UPDATE 14

30 January 2025

Dear Supporter,

Welcome to the first Update for 2025.  In this edition we ask: does Trump's second term as US president herald the start of a reversal of 'woke' madness in the West? 

We also report on:

  • 'Race-segregation' of clinical psychology trainees at Kings College London

  • Lucy Beney's latest article: 'There's Nothing Social About Social Media'

  • The neglected area of male mental health

  • A new book by Matilda Gosling on 'Evidence-Based Parenting'

Can Trump restore sanity to the West?

As soon as President Trump came into office, he started issuing Executive Orders.  One of these orders is designed to bring an end to DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion). Another protects children from  "irreversible medical interventions" such as puberty blockers, cross sex-hormones and surgery. While individual States may still retain policies that are not directly affected by these orders, Trump's actions are a significant blow to proponents of race and gender identity ideology. 

Writing in The Free Press, Coleman Hughes, author of "The End of Race Politics" praises Trump's commitment to "forge a society that is color-blind and merit-based".  Hughes argues that Trump's executive order on DEI "gets closer to the original intent of the Civil Rights Movement than today's DEI policies".  He concludes that "this is an important moment in the history of American race relations".

Andrew Doyle in his Substack, welcomes Trump's executive order protecting children from medical interventions. In particular he refers to the section of the order titled 'Ending Reliance on Junk Science'. This requires agencies to 'rescind or amend all policies that rely on WPATH (World Professional Association for Transgender Health) guidance".   Doyle explains that WPATH is a "US-based activist body that has been regarded as the leading global authority on ‘gender medicine’, influencing policy decisions in various countries, including here in the UK via the NHS."  Files leaked in March 2024 revealed WPATH's failure to meet even basic ethical standards.  Doyle concludes that "We are not quite out of the woods yet, but we are certainly beginning to see glimmers of daylight."

Meanwhile,  here in the UK, race politics is still thriving (see next item) and as for gender identity ideology, Genspect is raising concerns about the ethics of a proposed NHS puberty blocker trial for reasons detailed here and here. Those who would like to find out more can register for a live Genspect webinar discussion about the proposed NHS puberty blocker study  on Friday 31st January at 6.00pm GMT.  Carrie Clark of Genspect will host, with guest speakers Professor Michael Biggs, Dr Louise Irvine, and psychotherapist Susan Evans.

Should clinical psychology trainees be segregated by skin colour?

In the last update, we reported on 'Whiteness' training on clinical psychology courses. This month Kings College London (KCL) were in the news, after a whistleblower raised concerns about trainees on the KCL course being 'race-segregated' to discuss race and identity.  It is alleged that those of an ethnic minority background were treated as 'victims', while white students were expected to 'address whiteness' and taught that 'colonialism' was 'their responsibility'.  KCL has denied they promoted this message.  Carole Sherwood has written about this story for Critical Therapy Antidote and you can read her commentary and find links to the press and media reports here.

Following these revelations, Carole Sherwood was invited by the Radio 4 programme Antisocial to take part in a panel debate on Mental Health and race.  She did so in her role as a representative of Don't Divide Us: the UK's common-sense voice on race.

We doubt this will be the end of the story.  Clinical psychology and psychotherapy trainees are beginning to come forward now to share their concerns about censorship and discriminatory DEI and 'anti-racist' policies.  If you are in training and would like to share your story with Save Mental Health, please get in touch here.

 

'There's Nothing Social About Social Media'

In her latest article Lucy Beney documents the development of social media from a 'tool designed to connect people in academia' to a 'subtle weapon in a revolutionary war'.  Lucy describes how social media has led to polarisation, the creation of 'in-groups' and 'out-groups' online and fears of exclusion and ostracism. She also explains that "some of the greatest distress I have witnessed among teenagers revolved around being 'blocked' from someone else's social media account or removed from a 'group chat'" and describes the lengths to which these teenagers will go to prevent this happening to them.  This is yet another informative and sensitively written article from Lucy whose extensive therapeutic experience and wisdom sheds light on the challenges facing young people in a society undergoing rapid change.  Please share widely.

 

Men's Mental Health

Men account for 75% of all suicides. Only 25% of clinical psychology trainees are male and there seems to be a dearth of training on courses about male mental health. Yet the term 'toxic masculinity' is used indiscriminately and even taught in schools.

John Barry, of The Centre for Male Psychology is working hard to try and redress that balance.  He recently interviewed Dr Paul Nathanson on misandry, identity politics and DEI.  Dr Nathanson has written a series of books about misandry, links for which are in the article.

The Centre will also be running two excellent online courses in February:

Ex-BBC journalist Tim Samuels is working on a podcast documentary about the effects of DEI on male mental health.  In a recent episode of BBC Radio 4's 'Antisocial' he spoke in a panel debate on Masculine energy: Does the workplace need more of it? .  Tim's podcast is due for release in the Spring.  He is still hoping to interview young white working-class men who are finding it hard to get work due to DEI.  If you know someone who fits that description and who would like to take part in the podcast please ask them to contact Tim at: https://www.worktruth.co.uk/

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

Teenagers: The Evidence Base by Matilda Gosling

Matilda Gosling is a social researcher who specialises in education, skills and issues affecting children and young people.  Her recently published book Teenagers published by Swift Press on 30th January, is described by Professor Suzanne Franks as "an amazing resource, meticulously researched and full of wise and interesting advice".   Hannah Barnes of the New Statesman and author of Time to Think observes: "Gosling produces a rare entity: a parenting book that is accessible, well evidenced, practical, gritty and not hectoring. In short, one that is genuinely helpful. It’s also funny".  It is rare to find a book based on evidence rather than opinion.  If you are a parent or grandparent of a teenager this could be an invaluable resource.