On Pan-Africanism, Feminism, and Psychotherapy: The Perspectives of Three Black Scholar-Practitioners from the U.S., Uganda, and St. Kitts/U.S

Abstract

Three African-descended psychologists discuss the case of a psychotherapy dyad in which the first author, a U.S. national, and a Caribbean student who had immigrated to the U.S. served respectively as therapist and client. We discuss the relevance of Helms’ racial identity development theory to the cultivation of psychological health among African-descended women, proposing that this form of health is intimately tied to our association with other African-descended people. With particular focus on the client’s disclosures about certain groups of Black people in stereotypical ways, what we term “othering by the other,” we offer a conceptualization that knits together issues of personal vulnerability, the reproduction of structural violence, and racial identity development. We conclude by presenting our views on the process and outcome of the therapeutic case and the significance of the theory to addressing the violence that continues to disrupt the lives of Black men and women around the world.

Keywords:

• African-descended women
• feminism
• pan-Africanism
• psychotherapy
• racial identity development theory

Disclosure statement

We have no known conflict of interest to disclose.

Notes

1 In this article, the term “African-descended,” used interchangeably with “Black,” refers to people who have ancestors from the African continent and who are commonly identified by others within their respective societies as having associations with Africans or as Black people (e.g., African American or Afro-Peruvian). Having African ancestry is commonly associated with physical markers like dark skin color and curly hair as well as historical traditions, although the heterogeneity that exists among indigenous African people varies widely. In many cases, people of African descent have adopted descriptors to break from the oppressive posturing inherent in racial labeling. Consequently, Black people may create descriptors that affirm their association with others of African descent while create new descriptors, such AfroLatina, as a way to acknowledge their Africanness as they also resist the racial, reductionistic origins of commonly held labels.