Reconceptualizing the Counseling Profession: A Decoloniality Journey

The decolonization movement has become an everyday language in the counseling field. Due to political influences, some debates exist about the real meaning of decolonizing mental health. This textbook attempts to bring the Global South’s knowledge about the theoretical bases of decolonization to the North without misappropriating this knowledge and simultaneously providing practical applications and interventions. That is, in this book, the authors will first give the theoretical bases for the decolonization movement, beginning by describing the colonization process as a process of different stages and presenting the work of Enriquez, Dussel, Freire, Quijano, and others as a model of decolonization from a liberatory perspective. Featuring insights from 20 members of historically colonized nations, this bold new textbook reclaims the work that's been both foundational to and obfuscated in the field of counseling by giving voice to neglected populations. This book goes beyond social justice and advocacy, providing practical applications and interventions for anti-oppressive counseling practices. It invites counselors to the work of decolonial liberation and decoloniality so that their practice and care can deeply and richly meet the needs of post-colonized populations.