Incorporating Indigenous Perspectives in Counselling Psychology (Speaking Together) Nhlanhla Mkhize, PhD University of KwaZulu-Natal School of Psychology South Africa mkhize@ukzn.ac.za 11/18/2018

Over-reliance on imported theoretical frameworks Background Over-reliance on imported theoretical frameworks Marginalization of others’ ways of being-in-the-world 11/18/2018

Implications for Counseling Psychology Training Reflect on assumptions embedded in our theories What does it mean to be a black/white man/woman teaching counseling psych in the post-colonial context? The social construction of minority students: and dominant narratives about minorities Professional training and identity development 11/18/2018

Plurality of Knowledge: Diverse Syllabi Incorporate indigenous worldviews in the Counseling Psychology Syllabi: Human life interconnected, indivisible Human beings inherently spiritual Interdependence of Self & Other, Mind, Body & Spirit Human participation in creative becoming; human beings as forms-in-waiting Relationship between Balance & Imbalance 11/18/2018

The Role of language in Counseling Training Translation of major counseling texts into indigenous languages is required, in order to ensure conceptual equivalence Bottom up approach: to bring local counseling knowledge and frameworks into the international arena 11/18/2018

Recommendations Incorporation of indigenous knowledge systems into the curriculum, while Avoiding tokenism and anthropological essentialism and ghettoisation 11/18/2018

Recommendations Contextualizing various claims to truth, to identify liberating and constraining discourses within the discipline of counseling psychology itself Ongoing questioning of one’s assumptions and opening up to the world of the other, through dialogue Paying attention to the role of power/power differentials in psychological work 11/18/2018

Recommendations Paying attention to knowledge communicated by our racialized and gendered bodies, knowledge ‘deposited’ in our bodies Immersion experience for senior counseling students: to promote a practical and relational, rather than a detached and theoretical, view of the other 11/18/2018

Recommendations A vernacular language requirement for all trainee counselling psychologists Internationalization: Translation of major international texts into African languages A bottom up approach to research, to make local counselling concepts international That way, we will be able to say, we are …………. 11/18/2018

kea le boha Asante sana! E Nkosi! ngiyabonga Baie dankie Speaking Together Thank You kea le boha ngiyabonga E Nkosi! Asante sana! Baie dankie 11/18/2018