The illusion of inclusion: contextual behavioral science and the Black community.

Anti-racism approaches require an honest examination of cause, impact, and committed action to change, despite discomfort and without experiential avoidance. While contextual behavioral science (CBS) and third wave cognitive-behavioral modalities demonstrate efficacy among samples composed of primarily White individuals, data regarding their efficacy with people of color, and Black Americans in particular, is lacking. It is important to consider the possible effects of racial stress and trauma on Black clients, and to tailor approaches and techniques grounded in CBS accordingly. We describe how CBS has not done enough to address the needs of Black American communities, using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) as examples. We also provide examples at the level of research representation, organizational practices, and personal experiences to illuminate covert racist policy tools that maintain inequities. Towards eradicating existing racism in the field, we conclude with suggestions for researchers and leadership in professional psychological organizations.

Abuse of power in the disciplinary actions of a state psychology licensing board: inequitable outcomes and early career psychologists.

The field of psychology has established high professional standards which have become a cornerstone of the practice of psychology. However, powerful boards tasked with administering these standards can operate with little oversight, making it difficult to monitor whether these institutions are operating in a fair and impartial way. In particular, early-career psychologists who have less experience and power in their initial years of independent practice may be singularly vulnerable as they have relatively little experience to navigate the profession, including fielding complaints that may be made against them to a licensing board. While it is essential to ensure early-career psychologists are upholding their commitments to the practice, there are risks in policing their activities without orienting toward growth, learning, and professional development. Even the smallest disciplinary action may never be expunged from a psychologist's record, resulting in long-term implications for insurance coverage, reputation and future professional viability in the field. Overly-punitive approaches can be distressing or even traumatizing. In this paper, we examine disciplinary actions of the Kentucky Board of Examiners of Psychology (KBEP) from the years 2000 to 2020 (N = 65) to determine the methodology by which the Board administers its oversight function. We analyze the nature of the discipline received (fines, suspensions, continuing education, supervision) revealing a two-tiered system of punishments, and provide context regarding the nature of the disciplinary process and its impacts. We report on qualitative interviews of early career psychologists subject to disciplinary actions by the Board, and psychologists who supervised early career psychologists investigated by the Board. We compare legislation governing KBEP and make comparisons to the workings of licensing boards in three other states. Using these findings, we make recommendations for revisions to the applicable legislation and administrative processes of the Board to establish an improved balance between public safety, the well-being of new psychologists, equity considerations such as race, and the development of the practice of psychology in Kentucky. This work brings to light previously unexamined injustices that can knowingly or unknowingly be perpetuated by licensing Boards, and can be used to inform the creation of more just, balanced and inclusive professional Boards.

Racism and censorship in the editorial and peer review process.

Psychology aims to capture the diversity of our human experience, yet racial inequity ensures only specific experiences are studied, peer-reviewed, and eventually published. Despite recent publications on racial bias in research topics, study samples, academic teams, and publication trends, bias in the peer review process remains largely unexamined. Drawing on compelling case study examples from APA and other leading international journals, this article proposes key mechanisms underlying racial bias and censorship in the editorial and peer review process, including bias in reviewer selection, devaluing racialized expertise, censorship of critical perspectives, minimal consideration of harm to racialized people, and the publication of unscientific and racist studies. The field of psychology needs more diverse researchers, perspectives, and topics to reach its full potential and meet the mental health needs of communities of colour. Several recommendations are called for to ensure the APA can centre racial equity throughout the editorial and review process.

The weaponization of medicine: Early psychosis in the Black community and the need for racially informed mental healthcare.

