Liberation Health Model

Co-created by Prof. Dawn Belkin Martinez, Ph.D., LICSW, our school’s associate dean of Equity & Inclusion, this model takes a holistic, macro approach to clinical social work by contextualizing mental health culturally, politically, and historically. Professor Belkin Martinez is also the co-author of the book, Social Justice in Clinical Practice: A Liberation Health Framework for Social Work, and gives presentations locally, nationally, and internationally about liberation health theory and practice.

The model posits that the problems of individuals and families cannot be understood in isolation from the economic, political, cultural, and historical conditions which give rise to them and seeks to provide a method of practice that helps individuals, families, and communities understand the personal, cultural and institutional factors that contribute to their problem and act to change these conditions; to liberate themselves from both internal and external oppression.

Check out this animated video introducing key concepts and its approach to clinical therapy.