The Independence Treatment Center (ITC) (2020), is a prototype for a future project in the early stages aiming to investigate of American notions of independence. Participants are invited to take an online self-test measuring unhealthy levels of independence, self-sufficiency, and dependence aversion. Some participants with high levels of independence will be invited to partake in a one-on-one performance consisting of integrating healthy levels of dependence into their daily lives. A corresponding gallery display includes giveaway informative brochures that reference those found in health care centers. They are also available to order.
If you scored higher than 52% you may be eligible to receive a one-on-one virtual consultation with an ITC professional.
BROCHURE GALLERY
Order our informative brochures to display in your office, home, or hospital.
ITC aims to develop and valorize often unsung strengths - the competencies of one to collaborate, co-produce, cultivate vulnerability, and to freely give and ask for help. Acceptance of our human dependence is often dismissed through appeals to fantasies of independence and self-sufficiency. These fantasies perpetuate the myth that people who are in need are deficient. The project urges participants to rethink dependence as a social responsibility that we all require and share.
As the United States becomes more unaffordable, it is an especially difficult place to find oneself in a situation of dependency. It risks becoming a place where only young, able-bodied, economically self-sufficient people can access quality of life. These inequities and deficiencies in our social safety net have become more pronounced during the COVID-19 pandemic, with many citizens relying on the aid of the government as well as their neighbors for the first time, and/or forced to seek new ways to connect during physical isolation. ITC envisions a future where our universal vulnerability and dependence is normalized and accepted in the social realm.