ABOUT US

Mission & Vision

The Relational Center’s mission is to lead a shift to a culture that values empathy, diversity, and interdependence. We envision a world in which communities collaborate to practice mindful compassion, mutual support, and civic engagement.

Core Values

  • We strive to foster accessible mental health resources, ensuring that systemic inequalities do not hinder personal and community well-being.

  • We firmly believe that our liberation is connected. To address this, we hope to promote equity in meeting relational and accessibility needs, overcoming systemic barriers that affect mental health outcomes.

  • Anti-racism initiatives in mental health seek to dismantle racist structures and practices, creating spaces where individuals can access support from culturally responsible practitioners.

  • Understanding intersectionality helps us recognize how overlapping social identities, such as race, gender, and class, impact mental health, allowing us to provide more comprehensive and sensitive care.

  • Harm reduction strategies prioritize fostering supportive coping mechanisms rather than solely focusing on making certain behaviors or practices wrong. The goal is to foster non-judgmental connection as well as community resilience.

  • Interdependence emphasizes the importance of community connections and mutual support in mental health, recognizing that individual well-being is deeply linked to the health of the community.

  • Cultural responsiveness in mental health care involves understanding and respecting varying cultural backgrounds, ensuring that services are relevant and deeply humanizing.

  • Abolition in the context of mental health involves dismantling oppressive systems and structures that harm individuals and communities, while recognizing the sociopolitical context of these structures. It also involves advocating for transformative practices that promote holistic and just care.

  • We emphasize building strong, supportive relationships, which we believe are fundamental to healing and personal growth, enhancing overall community well-being.

  • Building resilience involves empowering individuals and communities to recover from adversity, fostering strengths that contribute to sustained mental health and a supportive, thriving environment.

Our Impact

From the very beginning, our training site has been devoted to serving historically underrepresented populations in the Los Angeles area.

As TRC continues to grow, this commitment remains the same–training skilled & compassionate therapists while offering affordable counseling to California residents.

For more information about our demographics and why your support is so valuable, you can download our Fundraising Sheet.

Our History

Mark Fairfield

Founder & Former Executive Director

In addition to founding The Relational Center, Mark has been a community organizer in community health, an organizational coach and consultant, an author and a teacher.

After completing his graduate studies at Columbia University in the 90s, he took various leadership positions in the AIDS movement for over a decade, including his role as Clinical Director for Common Ground – The Westside HIV Community Center.

Mark has provided training and capacity building support to Gestalt Therapy training institutes internationally. He also works with community leaders and nonprofit boards and management teams, offering strategic vision clarification and strategic planning facilitation, with a focus on catalyzing organization-wide culture shift.

The Relational Center is a 501c3 nonprofit community organization.