There is a notable disparity between the observed prevalence of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders in racialized persons in the United States and Canada and White individuals in these same countries, with Black people being diagnosed at higher rates than other groups. The consequences thereof bring a progression of lifelong punitive societal implications, including reduced opportunities, substandard care, increased contact with the legal system, and criminalization. Other psychological conditions do not show such a wide racial gap as a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder diagnosis. New data show that the differences are not likely to be genetic, but rather societal in origin. Using real-life examples, we discuss how overdiagnoses are largely rooted in the racial biases of clinicians and compounded by higher rates of traumatizing stressors among Black people due to racism. The forgotten history of psychosis in psychology is highlighted to help explain disparities in light of the relevant historical context. We demonstrate how misunderstanding race confounds attempts to diagnose and treat schizophrenia-spectrum disorders in Black individuals. A lack of culturally informed clinicians exacerbates problems, and implicit biases prevent Black patients from receiving proper treatment from mainly White mental healthcare professionals, which can be observed as a lack of empathy. Finally, we consider the role of law enforcement as stereotypes combined with psychotic symptoms may put these patients in danger of police violence and premature mortality. Improving treatment outcomes requires an understanding of the role of psychology in perpetuating racism in healthcare and pathological stereotypes. Increased awareness and training can improve the plight of Black people with severe mental health disorders. Essential steps necessary at multiple levels to address these issues are discussed.

A Systematic Review of Black People Coping With Racism: Approaches, Analysis, and Empowerment.

This article reviews the current research literature concerning Black people in Western societies to better understand how they regulate their emotions when coping with racism, which coping strategies they use, and which strategies are functional for well-being. A systematic review of the literature was conducted, and 26 studies were identified on the basis of a comprehensive search of multiple databases and reference sections of relevant articles. Studies were quantitative and qualitative, and all articles located were from the United States or Canada. Findings demonstrate that Black people tend to cope with racism through social support (friends, family, support groups), religion (prayer, church, spirituality), avoidance (attempting to avoid stressors), and problem-focused coping (confronting the situation directly). Findings suggest gender differences in coping strategies. We also explore the relationship between coping with physical versus emotional pain and contrast functional versus dysfunctional coping approaches, underscoring the importance of encouraging personal empowerment to promote psychological well-being. Findings may help inform mental-health interventions. Limitations include the high number of American-based samples and exclusion of other Black ethnic and national groups, which is an important area for further exploration.

The Need for Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy in the Black Community and the Burdens of Its Provision.

Psychedelic medicine is an emerging field that examines entheogens, psychoactive substances that produce non-ordinary states of consciousness (NOSC). 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is currently in phase-3 FDA clinical trials in the United States (US) and Canada to treat the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). MDMA is used in conjunction with manualized therapy, because of its effectiveness in reducing fear-driven stimuli that contribute to trauma and anxiety symptoms. In 2017, the FDA designated MDMA as a "breakthrough therapy," signaling that it has advantages in safety, efficacy, and compliance over available medication for the treatment of trauma-, stress-, and anxiety-related disorders such as PTSD. In the US and Canada, historical and contemporary racial mistreatment is frequently experienced by Black people via a variety of macro and micro insults. Such experiences trigger physiological responses of anxiety and fear, which are associated with chronically elevated stress hormone levels (e.g., cortisol and epinephrine), similar to levels documented among those diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. This paper will explore the benefits of entheogens within psychedelic assisted-therapy and their potential benefits in addressing the sequelae of pervasive and frequent negative race-based experiences and promoting healing and thriving among Black, Indigenous and other People of Color (BIPOC). The author(s) discuss the ethical responsibility for providing psychedelic-assisted therapy within a culturally competent provider framework and the importance of psychedelic researchers to recruit and retain BIPOC populations in research and clinical training.

Cdc42- and IRSp53-dependent contractile filopodia tether presumptive lens and retina to coordinate epithelial invagination.

