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

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. African-centered (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. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The hurdles are high: Women of color leaders in counseling psychology.

Counseling psychologists value cultural diversity and, as a field, include many Women of Color (WoC) in leadership spaces. However, researchers have yet to explore the experiences of WoC leaders within the Society of Counseling Psychology (SCP; Division 17 of the American Psychological Association). Specifically, we sought to identify how WoC leaders engage culturally relevant leadership styles and what barriers (if any) WoC leaders experience within leadership in SCP. We utilized a semistructured interview protocol with 10 WoC who have held and/or currently hold a leadership position within SCP. We sought to construct a narrative of the development of leadership spaces for WoC, understand the culturally relevant leadership styles of WoC leaders and the barriers to engaging their leadership styles in SCP, and create recommendations for SCP to broaden and deepen leadership pathways for WoC. We coded the data using the Consensual Qualitative Research method and identified two major thematic sections: Becoming a WoC Leader (with themes of Identity, Role of Sponsorship, Mentorship from WoC Leaders, and Hurdles of Service Leadership) and Leadership Styles of WoC (with themes of Self-Awareness in Leadership, Intentionality, and Engaging Critical Conversations). We conclude with recommendations from the leaders and implications for SCP and leadership spaces broadly. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Beauty and Body Image Concerns Among African American College Women.

The current study examined body image concerns among African American women. In recent years, there has been an attempt to include ethnic minority samples in body image studies (e.g., Grabe & Hyde, 2006; Hrabosky & Grilo, 2007; Lovejoy, 2001) but few specifically examine unique issues pertaining to beauty and body image for African American college age women. A total of 31 African American women participated in one of five focus groups on the campus of a large Southwestern University to examine beauty and body image. Data were analyzed using a thematic approach and several themes were identified. The majority of themes pertained to issues related to hair, skin tone, body type, and message sources. Themes included: sacrifice, ignorance/racial microaggressions, and validation and invalidation by others, thick/toned/curvy as optimal, hypersexualization, and being thin is for White women. Findings of the current study suggest a reconceptualization of body image for African American women where relevant characteristics such as hair and skin tone are given more priority over traditional body image concerns often associated with European American women.