104. Being an Anti-Racist Clinician: On Moral Injury, Resistance and the Future of Psychiatry with Rupi Legha

“Your questioning and critiquing is everything that is needed for 2025 and beyond. And if or when it is construed [by the system] as as a deficiency, unprofessionalism, or ineptitude, I hope that by priming people to keep their eyes open for those responses, it can be more of a collective yawn.” - Rupi Legha

In this episode I’m joined by Rupi Legha, psychiatrist, educator, and scholar-activist—whose work radically interrogates the role of psychiatry in upholding racial injustice. Together, we explore what it means to be an anti-racist clinician in a field that silences dissent, punishes disclosure, and pathologizes defiance—especially in Black, Brown, and Indigenous folks. We talk about the emotional and ethical toll of navigating psychiatric training while attempting to stay true to liberatory values. We talk about forced restraint, overmedication, and the ways psychiatry can reinforce white supremacist ideology in both overt and covert ways. And we ask the hard questions: What is worth saving in psychiatry? What should be dismantled? What might take its place?

Also in this episode:

• deciding how much to disclose about your own lived experiences with mental health as a clinician
• what psychiatric residency training is actually like
• experiencing moral injury
• the racist and coercive practices deeply rooted in the history of psychiatry
• advice for younger clinicians
• navigating family dynamics in child crisis care
• the future of psychiatry as a profession
• anti-racist training for clinicians

Bio

Dr. Rupinder K. Legha is a double board-certified child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist, educator, and independent scholar-activist. She is the founder of the Antiracism in Mental Health Fellowship and a nationally recognized leader working at the intersection of structural trauma, racial justice, and youth mental health. Dr. Legha’s clinical and scholarly work challenges how psychiatric systems interpret defiance and distress—especially in Black, Brown, and Indigenous youth—and seeks to transform the profession through person-centered, antiracist, and liberatory care.

Links:

• Rupi’s Website: https://rupileghamd.com/
• Shield Act: https://rupileghamd.com/shieldact
• Anti-Racist Fellowship: https://edu.rupileghamd.com/fellowship-sales-page
• History of ODD Diagnosis video : https://rupileghamd.com/speaking/v/odd

Resources:

• Get the book: ⁠⁠Mad Studies Reader: Interdisciplinary Innovations in Mental Health⁠

• Become a member: ⁠The Institute for the Development of Human Arts⁠

• Train with us: ⁠Transformative Mental Health Core Curriculum

Sessions & Information about the host: ⁠⁠JazmineRussell.com⁠⁠

Disclaimer: The DEPTH Work Podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Any information on this podcast in no way to be construed or substituted as psychological counseling, psychotherapy, mental health counseling, or any other type of therapy or medical advice.