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Araya Baker

  • Therapist, Columnist, and Social Policy Researcher, Freelance
Houston
As seen in: Medium, Psychology Today, Teen Vogue, Inside Higher Ed, The Tennessean, The Good Men Project, Shondaland, The Mighty, The Daily Pennsylvanian, Ed Post and
Covers:  Culture & Identity (Class, Disability, Gender/Sexuality, Race, Religion); Global Human Rights; Mental Health/Illness & Suicide; Social Policy (Education, Environmental, Housing, Reproductive, etc.).
Doesn't Cover: Finance, Science, Sports, Travel
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Araya Baker’s Journalist Portfolio

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Parenting LGBTQ+ Kids Can Accelerate Adult Development

Parenting LGBTQ+ Kids Can Accelerate Adult Development

Psychology Today — Poet Ocean Vuong healed generations when he reframed queerness as a gift rather than a curse, writing, "Being queer saved my life. Often we see queerness as deprivation. But when I look at my life, I saw that queerness demanded an alternative innovation from me.
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How the Dependency on Church in Rural America Hurts LGBTQ Youth

How the Dependency on Church in Rural America Hurts LGBTQ Youth

The Mighty — On May 18, the city of Springfield granted $1 million to Bransford Community Center. Twenty " Tennessean" articles have chronicled the precarious start-up trajectory of Bransford, which is projected to occupy the site of an historic but now demolished high school from which my grandmother graduated.
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Springfield's investment in Bransford center disregards vulnerable LGBTQ youth | Opinion

Springfield's investment in Bransford center disregards vulnerable LGBTQ youth | Opinion

The Tennessean — Araya Baker is an educator, researcher, suicidologist, and therapist, originally from Springfield, Tennessee. On May 18, the City of Springfield granted $1 million to Bransford Community Center. Twenty Tennessean articles have chronicled the precarious start-up trajectory of Bransford, which is projected to occupy the site of an historic but now demolished high school from which my grandmother graduated.
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10 Signs of Generational Envy

10 Signs of Generational Envy

Psychology Today — Downward envy is a feeling of inferiority caused when a leader sees that a subordinate has something that the leader wants but lacks. Downward envy can create power struggles in many settings, including in cases when younger people are up against the egos of narcissistic elders.
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Tennessee's Toxic Politics Are Dangerous for LGBTQ Youth

Tennessee's Toxic Politics Are Dangerous for LGBTQ Youth

Education Post — Araya Baker is a counselor educator, suicidologist, and policy analyst. Baker has published commentary and public scholarship in The New York Times, The Washington Post's The Lily, Huffington Post, Education Post, Vice, Buzzfeed, The Mighty, The Tennessean, and other platforms. Araya earned a master's in professional counseling from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education and a master's in human development and psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
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Focus Your Repentance Inward, Not on Antichrist Conspiracies Stereotyping LGBTQ+ Family

Focus Your Repentance Inward, Not on Antichrist Conspiracies Stereotyping LGBTQ+ Family

aninjusticemag.com — Trigger Warning: Discussion of anti-LGBTQ+ conspiracy theories; conversion/reparative therapy rhetoric; religious abuse/trauma.
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10 Tactics of Pulpit Bullies Who Shame, Silence and Slander Queer Folks

10 Tactics of Pulpit Bullies Who Shame, Silence and Slander Queer Folks

The Mighty — As Catholic author Karen Armstrong put it, "If your understanding of the Divine made you kinder, more empathetic, and impelled you to express sympathy in concrete acts of loving-kindness, this was good theology. But if your notion of God made you unkind, belligerent, cruel, or self-righteous, or if it led you to kill in God's name, it was bad theology."
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10 Tactics of Anti-LGBTQ+ Pulpit Bullies

10 Tactics of Anti-LGBTQ+ Pulpit Bullies

Psychology Today — As Catholic author Karen Armstrong put it, "If your understanding of the Divine made you kinder, more empathetic, and impelled you to express sympathy in concrete acts of loving-kindness, this was good theology. But if your notion of God made you unkind, belligerent, cruel, or self-righteous, or if it led you to kill in God's name, it was bad theology."
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20 Affirmations and Readings For Folks Raised in Anti-LGBTQIA+ Church Families

20 Affirmations and Readings For Folks Raised in Anti-LGBTQIA+ Church Families

The Mighty — I recently wrote about my disappointment in a pastor I know who interpreted Romans 1: 26-29 in such a way that seemingly substantiated the claim that G-d hopelessly and impatiently "abandons" LGBTQIA+ folks for "vile affections," "reprobate" minds and "self-delusion" akin to anti-mask COVID-deniers.
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This Out and Proud Teacher Could Make History if Elected to the Texas State Board of Education

This Out and Proud Teacher Could Make History if Elected to the Texas State Board of Education

Education Post — Araya Baker is a counselor educator, suicidologist, and policy analyst. Baker has published commentary and public scholarship in The New York Times, The Washington Post's The Lily, Huffington Post, Education Post, Vice, Buzzfeed, The Mighty, The Tennessean, and other platforms. Araya earned a master's in professional counseling from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education and a master's in human development and psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
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6 Ways the Church Can Address the LGBTQ+ Suicide Epidemic

6 Ways the Church Can Address the LGBTQ+ Suicide Epidemic

Psychology Today — A major aspect of my life's work is combating the disproportionate, epidemic-level suicide rate among LGBTQ+ people, particularly those who are also ethnically or racially minoritized. Nearly a decade ago, National Youth Pride Services-a leadership development non-profit aimed at empowering LGBTQ+ Black youth- surveyed gay, Black boys about their mental health history.
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Real progress takes time. Here are 5 ways activists can keep their stamina up.

