Therapists for Medical Freedom
Therapists for Medical Freedom (T4MF) is a collective of Counsellors, Psychotherapists, Psychologists and associated therapeutic professionals.
We formed in 2020 due to our concerns about the growing use of medical coercion and the loss of civil liberties as part of the international response to managing COVID-19.
Our Mission
T4MF are committed to preserving the values of bodily autonomy, informed consent and medical freedom – in line with our therapeutic ethical codes.
During COVID-19, we challenged the proposed introduction of ‘vaccine passports’ and any type of mandatory vaccination programme as part of the public health response to COVID-19. We spoke out against the extended use of social distancing restrictions, lack of face-to-face support, mask mandates and the psychological fear messaging we could see were actively damaging the mental and physical health of the population.
We were an active campaign group throughout COVID-19, and supported both professionals and members of the public by:
- Writing open letters and petitions against measures which we felt were in breach of our ethical codes, for example against vaccine passports and mandatory vaccinations for health care workers.
- Facilitating workshops and support groups for fellow therapists who were affected by vaccine mandates and other COVID-19 restrictions.
- Acting as a point of contact for members of the public who had concerns about the psychological and emotional impact of the government response to COVID-19. We produced a quarterly newsletter for our network which offered up-to-date information and support options.
- Publishing articles and giving talks about the dangers and harms of the government’s COVID-19 response.
- Launching a series of local groups for like-minded ‘questioning’ therapists to gather together and campaign locally. This network of groups is still active in some areas, and details can be found on our local groups page.
- Raising our ethical concerns with our professional bodies, highlighting the potential damaging impact of COVID-19 policies amongst the therapeutic community.
You can see details of our campaigns during that time by looking through our archive, which is on the website as a record for posterity.
T4MF in the Post-Covid Era
Currently, Therapists for Medical Freedom are taking a break from active campaigning on this issue, and enjoying a much-needed period of downtime. A sabbatical, if you will.
We have always been an unpaid, unfunded and entirely voluntary organisation. Most of our Steering Group have full time jobs, and we never charged or fundraised for any of our activities. As therapists and campaigners, many of us were essentially working two jobs throughout 2020-2022, and we are in need of rest and recharging following a deeply challenging period of our collective history.
Even though many of the restrictions of the COVID-19 era have ended, we continue to ‘hold the space’ for this vital issue and are watchfully waiting in case we are needed again. For this reason, we have decided to keep the website live and to continue to monitor our email inbox for the foreseeable future. Should there again be a significant threat to medical freedom in the UK, we anticipate that we will reanimate the group in a more pro-active way.
You are still welcome to join us!
We are still meeting regularly as a steering group, and are a warm and welcoming bunch. You are welcome to join us if you are a therapist or counsellor in the UK still holding concerns about these issues or wanting support with any projects you are planning around processing the COVID-19 response – do drop us a line at info@therapists4medicalfreedom.org.
Many of our local groups still meet regularly, please take a look at our directory and get in contact with a local group leader for more information.
Other Sources of Information and Support:
The following organisations are also passionate about medical freedom, as well as other related topics. If you are wanting more current information on these issues or a more active campaign/support group, these could be a useful starting point:
