Community Psychology Department, Wilfrid Laurier University Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Am J Community Psychol. 2024 Mar;73(1-2):170-182. doi: 10.1002/ajcp.12657. Epub 2023 Mar 28.
As a registered psychotherapist and art therapist, my clinical training was primarily based on North American clinical approaches influenced by traditional Euro and western-centric clinical theories of human behavior. I completed my training feeling certain that traditional clinical mental health practices were not an appropriate fit for racialized communities and could have negative implications for their healing and well-being. As clinicians, it is our moral obligation to support and enhance the quality of life for marginalized groups. We can do this by challenging our values and knowledge that have been defined and influenced by structures (i.e., education, training, etc.) embedded in these colonial teachings. For this paper, I used a heuristic self-inquiry research method to investigate these concerns. I interviewed other racialized psychotherapists practicing in Turtle Island (currently mostly occupied by the political entities of Canada and the United States) with the aim to learn how and if decolonization can be used in therapy practice. With this research, I (1) identified a gap in care for racialized communities, (2) questioned if or how a decolonizing approach to care should be considered, (3) explored my discomfort with practitioners in the field that claim their position on decolonizing therapy, practice, and approaches, and lastly (4) propose other ways of knowing that can inform new ways of practicing therapy. The results of this research helped to problematize the language and use of decolonizing therapeutic practices while learning about other concepts that may be relevant yet distinct, such as principles of coloniality/decoloniality. Those of us, therapists or researchers, wanting to disrupt the current practice of therapy need to work together, share knowledge, and challenge each other, so that we can transform the way we practice as psychotherapists. This paper is my contribution to this conversation.
作为一名注册心理治疗师和艺术治疗师，我的临床培训主要基于受传统欧洲和西方中心主义人类行为临床理论影响的北美临床方法。完成培训后，我确信传统的临床心理健康实践并不适合种族化社区，并且可能对他们的康复和福祉产生负面影响。作为治疗师，我们有道德义务支持和提高边缘化群体的生活质量。我们可以通过挑战我们的价值观和知识来做到这一点，这些价值观和知识是由这些殖民教义所包含的结构（即教育、培训等）定义和影响的。在本文中，我使用启发式自我探究研究方法来研究这些问题。我采访了在龟岛（目前主要由加拿大和美国的政治实体占据）执业的其他种族化心理治疗师，目的是了解如何以及是否可以在治疗实践中使用去殖民化。通过这项研究，我（1）发现了种族化社区护理方面的差距，（2）质疑是否应该考虑或如何考虑以去殖民化的方式进行护理，（3）探讨了我对声称自己在去殖民化治疗、实践和方法方面立场的从业者的不适，最后（4）提出了其他可以提供信息的认知方式，可以为新的治疗实践提供信息。这项研究的结果有助于使去殖民化治疗实践的语言和使用问题化，同时了解其他可能相关但又不同的概念，例如殖民性/去殖民性原则。我们这些想要打破当前治疗实践的治疗师或研究人员需要共同努力，分享知识，相互挑战，以便我们能够改变我们作为心理治疗师的实践方式。本文是我对这一对话的贡献。
