Psychological Safety as Structural Safety: Rethinking Professionalism, Competency, and Mental Health in the Workplace

Psychological safety has become a buzzword — often reduced to “feeling heard” or building trust on teams. But real psychological safety isn’t soft. It’s structural. It’s shaped by racialized definitions of professionalism, legacies of exclusion, and systems that punish distress while performing care.

This isn’t just about culture — it’s about power.
Who gets protected.
Who gets punished.
And who is never safe at all.