towards any of our 4 topics please forward our information or register for yourself!
Parents of trans folks (VIRTUAL) meets 1st Wednesday of the month, next support group is on 1/7 at 6:30 PM. For more information please go to: P.A.R.E.N.T.S. – Darling Mental Health
ENM/Poly support (In-Person) typically meets the 2nd Thursday of the month, next support group is on 1/15 at 6:30 PM. For more information please go to: Ethical Non-Monogamy – Darling Mental Health
Spaces for Aces (VIRTUAL) meets the 3rd Tuesday of the month, next support group is on 1/20 at 6:30 PM. For more information please go to: Spaces for Aces – Darling Mental Health
Men’s Mental Health (VIRTUAL) typically meets the 3rd Thursday of the month, next support group is on 1/22 at 6:30 PM. For more information please go to: Men’s Mental Health – Darling Mental Health
Darling Mental Health is looking forward to starting 2026 by growing the practice and would like to announce that it is scheduling interviews for value-aligned mental health providers!
We are currently looking for an LICSW supervisor as well as therapists of any independent licensure to join the team. Positions available for pre-licensed individuals is based on supervisor availability with limited spots currently available. We are processing a short waitlist and are able to provide full-time schedules for new therapists in as little as one month. Choose the pace to which you would like to build up your caseload, select your profile of ideal clients to work with, and let us take care of the coordination, scheduling, billing, and insurance factors so that you can feel good about seeing clients regardless of their ability to pay out-of-pocket.
Want to learn more about providing sex therapy? We have an AASECT Certified Sex Therapist and a Certified Sex Educator on staff to help provide you whatever educational resources you need or clinical guidance to providing ethical sex therapy that is inclusive of all peoples.
We are a decolonized practice that expects alignment and support in our mission to challenge assumptions made from a colonial mindset that judges marginalized communities, disadvantaged communities, queer communities, & communities of color.
If interested in working for a private practice that is modeled to transparently share profits please review our current job postings:
Interviews are currently being scheduled January 2nd 2026
To apply please fill out the encrypted application form at: https://form.jotform.com/243437400914149 or email your Resume and cover letter to: info@darlingmentalhealth.com
As the 2025 year begins to draw to a close, we advocate that everyone take time and reflect this solstice on what Winter can bring to you and what you can do to cope with the exhaustion many are feeling. Expectations are running high for 2026 but in the interim that the holiday season provides, what can we do to center ourselves, ground our senses, and pay attention to what is healthiest for us to put our energy into?
Wintering, a recently re-popularized term from the 12th century, emphasizes that Winter is a time for rest and restoration. After the excitement and productivity of the harvest time months we have found ourselves marching steadily along in a culture of perpetual work and productivity that many find exhausting and nearly everyone struggles to have enough resources to comfortably rest. But rest does not need to be a grand period of time off, travel, or expense. Rest can be achieved in the smallest and most regular ways for which any person cultivates gratitude for being, for what they have, and what they hope to cultivate moving forward may find satisfaction, hope, & peace.
Restorative self-care activities that are worth considering at this time can include: napping, taking extra time off for self, attending a yoga or slower paced exercise class, using a sauna, reading a book for pleasure, organizing a room, engaging in a hobby, creating art, or even taking a food break from sugar, booze, or caffeine for a day or more.
Today’s celestial solstice marks the shift for which the sun returns and begins to lengthen out the daylight we have moving forward in the Northern Hemisphere. We find hope in knowing that the world continues to prove to us how to balance the coldest months of winter with the hope and evidence of returning sunlight. Focusing on the sunlight, we can see and appreciate things differently if we only take time to care for self and reflect on what we want to see manifest in the world.
We hope everyone has had the opportunity to meet with family, friends, and those close to you to find solace and healthy reflection as we engage with the holiday season and conclude a Thanksgiving weekend here in the US. Gratitude practices are key to developing good mental health and we hope that not only did this weekend give you something to be thankful for, but that it helped set yourself up for the month of December with some hope and excitement!
This Friday, 12/5, Darling Mental Health will be hosting a networking social for therapists, educators, advocates, and clients to connect with sex therapists, educators, and our team – we call it LAPOSH. Our goal is to create physical spaces that allow for community connection and resource networking for all marginalized groups of Worcester. All full-time therapists will be in attendance and are happy to answer any questions about seeking care or making referrals to them for services. Come check out our resource library in the waiting room and give us feedback of what else you may wish to see on our shelves or what recommendations you may need in seeking mental health care and advocacy that addresses and supports minority populations with inclusion and education for allies.
One of Worcester’s primary resources for sexual health, Aids Project Worcester, has recently been able to lift its restrictions on what population it serves for STI testing. For this we are grateful, because all people deserve access to free, confidential, and convenient testing to verify their sexual health statuses and now any adult may seek services without concern for falling into one of the high-risk categories.
APW provides STI testing 4 days a week: Monday 9AM-1PM Tuesday 9AM-1PM Thursday 2PM-6PM Friday 9AM-1PM
General client service hours at APW: Monday-Friday 8AM-4PM Lunch Hour 1PM-2PM
As we approach the end of the calendar year, the Winter Solstice, and all of the associated holidays and traditions associated with the darkest day we here at Darling Mental Health hope you find good supports, entertainment, and joyful spaces to connect with others and cultivate resources for an authentic end of year season!