The vertebrate lens provides an excellent model with which to study the mechanisms required for epithelial invagination. In the mouse, the lens forms from the head surface ectoderm. A domain of ectoderm first thickens to form the lens placode and then invaginates to form the lens pit. The epithelium of the lens placode remains in close apposition to the epithelium of the presumptive retina as these structures undergo a coordinated invagination. Here, we show that F-actin-rich basal filopodia that link adjacent presumptive lens and retinal epithelia function as physical tethers that coordinate invagination. The filopodia, most of which originate in the presumptive lens, form at E9.5 when presumptive lens and retinal epithelia first come into close contact, and have retracted by E11.5 when invagination is complete. At E10.5--the lens pit stage--there is approximately one filopodium per epithelial cell. Formation of filopodia is dependent on the Rho family GTPase Cdc42 and the Cdc42 effector IRSp53 (Baiap2). Loss of filopodia results in reduced lens pit invagination. Pharmacological manipulation of the actin-myosin contraction pathway showed that the filopodia can respond rapidly in length to change inter-epithelial distance. These data suggest that the lens-retina inter-epithelial filopodia are a fine-tuning mechanism to assist in lens pit invagination by transmitting the forces between presumptive lens and retina. Although invagination of the archenteron in sea urchins and dorsal closure in Drosophila are known to be partly dependent on filopodia, this mechanism of morphogenesis has not previously been identified in vertebrates.

Bmp7 regulates branching morphogenesis of the lacrimal gland by promoting mesenchymal proliferation and condensation.

The lacrimal gland provides an excellent model with which to study the epithelial-mesenchymal interactions that are crucial to the process of branching morphogenesis. In the current study, we show that bone morphogenetic protein 7 (Bmp7) is expressed with a complex pattern in the developing gland and has an important role in regulating branching. In loss-of-function analyses, we find that Bmp7-null mice have distinctive reductions in lacrimal gland branch number, and that inhibition of Bmp activity in gland explant cultures has a very similar consequence. Consistent with this, exposure of whole-gland explants to recombinant Bmp7 results in increased branch number. In determining which cells of the gland respond directly to Bmp7, we have tested isolated mesenchyme and epithelium. We find that, as expected, Bmp4 can suppress bud extension in isolated epithelium stimulated by Fgf10, but interestingly, Bmp7 has no discernible effect. Bmp7 does, however, stimulate a distinct response in mesenchymal cells. This manifests as a promotion of cell division and formation of aggregates, and upregulation of cadherin adhesion molecules, the junctional protein connexin 43 and of alpha-smooth muscle actin. These data suggest that in this branching system, mesenchyme is the primary target of Bmp7 and that formation of mesenchymal condensations characteristic of signaling centers may be enhanced by Bmp7. Based on the activity of Bmp7 in promoting branching, we also propose a model suggesting that a discrete region of Bmp7-expressing head mesenchyme may be crucial in determining the location of the exorbital lobe of the gland.

Bmp signaling is required for development of primary lens fiber cells.

We have investigated the role of Bmp signaling in development of the mouse lens using three experimental strategies. First, we have shown that the Bmp ligand inhibitor noggin can suppress the differentiation of primary lens fiber cells in explant culture. Second, we have expressed a dominant-negative form of the type 1 Bmp family receptor Alk6 (Bmpr1b -- Mouse Genome Informatics) in the lens in transgenic mice and shown that an inhibition of primary fiber cell differentiation can be detected at E13.5. Interestingly, the observed inhibition of primary fiber cell development was asymmetrical and appeared only on the nasal side of the lens in the ventral half. Expression of the inhibitory form of Alk6 was driven either by the alpha A-cystallin promoter or the ectoderm enhancer from the Pax6 gene in two different transgenes. These expression units drive transgene expression in distinct patterns that overlap in the equatorial cells of the lens vesicle at E12.5. Despite the distinctions between the transgenes, they caused primary fiber cell differentiation defects that were essentially identical, which implied that the equatorial lens vesicle cells were responding to Bmp signals in permitting primary fiber cells to develop. Importantly, E12.5 equatorial lens vesicle cells showed cell-surface immunoreactivity for bone-morphogenetic protein receptor type 2 and nuclear immunoreactivity for the active, phosphorylated form of the Bmp responsive Smads. This indicated that these cells had the machinery for Bmp signaling and were responding to Bmp signals. We conclude that Bmp signaling is required for primary lens fiber cell differentiation and, given the asymmetry of the differentiation inhibition, that distinct differentiation stimuli may be active in different quadrants of the eye.