harrell - practicing peace- ucla ipnb 2016 conference

Practicing “PEaCE”: Culture, Community, and

PsychotherapyShelly P. Harrell, Ph.D.

UCLA Interpersonal Neurobiology Conference

March 6, 2016

Copyright 2016. Shelly P. Harrell, Ph.D. All Rights Reserved

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The Big PictureCulture: Patterns of being, believing,

bonding, belonging, behaving, and becoming that are expressed at individual and collective levels of analysis

Community: collective relational processes; sense of safety, belonging, and being cared for beyond dyadic attachments

Psychotherapy: a relational healing process; effectiveness is optimized by practicing “PEaCE”


IPNB Fundamental Premise:

The brain, the mind and psychological experience cannot be separated from

RELATIONSHIPS.


Multiple Levels of Analysis (LOA)Core idea from Cultural/Multicultural and

Socioecological PsychologyAnalysis of human behavior inclusive of

levels of experience beyond the intrapsychic, cognitive, and relational to include larger microsystemic and macrosystemic factorsCouple therapy and Intergroup Relations Insight and Critical Consciousness


Fundamental Premise of PEaCE Theory:

The brain, the mind and psychological experience cannot be separated from CULTURE AND CONTEXT.


Mind in Context

No clear boundaries indicate where the mind stops and the cultural ecology of the situation starts. Mind and culture mutually constitute each other.

-Barrett, Mesquita, & Smith (2010, p. 9)


Theory and research within and outside of psychology suggest that

the nature of social and internal experience, the emergence of

psychopathology, the achievement of well-being, the manifestation of

optimal functioning, and the processes of healing and

transformation are inextricably bound to both culture and context.


IPNB and MePast IPNB Conferences

Thich Nhat Hanh “Meditation is to see deeply into things, to see how we can

change, how we can transform our situation.”

Jack: Buddhist Psychology (indigenous knowledge)Dan’s Professional Colloquium Series

Making connections with PEaCE TheoryLou sharing brain articles with meProvides brain science to support what multicultural

psychology has been talking about for decades and what indigenous cultures know Association of Black Psychologists conference and

Post-Slavery Syndrome (also Comas-Diaz’s Post-Colonialism Syndrome in Latino Psychology) Issues of legitimacy and knowledge productionCopyright 2016. Shelly P. Harrell,

Ph.D. All Rights Reserved 10

ConvergencesMulticultural Psychology

• Extended/Interdependent Self• Ntu, Chi, Prana, etc.• Systems and Context• Community & Belongingness• Racial-Ethnic Identity

Development Theories• Collective Memory• Implicit Bias• Historical/Collective Trauma• Intergenerational Transmission• Integrative and Interdisciplinary

Interpersonal Neurobiology• “MWE”• Exchange of Energy and

Information• Mind in Context • Relationships &

Attachment• Differentiation &

Integration• Implicit Memory• Psychological Trauma• Epigenetics• Consilience

Copyright 2016. Shelly P. Harrell, Ph.D. All Rights Reserved11

It’s all about CONNECTION!…but authentic and meaningful connection can be challenging


We're oneBut we're not the sameWe hurt each otherThen we do it again

You sayLove is a temple, Love a higher law Love is a temple, Love the higher lawYou ask me to enterBut then you made me crawlAnd I can't be holding onTo what you gotWhen all you got is hurt

One love One blood One lifeYou got to do what you should

One lifeWith each otherSisters and my Brothers

One lifeBut we're not the sameWe get to carry each otherCarry each other


Ubuntu: Guiding Principle of PEaCE Theory

South African spiritual and ethical principle“I am because we are, and therefore,

because we are I am.”Ubuntu reflects the relational nature of our humanness. From an Ubuntu (African-centered) perspective, the

essence of human existence is “in relationship” (to others, to community, to place, to nature, to transcendent experience).

Spiritually-infused harmony and interconnectedness as the essence of our humanity

“WE” includes ancestors and the yet to be born


Interconnectedness & Wellness The essence of being human as a spiritually-infused

interconnectedness and interdependence such that the foundation for living optimally and manifesting our highest humanity comes from the nature of our relationships with others in the context of being in community.

An appreciation of the interdependent nature of all living systems must inform how wellness is defined and promoted.

