1. What has African/Black Psychology Got to Do with It?
- Author
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PERRY-SPRINGER, MICHELE A., WILLIAMS, CLANCY, PHILLIPS, MALCOLM, ANHKU, NUSSHEN, and MOUKAM, RAMERI
- Subjects
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MENTAL health personnel , *BLACK people , *PSYCHOLOGY , *MENTAL health , *AFRICANS - Abstract
The fields of Psychology, Psychotherapy, and Counselling have long been criticised for their inability to engage with Black communities in the West. Further, Western Psychology has failed in developing models for understanding Black people and developing culturally appropriate services that African-heritage communities find accessible or effective. This paper evaluates an African-centred training programme for African-heritage mental health practitioners and community well-being champions in the UK. The programme provides an African-centred knowledge base and the space for participants to explore their current practice in order to develop appropriate models of mental well-being for Black communities. Six months after completing the course, 12 of the students from a total cohort of 38 formed a focus group around a loosely structured set of questions, to explore the impact the course had on them personally, professionally and in their practice. An analysis of the focus group transcript provided examples of participant statements that aligned with Parham's (2002) Five African Characteristics (5AC). Analysis of the statements made by focus-group participants about the course found that they aligned with the working hypothesis of the researchers; strongly indicating that when African/Black psychology is centred for the African-heritage practitioner, it is transformative and offers alternatives to a Eurocentric approach -- alternatives that are intrinsically more authentic. The students from a broad range of European theoretical training approaches and positions were able to reflect, explore, and re-evaluate their therapeutic assumptions and practices and successfully develop and deliver a range of culturally-appropriate targeted interventions to Black communities in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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