Therapists Are Also the Police: Sex Work, Social Work, and the Politics of Deservingness

Threadings. is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. If you’re here, you’ve probably already seen this viral video where I come out as a stripper and state plainly that I don’t want licensure. Or maybe you’ve been here and hip to things for a while (because truly none of that was a secret). Either way, welcome! Threadings. is a newsletter and podcast where I explore Black feminism, love studies, and other things that hold me together— this essay happens to rest easy in all three aforementioned categories. Because I need to say this clearly: I don’t think licensure makes you a “bad” or unfit clinician. I do think licensure is a contract with the state that many of us are coerced into signing. It is not an accident that we’re trained to attach legitimacy, expertise, and other metrics of worthiness to whether the state can account for us or not. It’s also not an accident that we tout the ability to report a l

Threadings. is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. If you’re here, you’ve probably already seen this viral video where I come out as a stripper and state plainly that I don’t want licensure. Or maybe you’ve been here and hip to things for a while (because truly none of that was a secret). Either way, welcome! Threadings. is a newsletter and podcast where I explore Black feminism, love studies, and other things that hold me together— this essay happens to rest easy in all three aforementioned categories. Because