Oppression and exploitation in any system signifies severe relational dysfunction and threatens the wellness of all human, ecological, and institutional systems.

The most basic and necessary conditions for optimal health and well-being lie in the harmoniousness of our relationships with others, with community, with nature, and with the transcendent.

Healthy communal and relational functioning is viewed as necessary for the optimal functioning of individuals and society.

Congruent with an IPNB perspective that well-being = integration The linking of differentiated parts

15Copyright 2016. Shelly P. Harrell, Ph.D. All Rights Reserved

On Integration and DifferentiationDifferentiation before integrationThe interpersonal tension of focusing on

differences in the service of healthy differentiation The challenging co-existence of the “me” and the “we”

The call for integration without acknowledging the complexities of the parts can lead to behaviors where then you go “what the hell happened? I thought we were all good!!!”

The dynamics of betrayal in intergroup interactions


Culture & Applied PracticeThe inclusion of culture in the analysis of human experience, behavior, and transformation facilitates the identification of

constructs, methods, and strategies that may enhance the effectiveness of applied work in diverse cultural

contexts


How do we meaningfully integrate culture and context into

psychotherapy conceptualization and intervention?

A Longstanding Challenge for Mental Health Practitioners…


Person-Environment-and-Culture-Emergence (PEaCE) Theory

Person-Environment-and-Culture-Emergence Theory is offered as a response to the

challenge of more fully incorporating the contextualized and culturally-embedded nature of human experience in theory,

research, and practice.


A Culturally-Infused Biopsychorelational-Socioecological

Integrative ApproachAn orientation to the study of the human

experience and behavior that is organized and informed by culturally-infused manifestations

of the ongoing and complex transactions within and between three interconnected

complex systems: biopsychorelational (person),

socioecological (environment),

and multicultural (culture). 21Copyright 2016. Shelly P. Harrell,

Ph.D. All Rights Reserved

Primary Goal of PEaCE Theory: Inform The Promotion of Wellness PEaCE Theory seeks to provide a conceptual

framework for understanding the factors and processes that facilitate or inhibit health and well-being for individuals and communities.

The overarching objective of PEaCE Theory is to contribute to an ever-increasing holistic and complex understanding of the interconnected elements of interacting systems that can provide direction toward creating a world that optimizes both individual and collective wellness

The promotion of personal, relational, and collective wellness requires a culture- and context- conscious psychology.


Foundations of PEaCE Theory PEaCE Theory extends the person-environment

interaction foundations of field theory (Lewin) and bioecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner) to explicitly include culture.

PEaCE theory is based on the proposition that all of human experience occurs at the intersection of persons, environments, and culture, and that culture is infused into all subsystems of both persons and environments.

A goal of developing the theory is to fully capture the dynamic process of the individual as a living multi-system that is embedded in and interdependent with multiple cultural and ecological systems.


The 411 on PEaCE TheoryWell-being outcomes are emergent

properties of the ongoing transactions within and between persons, environments, and culture

Persons, Environments, and Culture are inseparable (interconnectedness theme!)


PEaCE Theory Basics

Multidimensional/Multilevel Complex Systems: Person, Environment, & Culture

InterconnectednessDynamic TransactionsCultural Infusion


Oppression and Context➢Dysfunctional and oppressive contexts can block optimal

development and present challenges that➢ impede functioning and well-being, ➢ compromise or confuse personal and collective identity, ➢ and suppress or misdirect wellness-promoting behaviors.

➢Context➢affects conditions of living and access to societal resources➢determines exposure to particular societal, sociocultural, and

community narratives that define self, acceptable roles, as well as appropriate thoughts, feelings, and behaviors

➢impacts options for support and coping➢influences opportunities for affirmation and validation of self

and community


PEaCE Theory and the Concept of “peace”

The larger meaning of the acronym “PEaCE”. Peace Psychologists generally agree that the term peace

refers to a relational condition with two dimensions, violence (negative peace) and harmony (positive peace), that are manifested at multiple levels of analysis from intra-individual to global.

Integrated with a Multicultural Psychology perspective, the promotion of wellness is fundamentally concerned with facilitating movement toward harmonious interconnectedness that is grounded in a multicultural worldview and expressed at intrapersonal, relational, communal, societal, and global levels of analysis.


