AROUND THE ABPsi
Intentional Illumination
Intentional individuals and institutions committed to African-centered education play a crucial role in building self-love among Black/African students. When I taught the African-Brazilian martial art of capoeira at an African-centered social justice school in Chicago, the students repeated, “If it’s going to be, it’s up to me! Harambee, harambee, harambee!” […]
Pressure
Supreme Court Decision on Affirmative Action
By Dr. Thomas Parham I write on behalf of the national Association of Black Psychologists, Inc. (ABPsi), our President Dr. Donell Barnett, our Board of Directors, past presidents, and Council of Elders to strongly condemn and express profound disappointment and outrage at the latest Supreme Court decision striking down affirmative action […]
Research Corner
Trauma Bonds, Liberation, and the Black Female Nervous System
An African-Centered Framework for Healing and Family Restoration The relational experiences of Black women cannot be understood outside of the historical, neurobiological, and structural forces that have shaped the Black family across generations. Trauma bonding, relational instability, and attachment disruption within Black relationships are often interpreted through individualistic or pathologizing […]
RECENT POSTS
When Black Clinicians Burn Out, Black Communities Pay the Price
Self-care is also not limited to therapy, meditation, or calling EAP. Sometimes self-care is having a Saturday night available to take your spouse out. It is being able to take a Friday afternoon off for a dental appointment. It is having enough flexibility to get your oil changed, pick up a sick child, or manage your life without fearing that you will be written up.
The Transformation of Transgenerational Pain into Transgenerational Joy
Human beings inherit more than names, property, and physical characteristics. We also inherit stories, images, expectations, coping patterns, beliefs, and ways of understanding ourselves. Some of these inheritances strengthen us; others wound us. BE Mindful Therapy® (BE-MT) is the psychotherapy text that establishes the framework for understanding Transgenerational Pain (TP) […]
Breaking Invisible Chains: Financial Trauma, Mental Health, and the Liberation of the African Spirit
THE CHAINS WE CANNOT SEE Our ancestors endured chains that could be seen. Today, some of the chains affecting Black families are harder to see. Financial stress. Economic fear. Shame. Survival thinking. Intergenerational scarcity. These invisible chains may not leave marks on our wrists, but they can leave marks on […]
When Survival Looks Like Smiling: Black Women, Autism, and the Cost of Layered Masking
There are many ways to disappear without ever leaving the room. Sometimes it looks like smiling when your nervous system is overwhelmed. Sometimes it looks like rehearsing every conversation before it happens or replaying every interaction after it ends. It can sound like saying, “I’m fine,” because explaining what is […]
You are Deserving of Your Own Compassion (Neff, 2003)
You are someone worth celebrating! The ancient Kemetic principle of Hetep speaks to a state of peace, harmony, balance, and spiritual wholeness. (Bynum, 1999; Fu-Kiau, 2001) Hetep is not simply the absence of conflict. It is inner alignment. Many people spend years chasing external peace while remaining internally divided. (Bynum, […]
Dr. Mamie Phipps Clark: Disability Advocate
As the Ethics Co-Chair of the New York Association for School Psychologists, I recently wrote an article entitled “Special Education Practices: Past and Present.” During my research, I discovered some very interesting facts about a case that Dr. Mamie Phipps Clark was involved with in South Jamaica, Queens, New York. […]
Disability Pride and Collective Justice
Black people with disabilities are capable of mental, physical, and spiritual feats. Although multiple sclerosis put Brad Lomax in a wheelchair, he joined the Black Panther Party and founded the Center for Independent Living. Lois Curtis, an artist and activist with schizophrenia, protested segregated housing practices and won a landmark […]
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