Untangling Our Colonial Roots

2728 Durant Avenue,Berkeley CA 94704

29 April, 2023

Description

Untangling Our Colonial Roots: Tracking the Colonial Influences in Contemporary Clinical Psychology Decolonization has been an increasingly popular term within our societal discourse, as well as in clinical psychology. Often, it is used to infer social justice or issues of equity and diversity. Yet, some have asserted that the use of this term, without a clear understanding of its historical impact, can dilute the term to a mere metaphor. In the first of four sections of this presentation, Dr. Bergkamp will provide a historical clarification of the terms colonialization, colonization, and colonial mindset. The philosophical underpinnings and common strategies of 14th century European expansion will also be introduced. Participants will then explore how colonial philosophy and strategies are currently influencing our Western society, our individual lives, and our shared field of clinical psychology (Bhatia, 2018; Adams et al., 2015). The second part of this presentation will assist in linking historical colonization to contemporary colonial mindset, asserting that colonization established the current system of socially-conferred privilege allotment (Bergkamp et al., 2022). Definitions and theory will be introduced to established the concept of social privilege. Then the results of a multi-year, grounded theory study will be presented. A developmental model of social privilege awareness will then be utilized to begin to see the areas of decolonization and liberation needed to address our own intersectional identities. The model also has implications for how we train and practice clinical psychology. The third section will move to clinical practice, with Dr. Bergkamp providing a conceptual case study method termed the Aggregate Model, to begin to integrate politics and history into psychotherapy (assessment, diagnosis, case conceptualization, treatment planning, outcome measurement). This model is mean to nullify the inevitable historical amnesia implicit in the medical model of our field. Participants will be asked to apply the Aggregate Model to a case study provided in the readings. The fourth and final section addresses doctoral-level training in clinical psychology, with specific focus on the integration of social justice through a decolonized lens into the curriculum. Dr. Bergkamp will provide a case study of his program’s attempts at revisioning curriculum and clinical training, resulting in the assertion of a 10th program-specific competency for accreditation. In addition, he will provide examples of a faculty process and rubric for beginning to decolonize syllabi. Participants are encourage to bring their own syllabi to the workshop in order to apply the rubric. Learning Objectives: After completing this workshop, participants will be able to: • Define and differentiate the terms colonialization, colonization, and colonial mindset • List common colonial principles and strategies • Explain aspects of individual social location utilizing the ADDRESSING model (Hays, 2022) • Apply a developmental model of social privilege awareness to individual social location • Assess the historical amnesia and malignant normality innate in the medical model • Apply a case conceptual framework to decolonize clinical psychotherapy • Utilize a proposed rubric to decolonize their syllabi CE Credits: 6 CE Hours PSYCHOLOGISTS: The Wright Institute is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Wright Institute maintains responsibility for this program and its content. CALIFORNIA LMFTs, LCSW, LEPs, & LPCCs: State of California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) no longer approves continuing education providers. All providers have been removed from the provider list. As a replacement the board now accepts courses completed from a provider that has been approved by a number of different agencies. The Wright Institute is approved by the APA. All courses on this site are accepted for continuing education credit by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. Dr. Jude Bergkamp is the Program Chair of the Clinical Psychology Program at Antioch University Seattle, as well as clinical faculty in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington. He serves as the Chair of the Ethnic and Racial Diversity Committee within the National Council of Schools and Programs of Professional Psychology (NCSPP). In addition, he serves on the APA’s BEA/BPA Task Force on Doctoral Competencies in Health Service Psychology. He was trained in forensic and neuropsychology and has worked in the Washington State Department of Corrections, and currently as a forensic evaluator at the Center for Forensic Services at Western State Hospital. His current research interests include the decolonization of psychology, the exploration of social privilege as the flip side of oppression, and the role social privilege plays in psychotherapy.