CORE IDEA: Cultural-InfusionCulture is infused all elements of the multiple systems involved in human functioning:

-BIO: Genetic, physiological, neurological, biochemical-PSYCHO: Mental, emotional, behavioral, identity, meaning-making processes-RELATIONAL: Close interpersonal relationships-SOCIO: Group and community social contexts-ECOLOGICAL: Institutions, organizations, environments, settings, macrosystem contexts


Overview of the PEaCE Transactional Wellness Framework

Individual and Collective Wellness Outcomes emerge from the dynamic and ongoing transactions in the Person-

Environment-and-Culture-Emergence (PEaCE) Transactional Field where multidimensional Person

Processes, multilevel Environmental Processes, and the intersectional dynamics of Cultural Process are

continuously interacting. PEaCE transactions can be neutral, pathogenic, or wellness promoting with respect to

their contribution to the emergence of positive and negative outcomes for persons, relationships, groups,

communities, and institutions.


PEaCE TheoryHYPOTHESIS: Attending to PEaCE facilitates

“peace” individually, relationally and collectively

The 6 PEaCE Concepts and the PEaCETransactional Field Individual, Relational, Collective WellnessCulturePersonEnvironmentCultural Infusion Processes: Psychocultural and

SocioculturalPerson-in-Culture-in-Context Transactions


Understanding Culture


We are all AT THE SAME TIME

Like ALL othersLike SOME others

Like NO others

(paraphrased and extended from Murray & Kluckhohn)


ALL OTHERS Our Common Humanity

SOME OTHERS Our Groups

NO OTHERS Our Unique Individuality


Some Others

Where culture livesWhere power and privilege dynamics are

manifestedGroup Level of AnalysisSome others includes:Like MANY others Majority GroupLike FEW others Minority Group


Culture is… The multiple organizing systems of meaning and living in the

world that consist of patterns of being, believing, bonding, belonging,

behaving, and becoming which provide the foundational frames for developing worldviews, interpreting reality, and acting in the world

for a group of people who share common ancestry, social location, group identity, or defining experiential contexts; but for whom, as individuals or intersectional subgroups, elements of a particular cultural system may be embraced, internalized, and expressed differentially.

emerge and transform through cumulative and adaptation-oriented person-environment transactions over time

are maintained and transmitted through collective memory, narrative, and socialization processes


Culture is…

(in a group of people) “what everybody knows that everybody else knows” aboutBeing (identity, self, and experiential processes)

Believing (values, meanings, and worldview)

Bonding (attachment and relational processes)

Belonging (community and group processes)

Behaving (actions, agency, daily living)

Becoming (transformation and healing)


Culture is…Those patterns of being, believing, bonding, belonging, behaving, and becoming that are:

embedded in social and institutional contexts,

internalized as patterns of meaning and identity,

expressed through actions and relationships in the context of power dynamics at multiple LOA, and

interactive with co-existing cultural systems that reflect the multiple dimensions of human diversity that carry culture.


Patterns of being, believing, bonding, belonging, behaving, and becoming…

That occur among a group of people who share common ancestry, social location, group identity, or defining experiential contexts; but for whom, as individuals or

intersectional subgroups, elements of a particular cultural system may be embraced, internalized, and expressed differently.


Culture is carried by collective entities that reflect multiple dimensions of human diversityThese dimensions of diversity can be

demographically-based (e.g., ethnicity, religion) or experientially-based (e.g., occupation, defining life experience)

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Multiple Dimensions of Cultural Systems and Processes


Primary Macrocultural Collective Entities Deeply embedded in the functioning of persons and

contexts Transmitted within family and community socialization

processes Cultural elements of privileged macrocultural entities

are woven into the dominant cultural narratives of society (e.g., generational trends, heteronormativity, ideology of white supremacy)

EXAMPLES: Nationality, Ethnicity, Religion

Microcultural Collective Entities Function within particular sociocultural communities Exposure typically occurs after childhood and outside

of the family socialization context Immersion in these entities may be voluntary EXAMPLES: Military culture, Alcoholics Anonymous,

Gay male cultureCopyright 2016. Shelly P. Harrell, Ph.D. All Rights Reserved 43

INTERSECTIONALITY

Individuals are exposed to and internalize multiple cultural influences which intersect in particular ways to create identity, meanings, and behaviorCulture is always expressed

intersectionallyCopyright 2016. Shelly P. Harrell,


Culture is…“What everybody knows

that everybody else knows”

Culture is LIVED and not always easily articulated by members of the culture-carrying group

“Tell me about your culture” may not always yield complete or sufficient data.