Darling Mental Health believes in a work life balance for its therapists and practice manager and will therefore be “closed” for two periods of time for the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday (11/25-28) and End of Year season (12/24-1/1). All voicemails and emails will be returned in hierarchical fashion during these times, urgent matters will be addressed by the Director directly within 48 hours, and all new inquires for services will be addressed on the next advertised business day (i.e. December 1st & January 2nd). This holiday schedule primarily reflects the time for which the Practice Manager and Director are not readily available and/or are working fully remote.
For any person receiving services at Darling Mental Health whose regularly scheduled appointment(s) fall on a holiday, please directly confirm with your provider about whether or not your appointment is affected, as every person at Darling Mental Health is empowered to manage their individual schedule and time off. Most providers are working on Tuesday 11/25, Wednesday 11/26, Monday 12/29, Tuesday 12/30, etc.
May your holiday season be filled with kindness, patience, love, and connection!
Darling Mental Health will be hosting a networking event for Local Area Professionals of Sexual Health (LAPOSH) on Friday December 5th starting at 4 PM. Come talk with not just therapists, but also sex educators, advocates, and medical providers who are trans-inclusive in their approaches to great client care!
Our office has filled up with therapists, and we now have two office-share positions open, come meet the team, network with other providers and disciplines!
All clients and non-professionals with questions, those seeking referrals and/or services are welcome to attend!
Things to know: Refreshments in the waiting room Crafting activity in the group therapy room Writing pads & envelops will be available in the conference room Darling Mental Health is still looking to hire a few value aligned therapists
Darling Mental Health focuses on creating safe spaces for all and has created a schedule of free-to-access support group therapy to help with community needs. Feedback, however, has indicated that coming to such group services in person has barriers and challenges and so we are modifying three of our groups to be virtual services for the time being:
PARENTS of Trans Folks will be conducted online/virtually and maintain its schedule of the First Wednesday of the month with the next group being held on November 5th at 6:30 PM – REGISTER HERE
Spaces for Aces will move to virtual and shift to the Third Tuesday of the month with the next group being held on November 18th at 6:30 PM – REGISTER HERE
Men’s Mental Health will move to virtual and maintain its schedule of the Third Thursday of the month with the next group being held on November 20th at 6:30 PM – REGISTER HERE
Additionally, all Continuing Education events will be held in hybrid fashion, where virtual attendance via Zoom is an option for all participants. Please look at upcoming events HERE
If you have any questions about our scheduling of events, how to register, or what protocols/expectations you can have with engaging with us in a group online environment via Zoom please don’t hesitate to reach out to:
Recently, the Māori people of Aotearoa (New Zealand) have caught the attention of international news for performing ceremonial hakas in Parliament. To no surprise, many news outlets have focused on the spectacle of these ‘intimidating’ hakas and not the reason why they were necessary. New Zealand’s current conservative government has already cut funding to programs intended for Māori benefit– including health, emergency housing, and literacy services– and is now intending to ‘reinterpret’ the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi; a founding treaty between the Māori and New Zealand government, which will lead to further racial divisions and unraveling of necessary protections for Māori people. Intent to redefine this treaty, as well as Parliament’s response to the hakas (Māori representatives being suspended from Parliament), are a microcosm of continued settler-colonialism and anti-Indigenous rhetoric, legislation, and violence that continues to happen globally.
The Māori people are fighting to protect their sovereignty enshrined in the 1840 treaty, maintain their borders and custody of their lands, and rights to practice their culture and expression without limitation or sanction from a Western view of disgust. Judgment of non-European Colonial cultural expression is a common form of suppression and is readily accepted by many when under the guise of “professionalism” or “decorum” which works to utilize bureaucracy and protocol to legally entrap and limit free expression, thought, and discourse on nuanced topics. For this reason, we support the use of the Haka as a means of pre-emptive disruption and non-violent protest to a government’s attempt to disenfranchise a people.
At a time when the United States executive leadership has dismissed the value of recognizing Indigenous People on this day and has reverted to honoring the genocidal legacy of Christopher Colombus (who was stripped of his titles and governorship for his crimes in 1500 by the Spanish government) we choose to echo calls to action from the voices of Indigenous leaders to uphold treaties, return land, close health gaps, address the high rate of missing and murdered Indigenous woman (MMIW), and all other efforts to center the voices of the oppressed in giving direction for a future that is prosperous for all, not just those who are aligned with colonization.
Darling Mental Health, specifically, is located on Massachusett land and support the following area specific organizations and projects:
Honor the history, resilience, knowledge, and sovereignty of Indigenous Peoples who teach us how to lead with care and reciprocity.
Envision a world where all Indigenous peoples are safe and free to live on their land in the form of their cultural/religious choosing including peoples under specific oppression in: Aotearoa / New Zealand, Sudan, Palestine, & Tibet
Additionally, we recognize Indigenous cultural oppression continues systemically in the general territories of: North & South America, Polynesia / Oceania, Australia, Asia, & Africa
Acknowledge that decolonization is an ongoing process that requires action and commitment to listening to the voices of Indigenous knowledge producers.
