|
||
|
|
||
|
"Building a Sane Society and Transforming Psychology and Mental Health-Care"
|
||
|
|
||
|
Notes and Ideas for Discussion at the
July 28th Meeting in Building a Sane Society and Transforming
Psychology and Mental Health-Care Introduction: There are many people who believe that the This state of psychological disorder is largely fueled
by mass denial of the socio-political-military realities that are occurring
in our world. These realities are
incurring suffering among millions of people in this country and around the
world including thousands of Iraqi civilians, children, and babies who are
only the most recent victims of an insane form of militarism that has lost
any sense of moral direction and psychological integrity. The state of psychological disorder that is increasing
in our nation is divorced from the spiritual realities that can serve as a
healing balm by promoting a greater sense of order, justice, and peace in our
world. Unfortunately, this disorder is
engulfing the consciousness of many persons in the mental health professions;
the very persons who are called upon to promote what Linda Myers and other
multicultural writers have referred to as “optimal mental health.” The continued use of culturally-biased psychological
instruments that misdiagnose women and persons of color, the continued use of
psychological interventions that are known to be ineffective and harmful to
persons in diverse cultural-racial populations, the promotion of prescription
privileges among psychologists without articulating and implementing a liberatory psychology that accompanies such
institutionally-sanctioned drug use, the recent rise of the positive
psychology movement - a movement that invigorates a myopic, monocultural-ethnocentric, racist, and anti-feminist view
of mental health, the ways in which the fields of psychology and counseling
continue to maintain an unjust and oppressive status quo are but a few of the
examples of the ways in which persons in the mental health professions are
viewed as operating from a state of psychological disorder and professional
dishonesty. Fortunately, there is a way out. One can see light in this time of
darkness. This light is, in part,
reflected in the voices and writings of many multicultural/feminist/social justice
advocates in psychology who have worked tirelessly over the past 35 years to
promote new paradigms, new ways of thinking, new interventions, new ways of
being that can and do lead to a heightened state of psychological and
spiritual order - a state of “optimal health.” We can build on these important
achievements to advance new forms of revolutionary changes in psychology and
our society. To do so we need to use
hope and inspiration as weapons for our collective survival and progress;
increase a sense of unity among our allies; energize the
multicultural/feminist/social justice advocates who work tirelessly at our
grassroots; link these advocates/allies in more meaningful ways to national
psychology and counseling organizations; and mobilize a militant humanism
that foster optimal mental health and spiritual well-being among large
numbers of persons from marginalized groups in our society. The meeting that is schedule for July 28th
from 7:00 - 9:00 pm is designed to address these and other related
issues. It will provide an opportunity
for persons who have demonstrated the courage of their convictions in
promoting multiculturalism, feminism, and social justice in psychology and
within our local communities to build on the vision of our ancestors - a
vision for optimal health, peace, and justice in our world and a continuing
commitment to redefine the role that psychologists and counselors can play in
realizing these vital goals. It is hoped that the discussion that ensues at this
meeting will promote a greater sense of personal and professional unity among
us. Hopefully, our discussion on July
28th will include exploring ways that we can more effectively
support our allies at the grassroots level of our society by identifying and
supporting new action strategies. Perhaps we can think of new ways to further advocate
for the promotion and institutionalization of multicultural competence in
psychology. Personally speaking, I hope that we can discuss ways to
help nurture the next generation of visionary leaders in APA by examining our
responsibility to mentor our younger allies and colleagues. Through all of this I am hopeful that together, we can
leave Hawaii not only refreshed and invigorated with new ways of thinking;
but leave this wonderful land with a plan that some, most or all of us are
willing to implement to further build a sense of unity among us and promote
justice, peace, and mental health in our world in the process. With all of this in mind, I respectfully suggest that
it may be useful to think about the importance of increasing our commitment
to a new form of “militant humanism”; a humanism that is consistent with the
philosophical and moral tenets of Henry David Thoreau, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin
Luther King Jr., bell hooks, Thich Nhat Hanh and other visionary
and moral leaders that we are familiar with as we work together to discuss
practical strategies for possible future action. Hopefully, we can leave the meeting on July 28th
with some agreement as to the types of interventions that will best
complement and expand the successful achievements that has been realized in
the work that has already been done by many people at our meeting; work that
is unquestionably leading to transformative changes in the mental health
professions in general and APA and ACA in particular; work for which we are
all grateful has been undertaken by numerous brothers and sisters in the
struggle for multicultural competence, feminist psychology, and social justice in APA. What follows are some of the ideas/suggestions that may
be useful to consider in preparing to attend the July 28th
meeting. This list is not intended to
be exhaustive of all the ideas that will hopefully be generated in our
discussion. I have, however, taken the
time to list the following ideas to facilitate our discussion in
I am truly humbled by the number of people who have
responded to the call for this meeting and for all of the positive comments
that have been sent in response to the invitation sent out earlier. As the Native people of
In the continuing struggle
for justice and peace, Michael D’Andrea Executive Director of the
National Institute for Multicultural Competence (NIMC) *************************************************************************** Please note: The ideas
presented below are not in intended to conflict with similar action
strategies that may currently be discussed among other persons or others that
are presently being implemented by allies in the field. Rather, these ideas are aimed at
complementing similar intervention strategies and promoting a greater sense
of unity among allies in the multicultural, feminist, and social justice
movements in our nation. Ideas for Possible Future Actions to Build Unity,
Promote Multicultural Competence, and Create a Healthier and More Sane Society 1. Work with key leaders
in APA to re-establish the National discussion on race: Identify 6-8 key
universities where these discussions can be held over the next 2 years – emphasize the need to include students,
scholars, and community activists to find ways of more effective of dealing
with racial problem that continue to plague the nation 2. Participate in the NIMC’s National tour entitled “Promoting Multicultural
Competence and Social Justice” (I will send a separate attachment that
describes this national tour). Please note: Students
could play an important role in Items #1 & 2 in ways that would stimulate
their personal and professional development.
