Contributions of African-centered (Africentric) psychology: A call for inclusion in APA-accredited graduate psychology program curriculum.

Abstract

Over the past few years, there has been increased visibility of, and attention paid to, enduring issues such as racial discrimination toward Black Americans. Black psychologists have been called upon to explain various race-related mental health issues to the public, as well as their colleagues and students. Discussions about how to heal from persistent, intergenerational, oppressive attacks on the African psyche are important, but the theories and treatments in which most practitioners are trained and considered "best practices" are Eurocentric in nature. Africancentered (or Africentric) psychology is a well-established school of thought, predating the philosophies often discussed in Western/American psychology's History and Systems curriculum, that provides an authentic understanding of the psychology of people of African descent from an African perspective. In this article, we present the historical contention about the lack of inclusion of an African perspective in conceptualizing and addressing the psychological needs of people of African descent, provide an overview of African-centered psychology including its underlying worldview and philosophy, development, and key contributors, and advocate for the inclusion of Africentric psychology in APA-accredited psychology graduate programs.

Race-based biases in psychological distress and treatment judgments

“…Second, future research should test the role of clinician race and training orientation to potentially moderate distress and treatment judgments. Although there is some evidence from research on physical and social pain judgments that Black and White individuals often show similar biases [ 10 , 14 ], presumably because of the nominally positive nature of stereotypes related to Black strength and resilience, it is not clear whether these effects generalize to Black clinicians and those trained in more culturally competent approaches to mental health [ 36 – 38 ]. Future research should test for moderators among MHPs.…”

Reclaiming the past and transforming our future: Introduction to the special issue on foundational contributions of Black scholars in psychology.

“…In their article on African-centered psychology, Awosogba et al (2023) provide a brief overview of the core tenets of the discipline, outline the many contributions of this school of thought, and issue a call for inclusion of these approaches in APA-accredited health service programs. While acknowledging the uniqueness of African ethnocultural groups, African-centered or Africentric psychology embraces unifying concepts across these groups.…”