Reclaiming love, wisdom, and healing through decolonial and liberation psychologies: A call to action.

This article explores the ontology of human personhood embedded within liberation psychology scholarship as related to the concepts of conscientisation, alienation, and relatedness. Through analysis of the work of Paulo Freire, Ignacio Martín-Baró and Maritza Montero, this study sheds light upon Latin American liberation psychology, as a paradigmatic articulation of human ontology. The importance of a well-articulated ontology of human personhood is related to and supported by Martin and Sugarman’s (2003) developmental theory of situated agentic personhood. In exploring foundational texts in liberation psychology we find a strong link to Marxian conceptions of personhood and agency. This interdisciplinary heritage claimed by liberation psychology continues to support an understanding of personhood as agentic, wilful and not only capable of socio-political action but dialectically inclined to such action for personal and societal change. This ontology has been essential in the development of liberation psychology practices and suggests a necessary paradigm shift in mainstream psychology.

Liberation psychology emerged in Cold War Central America with roots in the intellectual foundations of post-1960s Latin American social sciences. Jesuit priest, theologian, and social psychologist Ignacio Martín-Baró pioneered the field of liberation psychology. He critiqued the epistemological limitations of mainstream Western psychology for Central Americans and encouraged the development of new ways to approach mental health as a collective community need with specific historical and social conditions. Spanish-born, but based in El Salvador at the Universidad Centroamericana (UCA) José Simeón Cañas, and influenced by the social ideas of critical pedagogy and dependency theory, the process of participatory action research, and, above all, the religious ideas of liberation theology, Martín-Baró proposed a new psychology that did not abstract individuals from their social context and incorporated a “preferential option for the poor” into its conceptual model. In Catholic social teaching, the fundamental principle of the “preferential option for the poor,” to prioritize care for the poor and vulnerable, originates in the Bible, but the phrase was coined in 1968 by Spanish Jesuit priest, Pedro Arrupe, and fully articulated as a central tenet within Latin American liberation theology by Peruvian theologian and Dominican priest, Gustavo Gutiérrez, in 1972.Rethinking psychology from the perspective of the poor and marginalized became a priority for Martín-Baró who called upon Latin American psychologists to reject intellectual neocolonialism and build a new epistemology from below, as well as a new praxis to transform reality for the oppressed. He also set the recovery of historical memory, deideologizing everyday experience and uncompromising solidarity with war survivors as essential practices for Central American psychologists. The realities of El Salvador’s civil war (1980–1992) served as the inspiration for Martín-Baró’s conceptualization of liberation psychology, his understanding of the psychosocial impact of political violence and the creation of the Instituto Universitario de Opinión Pública. Unfortunately, Martín-Baró’s work is unfinished, as he was assassinated by the elite Atlacatl Batallion of the Salvadoran army on November 16, 1989, in his UCA campus residence alongside five Jesuit colleagues, as well as a UCA employee and her daughter. Nonetheless, Martín-Baró’s psychological research and practice not only exposed the profound economic structures that limited Salvadoran liberation but also contributed to the emancipatory ideologies of anticolonial movements.

From teaching public school in Puerto Rico, to community mental health services in Massachusetts and Connecticut, to Yale faculty and clinic director, to cofounding Division 45 and subsequently bringing the journal Cultural Diversity and Mental Health to American Psychological Association to promote ethnocultural psychology academic research and practice, Lillian Comas-Díaz exemplifies improving mental health through ideas and action. Her pioneering theoretical and practical contributions inspire both our and future generations to a higher standard of psychology: They encompass multiple and diverse psychotherapies, feminism and gender studies, diversity, social justice, spirituality, substance abuse, humanism, liberation psychology, cultural competence/cross-cultural interactions, and multiculturalism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Can psychotherapy support liberation? Critical and liberation psychologies have long critiqued psychology's relationship to power. Analyzing power draws attention to the inbuilt cultural assumptions and values that have shaped theory and practice in psychology. Mainstream psychotherapy, for instance, risks functioning to preserve rather than disrupt an oppressive status quo that contributes to clients' distress. We conducted a critical analysis of hegemonic power in mainstream psychotherapy and its embeddedness in moral, historical, and sociopolitical contexts. In this article, we identify impediments to liberatory psychotherapy, and we critique psychotherapeutic imperialism as the standard of care. Moving beyond critique, we have stewarded and described a Critical-Liberation Psychotherapy (CLP) model. CLP is decolonial in nature, developed out of a mutual accompaniment process that recenters marginalized views and practices from within and outside of psychology. CLP addresses intersectional power dynamics in psychotherapy. Through radical relationality and by facilitating the exploration of clients' lived experiences in context, CLP aims to promote critical consciousness. We outline and illustrate CLP approaches to clinical formulation and distinctive in-session practices. Finally, we review its limitations and underscore how CLP functions to support refashioning subjectivities and modes of relating that expand liberatory possibilities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Ethnic identity and conflict in Guatemala, Peru, and Puerto Rico are complexly embedded within dynamic systems of class- and race-based geopolitics. Whereas overt violence and terror have permeated both Guatemalan and Peruvian societies, overt conflict has undermined Puerto Rican nationhood. Despite similarities among these 3 countries of Hispano-America, there are important particularities that inform psychological theory and practice. This article explores selected contributions of a psychology of liberation informed by indigenous psychologies and reflexive praxis. The challenges these conflicts and their consequences pose to psychologists seeking to work with populations most deeply affected by these social inequalities are analyzed. It concludes with suggestions of how psychology can move toward the development of community-based responses to psychosocial oppression that foster enhanced individual and collective development in a context of social change.