Real progress takes time. Here are 5 ways activists can keep their stamina up.

The Lily — In March, I serendipitously stumbled across a tweet that invigorated me to "keep on keeping on." It was "an activist's prayer," by community organizer Terrance Hawkins: "Thicken my love. Widen my heart. Sharpen my analysis. Enliven my praxis. Embolden my voice. Deepen my rest. Lighten my heaviness. Toughen my skin.
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An Activist-Therapist's 15 Affirmations for Hope Amidst COVID-19

An Activist-Therapist's 15 Affirmations for Hope Amidst COVID-19

Medium — As an activist-therapist whose work is guided by the feminist principle "the personal is political,"I'm keenly aware of the emotional toll of not only pandemic anxiety due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) - a new-to humans virus that causes respiratory infection and can lead to serious or fatal health complications - but also the sociopolitical context driving this public health crisis.
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5 Telltale Signs That You're the Target of Envy

5 Telltale Signs That You're the Target of Envy

Psychology Today — If you've ever earned recognition for a significant accomplishment or milestone, you've probably been blindsided by disappointment that your victory didn't move everyone who witnessed the sacrifice and work ethic it demanded. Without warning, even the people who love us most can sometimes grow envious of us, and just as unexpectedly, so can people who barely know us at all.
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5 Ways to Give Your Therapist Feedback Rather Than 'Ghosting' Them

5 Ways to Give Your Therapist Feedback Rather Than 'Ghosting' Them

The Mighty — As a therapist who often engages in mental health advocacy on social media, my timelines are usually a constant stream of articles and blog posts re lated to mental health . Re cently, a think piece on client-therapist compatibility caught my attention, as I had been contemplating whether my own therapist and I were working well together.
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Rapper Vic Mensa Says We Need More Therapists in Schools Not Guns

Rapper Vic Mensa Says We Need More Therapists in Schools Not Guns

Education Post — Araya Baker is a counselor educator, suicidologist, and policy analyst. Baker has published commentary and public scholarship in The New York Times, The Washington Post's The Lily, Huffington Post, Education Post, Vice, Buzzfeed, The Mighty, The Tennessean, and other platforms. Araya earned a master's in professional counseling from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education and a master's in human development and psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
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5 Tips to Promote Equity for Trans, Gender Variant and Non-Binary Students

5 Tips to Promote Equity for Trans, Gender Variant and Non-Binary Students

Education Post — Araya Baker is a counselor educator, suicidologist, and policy analyst. Baker has published commentary and public scholarship in The New York Times, The Washington Post's The Lily, Huffington Post, Education Post, Vice, Buzzfeed, The Mighty, The Tennessean, and other platforms. Araya earned a master's in professional counseling from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education and a master's in human development and psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
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5 Tips Millennials Need to Know to Beat Seasonal Depression

5 Tips Millennials Need to Know to Beat Seasonal Depression

The Mighty — With winter only a month away, the cold, wet, dreary climate that induces seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is approaching fast. Folks with this form of depression know it to be extremely disruptive to their personal and professional lives. Its onset - sometimes insidious, sometimes sudden - often blindsides many who don't otherwise live with major depression.
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52 Mental Health Resources for Disabled People, POC, LGBTQ Folks, and More

52 Mental Health Resources for Disabled People, POC, LGBTQ Folks, and More

Teen Vogue — Harvard-trained educator and therapist Araya Baker explains why it's important for minorities to have therapists and mental health resources who are part of marginalized communities.
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What James Baldwin's Activism Can Teach Schools About Social Justice

What James Baldwin's Activism Can Teach Schools About Social Justice

Education Post — Araya Baker is a counselor educator, suicidologist, and policy analyst. Baker has published commentary and public scholarship in The New York Times, The Washington Post's The Lily, Huffington Post, Education Post, Vice, Buzzfeed, The Mighty, The Tennessean, and other platforms. Araya earned a master's in professional counseling from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education and a master's in human development and psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
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Guest Column by Araya Baker | Reflecting on Penn and the AIDS epidemic

Guest Column by Araya Baker | Reflecting on Penn and the AIDS epidemic

The Daily Pennsylvanian — They remember the way in which the epidemic coincided with the emergence of gayborhoods in cities like New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, leading the media to perpetuate the misconception that HIV/AIDS was a "gay disease." They remember friends who spent months and years hospitalized, without a single visit from relatives who abandoned them.
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4 Questions to Ask If You Are a QPOC or WOC Looking for a Therapist

4 Questions to Ask If You Are a QPOC or WOC Looking for a Therapist

Teen Vogue — The good news is that clients can exercise the right to request feminist therapy, or any other orientation. In fact, you could ask your therapist to get familiar with any school of thought or healing practice that supports your goals, no matter how "alternative," non-Western, or unempirical.
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JAY-Z Says We Need More Therapists in Our Schools and He's Absolutely Right

JAY-Z Says We Need More Therapists in Our Schools and He's Absolutely Right

Education Post — Araya Baker is a counselor educator, suicidologist, and policy analyst. Baker has published commentary and public scholarship in The New York Times, The Washington Post's The Lily, Huffington Post, Education Post, Vice, Buzzfeed, The Mighty, The Tennessean, and other platforms. Araya earned a master's in professional counseling from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education and a master's in human development and psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
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Unharm Your Sons: A Therapist and Suicide Attempt Survivor's Plea to Black Fathers About the Cult...

Unharm Your Sons: A Therapist and Suicide Attempt Survivor's Plea to Black Fathers About the Cult...

The Good Men Project — Content warning: depression, self-injury, suicide, trauma.
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