Can We Decolonize Psychoanalytic Theory and Practice?

ABSTRACT

Theorizing about the unconscious has been largely based on white, Euro-American notions of the primitive, dismissing the perspectives of nonwhite people and contributing to individual and collective injustice. Importantly, foundational conceptualizations of human development, such as those regarding the concept of dependency, have been shaped through white, Euro-American colonization. This manuscript addresses the complicity of psychoanalysis in colonized narratives of development and the psyche, and the impact of this complicity on racial minorities. It further explores post-colonial perspectives that challenge theoretical assumptions of nonwhite people as dependent and inferior. The process of decolonization in psychoanalysis is examined through recommendations for modifying existing theory, practice, and training.

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Pratyusha Tummala-Narra

Pratyusha Tummala-Narra, Ph.D. is the Director of Community-Based Education at the Danielsen Institute and Research Professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Boston University. Her research and scholarship focus on immigration, trauma, race, and cultural competence and psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Her publications include over 90 peer-reviewed articles and chapters in books. She is also in Independent Practice, and works primarily with survivors of trauma from diverse sociocultural backgrounds.