Liberation psychology was proposed by some authors in an attempt to assimilate the theories and practices of psychology to the liberation movements that developed so intensely during the seventies of the twentieth century. This paper analyzes the work of Antonio and Nicolás Caparrós, who were key figures in critical psychology both in Argentina and Spain at the time, We will focus on their critique of cultural colonization within psychology. Finally, we will explore their demand for psychology to become a tool for social change by studying the mechanisms of ideological control. Their proposals are related to a social and cultural context which, both locally and internationally, was marked by political movements seeking the transformation of society.

This article revisits some of the contributions of Jesuit scholar and social psychologist Ignacio Martin-Baro to liberation psychology, community mental health, and human rights, exploring ways in which his reconceptualization of trauma within contexts of gross violations of human rights can contribute to societies emerging from armed conflicts. It describes one of the legacies of Martin-Baro’s life work, that is, The Ignacio Martin-Baro Fund for Mental Health and Human Rights (hereafter, “the Fund”), presenting an overview of the Fund’s philosophy and its activities since its formation in 1990. It explores the important link between mental health and human rights, and some of the contributions of this work to postconflict transitions and peacebuilding processes. A quantitative and qualitative analysis of over 90 projects supported by the Fund between 1990 and 2014 documents indigenous psychological practices carried out by community-based “insiders” and a range of local understandings of “mental health,” suggesting the transformative potential of community-based initiatives in responding to survivors of gross violations of human rights. We argue that collaboration and pragmatic solidarity between psychologists committed to liberation and grassroots community-based mental health workers could lead to enhanced resources for the latter, and a deeper understanding of liberation psychology praxis for the former.

In response to enduring historical colonialism and contemporary neocolonial influences, Indigenous Psychology movements in Asia have emerged as a counterforce to Western-centric hegemonic psychology. These movements strive for holistic healing that is deeply rooted in diverse local practices and wisdom. This introductory article positions Indigenous Psychology movements within the broader discourse on decolonial and liberation psychologies, highlighting their significance in the Chinese and Filipino cultural contexts. We briefly describe the history of these movements and explore various Indigenous healing approaches, from "indigenizing from without" to "indigenizing from within," a conceptual framework developed by Filipino psychologist Virgilio Enriquez in 1994. While recognizing the decolonial and liberatory potential of these movements, we also confront their challenges and limitations, such as the limited scope of representation of indigeneity and insufficient focus on historical trauma and colonial mentality. We advocate for a developmental approach to understand the evolution of Indigenous Psychology movements, culminating in a stage of "reclamation." The article concludes by delineating practical implications for incorporating these Indigenous perspectives into broader psychological practices. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

This paper based on the opening address for the 2023–2024 School Psychology Futures Conference, reflects on contemporary inequities in school psychology practice, research, and graduate education. Challenges as the profession reckons with its oppressive past are highlighted. Drawing on concepts from liberation psychology, critical school psychology, and the psychology of radical healing, the author presents a vision for school psychology’s reimagined future with steps that can be executed across all levels (e.g., practice, research, graduate education, advocacy and leadership). In order to imagine a new future for school psychology, we must not repeat the mistakes of our past and instead demonstrate cultural humility, center marginalized communities, and embrace anti-oppressive and liberatory approaches. This will allow school psychology to meet its potential and become a profession that effectively serves ALL children and youth. Impact Statement The 2023–2024 School Psychology Futures Conference had an intentional focus on examining school psychology from a social justice lens. This article critically examines contemporary and historical inequities in school psychology to identify mistakes of the past and applies concepts from liberation psychology, critical school psychology, and the psychology of radical healing to describe a more just future for the profession.