By having faculty members mentoring students and having all
discussions and presentations on race, multicultural competence, and social
justice video taped, students could conduct a qualitative analyses and conduct
comparative research across universities, communities, regions on these
issues. These research results could
be presented at future professional meetings, conferences, and conventions
and submitted for possible publication in various journals in our field. 3. Unity meetings at the
next ACA and APA conventions, the Diversity Challenge Conference in
4. Giving back to our
local communities at national conventions and conferences. Encouraging APA-ACA divisions to provide
1-2 day pro bono professional development-service-learning activities in the
cities where our national conventions are held. Ten to twenty multicultural/
feminist/social justice advocates willing to provide 1 to 1.5 hours of
training and participate in service learning activities that are
intentionally designed to promote multicultural competence and social justice
and encourage/learn about new social change/organizational development strategies
could be a very useful way to energize persons working at the grassroots
level, link them in meaningful way to our national organizations, and build a
greater sense of unity within the multicultural/feminist/social justice
movements.. 5. Building a more
accurate knowledge-base by having multicultural/feminist/social justice
advocates lobby for simple changes in our journals. This would include calling for the
inclusion of Spanish (in the abstract and summary of published articles) and
new standards that would more effectively address the pervasive problem of
external validity as it is now manifested in most research publications in
psychology. 6. The positive psychology movement has much
potential to: [1] serve as a new force that moves the field of psychology
substantially beyond the pathology/deficit model that has dominated the field
in the past and [2] build on the work of numerous multicultural and feminist
theorists and researchers who have provided a framework for more liberatory, historical, and contextual models of human
development and optimal health. To
date, however, this new force increasingly appears to advance yet another monocultural psychological perspective that undermines
the health and well-being of marginalized persons in our society through its
cultural imperialism. It is important to deal
with the Positive Psychology movement and the various ways in which it is
reinvigorating monocultural ethnocentric thinking
and institutional-cultural racism in professional debates and publications. But it may also be useful to use a
Gandhi/King approach to advance our collective resistance to the promotion of
this racist and anti-feminist framework by setting up “educational pickets”
where individuals would distribute information about the underlying
oppressive nature of the positive psychology movement as it is currently
being promoting by several White males in psychology at key positive
psychology presentations at the next APA convention in Washington DC. This was done on a small scale at the APA
meeting in 7. Dealing with
Psychologists’ prescription rights: What role can
multicultural/feminist/social justice advocates play in dealing with the
controversial issues surrounding the advancement of prescription privileges
for psychologists? Outline a
historically-based liberatory-contextual-environmental
response to these controversial issues at future professional meetings, at a
National Dialogue on Race, a National Tour to Promote Multicultural
Competence and Social Justice, and other professional
meetings/conferences/conventions. ** FYI: Information
regarding the following convention program is provided below for those
persons who may have a particular interest in this area. On Thursday July 29, 2004,
from 10AM to 11:45 AM Past-Presidents of APA Patrick
Henry DeLeon and George W. Albee
will debate the value of drug prescription privileges for psychologists.
Chairing the debate, and Discussant, will be M. Brewster Smith, another Past
President of APA. The debate will be
in the Suite shared by Psychologists for Social Responsibility (PsySR)/Div 9 (SPSSI)/ Div 48 (Peace). PsySR
is sponsor. The Suite is at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort. 8. Supporting or
initiating voter registration and education campaigns at our universities. Respectfully submitted by: Michael D’Andrea Professor and Executive Director of the
National Institute for Multicultural Competence
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
