Reimagining Psychotherapy: Toward an Integrative Afrocentric-Decolonial Framework for Relational Healing and Practice
Abstract
Western models of psychotherapy practice are often inadequate to address issues related to African identity, which is rooted in communal existence, cultural histories and systems that shape perceptions of illness and healing. In African cultural contexts, psychotherapy plays out against the background of relational patterns grounded in African tradition and enduring histories of colonialism. Grounded in individualism and intrapsychic causation, this article draws from African philosophy and decolonial literature as it conceptualizes the adaptation and practice of psychotherapy in African settings. What is proposed is a relational model of psychotherapy practice that is informed by the importance of decoloniality, rooted in consciousness of culture and history, and an intellectual and practical embrace of epistemic and community-embedded care. Such an approach strengthens clinical practice while challenging global mental health to review its epistemological assumptions and determinations of what expertise means. Specifically, this article highlights the need to incorporate African cultural perspectives into psychotherapy to enhance the efficacy of treatment in that culture.
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BibTeX
@misc{onieseleh2026reimagining,
title = {{Reimagining Psychotherapy: Toward an Integrative Afrocentric-Decolonial Framework for Relational Healing and Practice}},
author = {Ohiro Oni-Eseleh},
howpublished = {PsyArXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.31234/osf.io/rac8d_v1},
url = {https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/rac8d_v1/},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Reimagining Psychotherapy: Toward an Integrative Afrocentric-Decolonial Framework for Relational Healing and Practice
AU - Ohiro Oni-Eseleh
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/05
PB - PsyArXiv
DO - 10.31234/osf.io/rac8d_v1
UR - https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/rac8d_v1/
AB - Western models of psychotherapy practice are often inadequate to address issues related to African identity, which is rooted in communal existence, cultural histories and systems that shape perceptions of illness and healing. In African cultural contexts, psychotherapy plays out against the background of relational patterns grounded in African tradition and enduring histories of colonialism. Grounded in individualism and intrapsychic causation, this article draws from African philosophy and decolonial literature as it conceptualizes the adaptation and practice of psychotherapy in African settings. What is proposed is a relational model of psychotherapy practice that is informed by the importance of decoloniality, rooted in consciousness of culture and history, and an intellectual and practical embrace of epistemic and community-embedded care. Such an approach strengthens clinical practice while challenging global mental health to review its epistemological assumptions and determinations of what expertise means. Specifically, this article highlights the need to incorporate African cultural perspectives into psychotherapy to enhance the efficacy of treatment in that culture.
ER -