Inspired by applications of decolonial and liberation psychologies shared by authors in the American Psychologist special issue "Practicing Decolonial and Liberation Psychologies," implications for a decolonial-liberation orientation are explored. The African wisdom of Sankofa ("go back and get it") is presented as an Indigenous cultural foundation that grounds the orientation in the interconnectedness of past (origins/ancestors), present (current lived experience/community), and future (possibilities/descendants). Centered in the overarching tenet of humanization, a decolonial-liberation orientation for psychological practice operates from the premise that, due to the deleterious impacts of coloniality and oppression on human experience at multiple socioecological levels of analysis, decolonizing and liberatory processes and practices are necessary for global rehumanization and healing, optimal development, transformative change, and positive health. The authors discuss decolonial-liberation psychology praxis as cycles of experience-reflection-action that characterize the activity of the orientation. Using Bryant's (2024) trauma recovery framework, the diverse practices described in this special issue are highlighted as expressions of decolonial-liberation praxis. Recent steps taken by the American Psychological Association that are consistent with decoloniality are described. The authors conclude by offering a preliminary set of principles for decolonial-liberation psychology praxis that integrate core themes from the special issue articles with current scholarship. The authors invite psychologists (and psychology) to engage in decolonizing and liberatory processes and practices in the service of the American Psychological Association's stated mission to benefit society, improve lives, and positively impact social issues. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

The complexity of the lives of sexual and gender diverse Muslims within the United States calls for mental health providers to own our power and privilege. Embracing cultural humility in service of aligning ourselves with liberation psychology, we call for an intersectionally informed, strengths-based approach to empowering/affirming clients whose diverse religious experiences intersect with their experiences of marginalization as sexual and gender diverse (SGD) Muslims. Drawing on extant personal narratives around mental health and therapy of this population, the authors offer critical reflections, processes and opportunities for clinicians to take responsibility in honoring the diverse journeys and experiences of SGD Muslims in serving them in journeys of healing.

The complexity of the lives of sexual and gender diverse Muslims within the United States calls for mental health providers to own our power and privilege. Embracing cultural humility in service of aligning ourselves with liberation psychology, we call for an intersectionally informed, strengths-based approach to empowering/affirming clients whose diverse religious experiences intersect with their experiences of marginalization as sexual and gender diverse (SGD) Muslims. Drawing on extant personal narratives around mental health and therapy of this population, the authors offer critical reflections, processes and opportunities for clinicians to take responsibility in honoring the diverse journeys and experiences of SGD Muslims in serving them in journeys of healing.

Latinx transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people disproportionately experience discrimination and violence due to interlocking systems of oppression such as White supremacy, anti-Black racism, cissexism, and xenophobia. Violence toward Latinx TGD communities in the United States has heightened due to the hostile sociopolitical climate, contributing to increased negative mental health outcomes such as depression and suicidal ideation. Guided by gender minority stress, intersectionality, and psychopolitical validity frameworks, this study sought to explore Latinx TGD people daily experiences of discrimination and violence, as well as narratives of coping, survival, and wellness. Using a writing approach, 24 Latinx TGD people responded to a timed writing prompt about their daily experiences with discrimination and violence. Using reflexive thematic analysis, five themes and 11 subthemes were created: (a) utilizing power to police and inflict violence within interlocking systems of oppression, (b) rejection and violence within intimate and close relationships, (c) psychological impact of navigating systems of oppression, (d) navigating violence in the moment, and (e) coping and experiencing wellness. The authors provide implications for practice and advocacy such as using strength-based interventions grounded on liberation psychology and radical healing when working with Latinx TGD communities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

This study sought to understand interpretations of interconnections between historical trauma, contemporary violence, and resilience in a Maya Achi community currently engaged in promoting peace and social change through popular education. In particular, the ways in which participants drew upon identity and memory in articulating characteristics of community distress and resilience are discussed. The research is informed by liberation psychology and critical perspectives of mental health, particularly considering the challenges inherent in the promotion of collective memory of trauma and resistance in contexts of violence and humanitarian settings. Participant reflections on historical and contemporary violence highlight elements of collective distress, connecting identity and memory with acts of both oppression and resistance. Education and development are signaled as possible sites of resilience but also experienced as sites of power upholding the status quo. Diverse experiences and applications of identity and memory provide insight into the ways in which community organizations working in contexts of political violence might navigate polarizing and paradoxical discourses in order to subvert, co-opt, or adapt to hegemonic cultural, political, and economic power relations in the process of transformation for collective resilience.

Cooperative learning has been widely utilized as an intervention to enhance intergroup relations in diverse societies, drawing on intergroup contact theory. Despite numerous field experiments testing its effectiveness in educational contexts, a comprehensive meta-analyses evaluating its overall efficacy has yet to be conducted. This meta-analysis aims to assess the magnitude of the effect of cooperative learning on promoting intergroup relations within experimental field studies conducted in educational settings. The article search was performed according to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines, using predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria across ERIC, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and SpringerLink. Data analysis involved generating forest plots, conducting heterogeneity tests, calculating summary effects using a random effects model, and identifying publication bias. The meta-analysis of 18 field experimental intervention studies, involving 5265 participants, revealed that cooperative learning intervention programs positively impact intergroup relations, with a moderate effect size (ES = 0.33; 95% CI [0.25, 0.40]). Consequently, cooperative learning can be employed as an alternative strategy to bridge gaps, reduce prejudice, and improve relations among groups with diverse social identities in educational settings.