Diana Hernandez
Claremont McKenna College, Media Studies and Governement
Unapologetic Self-Love: Radical Healing
Going to see a mental health therapist for the first time can be scary for anyone. The process can be especially daunting for women. Women have always been taught to serve as the caregiver for others, that they have forgotten to care for themselves too.
Group therapy, especially all-female led, has become the new alternative that mental health specialists suggest women take. Group therapy can reassure women that they can nurture themselves as well as others, and that they are not alone in their struggle to seek help.
There is power behind female solidarity, especially when it comes down to mental health and healing as a group. In this zine, I explore female solidarity through the eyes of five female college students of color who met in a mental health group that intended to help them process and heal from emotional adversaries experienced during one’s teens years. The in-person support group the five female students participated in, cut short only after 2 weeks due to Covid. However, we decided to continue the counseling group on our own and held regular weekly FaceTime calls during the summer of 2020.
What started off as five strangers, all from a different 5C school, soon evolved into a genuine sisterhood. During the summer of 2020 ---- a time filled with a lot of hardship for everyone ---- we decided we would support, confide in, and uplift each other.
In this zine, I photographed each member through FaceTime to show the power and beauty behind of female solidarity and collective healing. They each also photographed themselves to explore the way they see themselves and how healing looks to them. Members were asked to wear whatever clothing they felt empowered in. The rest is history.
