Diversity and Inclusivity

Here at the Mindsight Institute, we view Interpersonal Neurobiology (“IPNB”) not as a form of therapy – but as a framework that informs the various forms of therapy. IPNB integrates the wisdom of mental health practitioners, clinical researchers, academic theorists, Indigenous leaders, and many others so that we may better understand the mind and how crucial connection is to its development. This wisdom shows us that if we are to achieve mental health for individuals and society, we need to do away with the fiction of the isolated self. And if we are to do this, we need to acknowledge and actively work to undermine the systemic biases and harm that serve to perpetuate this fiction. We recognize that this is the work of a lifetime.

The Mindsight Institute commits itself to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in these ways: 

  • The Mindsight Institute will continuously examine the privilege we hold and how we can harness it to be an ally and advocate in marginalized peoples’ struggle for equality. We acknowledge that the Institute benefits from the whiteness, educational status, institutional affiliations, able-bodiedness, socioeconomic status, heteronormativity, and other socially privileged identities of our founders. We commit to creating educational experiences that honor and amplify the voices of marginalized people.

  • The Mindsight Institute acknowledges that we have benefitted from the work of fields which include, but are not limited to, clinical psychology, neuroscience, and medicine, that have harmed marginalized communities in the past and continue to exclude marginalized individuals in the present. The Mindsight Institute commits to questioning the assumptions these fields make about marginalized communities and their needs.

  • The Mindsight Institute acknowledges that our physical office in Santa Monica, California is based on the ancestral lands of the Chumash and Tongva people. We are grateful for the ancestral wisdom of the Indigenous cultures we have benefitted from, including cultures around the planet. We also acknowledge that these cultures have been exploited and appropriated throughout U.S. history and to this day. We commit to giving respect to Indigenous knowledge as we work to integrate their wisdom into the IPNB framework, including acknowledging the origins and intents of the principles and practices we are inspired by.

We know that these acknowledgments only scratch the surface of the work we must do to support diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in mental health, psychology, and other fields that IPNB touches. We pledge to continuously reappraise how we can best practice allyship in support of marginalized people, recommit ourselves to this work, and ensure that the Mindsight Institute represents a place of belonging for marginalized communities.

Inherent in belonging are essential elements that we know to be crucial to healthy integration and development: physical and psychological safety, open awareness, interpersonal connection, relationships with people and within nature, and a commitment to support one another as we embrace the uncertainty of the ever-unfolding present. We believe kindness and compassion are integration made visible. Cultivating belonging is one step toward bringing a more just, equitable, and connected society into being. We hope that creating this sense of interconnectedness among communities will lead to greater intraconnectedness within our shared world.

With this in mind, we commit to the following actions to continue creating belonging at the Mindsight Institute:

  • We will perform more outreach to traditionally marginalized communities to increase the diversity of our community to embrace the experience of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, disability, and socioeconomic position.  This includes reaching out to institutions, such as HBCUs, that are the academic and professional homes of many diverse practitioners. We will also continue to provide scholarships to students in need.

  • We will incorporate DEIB principles during the presentation of course material, including live question-and-answer sessions. We commit to introducing and exploring topics that are relevant to reducing the oppression of marginalized groups, such as healing trauma associated with society’s marginalization of some communities.

  • We will continuously review and revise our DEIB commitment so that it reflects areas in which we believe can positively impact our communities of practice and the larger global community.

As practitioners and educators, we believe we have the responsibility to imagine and model relationships that center intraconnectedness and belonging. This includes how to repair a rupture when we make a mistake. As part of our human family, we have made and will make missteps. We seek to be humble when we do.

We welcome your feedback on our DEIB efforts, and we will appreciate hearing from you. You may contact us anytime at info@mindsightinstitute.com with your comments, concerns, and suggestions.