Beit Gorski, MA, LPC
Social Locations/ Salient Identities:
Beit navigates the professional/ academic class having grown up in working/stable poverty and is a white, disabled, queer, trans, nonbinary, intersex documented settler who practices non-monogamy. With regard to religion and spirituality, xyr background is Pentecostal Christian with Jewish influences, xyr clinical and academic experience is heavily informed by the Kagyü lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, and xe currently practices Jungian paganism rooted in Nordic shamanism.
Oppression and the Body
"...medicalization of the body is marginalization of the body, for those of all sexes and identities. Medicalization of bodies tells us that human bodies are vehicles for the person yet also purport that our bodies define us, right down to core social identities such as gender, race, and ability. Medicalization tells the story that something is “wrong” with our bodies (and there's’ always something to “fix”)... Let's call this what it is: the ripping of the spirit and psyche from the body, which I believe is a violent act. The animal of the body is left to merely perform, like elephants beaten into submission for the circus, we force our bodies to overwork and douse them with chemicals to speed up the recovery from exhaustion, to give us relief from the pain of a life pushed to its physical edge...
Body autonomy is something we can all get behind because when we release the idea that we control the body, we must then also abandon the rituals of controlling the bodies of others, through anti-choice legislation, immigration bans, and health care policies that restrict access. When we accept the liberation of our own bodies, we must follow through to accept and support the liberation of all bodies. Then we can abolish the prison system and deny government regulation of relationships and family systems. Then we can celebrate free migration and actively work in the interest of building the integrity of our communities. We can arrange our social systems in order to freely welcome all bodies and their abilities, shapes, colors, and expressions."
-Beit Gorski from "The Violence of Medicalization" in Oppression and the Body
Beit Gorski is a licensed somatic psychotherapist with more than a decade of experience working with individuals, families, children, groups, and communities impacted by violence and oppression and more than 15 years of experience supporting adults and children who have experienced intimate partner violence/ domestic violence. Xe currently serves as Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in a community mental health agency supporting community clients during psychiatric emergencies and other forms of trauma-related acute crisis. For 3 years, Beit served as Adjunct Faculty at Naropa University, authoring and implementing a novel curriculum for the undergraduate core Diversity Seminar and teaching the Community Learning in Action seminar and xe continues to guest lecture and present at local, national, and international conferences. Xe has also been working professionally and personally in trans and genderqueer/nonbinary communities for 8 years, providing transition support and gender diversity training for universities, clinics, hospitals, early childhood educators, and community organizations. Beit is the proud alumnum of Red Rocks Community College, the University of Colorado at Boulder, and Naropa University.
