Counselling Psychology Quarterly

In recent years, much has been written about the decolonization of psychology. According to many contemporary scholars, decolonization is “part of a larger project of critical psychology” (Bhatia, 2017, p. 2), which requires one to question the origins and applications of psychological models and theories, particularly as they have been found harmful to those who have been socio-politically racialized and marginalized.

Arguably, the term “decolonization” has become overused, and has been commonly adopted across several academic contexts at this time. It is difficult to assess whether this increased attention and parallel scholarship have been effective in actually decolonizing counselling psychology research, training, and practice. Moreover, the impacts of decolonization on policy remain unclear.

With this backdrop in mind, for this special issue on decolonizing counselling psychology, Counselling Psychology Quarterly invites submissions centred on the current social, cultural, and geo-political influences that have shaped policy, research, training, and practice in the discipline. Using an inclusive conceptualization of culture, the aim of this special issue is to help readers understand the cumulative impacts of systemic oppression related to multiple ‘isms’ (e.g., racism, sexism, ableism). In this sense, all submissions should present an intersectional analysis of traditional and contemporary cultural ideas and decolonizing philosophies of counselling psychology, including but not limited to critical and liberation psychology.

We thus invite submissions focused on the topic of decolonization, broadly speaking. Such papers may be conceptual in nature, research-based, or methodological. Submissions highlighting lived experiences and non-Western ways of knowing are also welcomed. In line with the theme of this special issue, all papers should include implications for counselling psychology research, training, and practice.

Examples of papers could include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Submissions that forefront Indigenous and other non-Western ways of knowing.
• Research projects (e.g., qualitative, mixed-methods, quantitative) using critical epistemologies and/or community-based approaches.
• Conceptual papers that address current, relevant socio-political issues that have implications for decolonizing psychology.
• First-hand accounts from psychology students, practitioners, educators, researchers, policy-makers, etc. about their experiences working toward decolonization.
• Initiatives that critically assess current models of diversity and/or social justice to advance decolonizing efforts in psychology.
• Initiatives that focus on potential ethical dilemmas that may arise when working to decolonize psychology.
• Papers that highlight clinical approaches and case examples that are culturally responsive and socially just to diverse clients, counsellors, and/or supervisors.
• Systemic analyses of organizations, licensing bodies, psychology associations, etc., which create barriers for a decolonizing agenda.

Anticipated timeline:

• Please submit a 500-word abstract of your intended submission by March 30^th 2024.
• You will be notified of the status of your abstract by April 30^th, 2024. If you are invited to submit a full manuscript, the due date for the full manuscript will be September 30^th 2024, at which time the manuscript will be sent out for peer-review.
• Feedback will be provided on manuscripts by approximately November 30^th, 2024.
• Revised manuscripts will be due by approximately January 30^th, 2025.
• We anticipate publication Spring / Summer – 2025, barring any unforeseeable circumstances that might necessitate a change in schedule.

Please email abstracts directly to [email protected]. 

Instructions for AuthorsSubmit an Article