WorldPride Washington, D.C. Human Rights Conference 2025

The cultural and identity oppression within systems of care have silenced many unspoken experiences of BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ young people. There is an unwavering need to decolonize the ways in which mental health has been taught in institutions and systems that perpetuate harm onto vulnerable communities. The integration of lived experiences, as well as the understanding of collective community traumas are crucial in being able to address mental health concerns with LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC youth. Alternative holistic approaches and the use of narrative humility through a healing justice framework can aid in the work professionals are doing with BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ youth. Self-harm is often an invisible, unspoken, and unseen experience. Research has shown that LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC youth are at disproportionally higher risks for self-harm compared to their cisgender and heterosexual peers driven by the compounded weight of identity suppression and systemic oppression. This disparity shows the critical need for providing LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC youth with resources that not only affirm their identities and increase support, but also give the space to formulate words to articulate their experiences through storytelling and creative expression. With the evolving political climate, it is important to be equipped with a clear understanding of the complexities of mental health and self-harm including its prevalence amongst vulnerable populations, as well as its connection to mental health experiences such as depression and suicide. It is imperative to cultivate protective factors for LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC youth in helping to replace self-harming behaviors with positive coping strategies. Compassionate, empathetic approaches are essential in engaging LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC youth on such sensitive topics. This presentation provides evidence-based strategies for professionals, parents, healers, and educators to respond to self-harm with vulnerability, sensitivity, and empowerment. More holistic and creative approaches through storytelling are discussed to understand the lived experiences of queer and BIPOC youth. By drawing on therapeutic techniques, creative expression through storytelling and art, lived experiences, evidence-based interventions, and experience from working with queer youth, this presentation offers actionable steps for assisting LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC young people who are self-harming and struggling with their mental health, while acknowledging and empowering the use of collective voices to combat the oppressive systems that aim to silence them.