Centering CultureConsideration of culture as an “add-

on” inevitably privileges the dominant status quo and existing structures of power and inequality that maintain asymmetries in health and wellness

Collusion with the dynamics of oppression in contemporary psychological theory and practice occurs primarily through omission


Individuals are exposed to and internalize multiple cultural influences which intersect in particular ways and are woven into Identity Narratives Memory Behaviors Preferences

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The Integrative and Foundational Role of Culture


The PEaCE Transactional Field(aka The Being-in-Culture-in-the-World Transactional Field

of Co-Created Lived Experience and Human Agency)

A way of thinking about the constant and ongoing transactions between the interconnected Person, Environment, and Cultural systems

It is in this dynamic “field” where lived experience is co-created and human agency is activated, and where person, environment, and culture can be understood as mutually constituting the other.

Transactional processes in the field determine the emergence of individual, relational and collective wellness outcomes. Outcomes are NEVER the product of one system independent of the others

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Person-in-Culture-in-Context

Subjective Lived Experience (how we feel) is co-created by interacting individual, contextual, and cultural processes

Human Agency (what we do) is an emergent property of Person-in-Culture-in-Context transactions


Activity in the PEaCE Transactional Field:Person-in-Culture-in-Context TransactionsPathogenic Transactions

Decrease the likelihood that the positive wellness outcomes of resilience, wellbeing, thriving, and optimal functioning will emerge

Increase the likelihood that the negative wellness outcomes of distress, dysfunction, disorder, and disease will emerge

Wellness-Promoting Transactions Increase the likelihood that the positive wellness outcomes of

resilience, wellbeing, thriving, and optimal functioning will emerge

Decrease the likelihood that the negative wellness outcomes of distress, dysfunction, disorder, and disease will emerge

Neutral Transactions Everyday transactions that neither increase nor decrease the

likelihood of positive or negative wellness outcomesCopyright 2016. Shelly P. Harrell,


Pathogenic PEaCE Transactions

Historical and Collective TraumaCollective Memory and Transgenerational

processes

Interpersonal, Cultural, and Institutional Oppression (racism, sexism, heterosexism, classism, etc.)


Wellness and Oppression➢Wellness is threatened by multiple oppressions (racism,

sexism, classism, heterosexism, etc.) and all forms of violence (structural, cultural, interpersonal), each of which are intolerant of human diversity, perpetuate social asymmetries, and compromise the freedom of persons to live with dignity and self-determination.

➢Dysfunctional and oppressive contexts can block the natural human tendency toward optimal development and present challenges that➢ impede functioning and well-being, ➢compromise or confuse personal and collective

identity, ➢and suppress or misdirect health-promoting

behaviors.52Copyright 2016. Shelly P. Harrell,


Racism as a form of Oppression (Harrell, 2000)

A system of dominance , power, and privilege based on racial group designations rooted in the historical oppression of a group defined or perceived by dominant-group members as inferior, deviant, or undesirable

Occurs in circumstances where members of the dominant group create or accept societal privilege by maintaining structures, ideiology, values, and behaviors that have the intent or effect of leaving nondominant group members relatively excluded from power, esteem, status, safety, and/or equal access to societal resources.


Racism-Related Stress (Harrell, 2000)Particular type of Person-in-Culture-in-

Context TransactionSix dimensions of racism-related stress

(measured by the RaLES; Harrell, 1997)Racism-related life eventsVicarious racism experiencesDaily racism microstressors (e.g.,

microaggressions)Chronic racism-related stressCollective racism experiences Transgenerational transmission of racism trauma


Internalized OppressionWhen a member of an oppressed group

believes and acts out the stereotypes created about their group (internalized racism, homophobia, sexism, etc.).Colorism is an example

Critical consideration when working with historically oppressed and marginalized groups

Steele’s research on stereotype threatCopyright 2016. Shelly P. Harrell,


Wellness-Promoting PEaCETransactions


Influences from Diverse Cultural Worldviews➢ African Influences

➢ Ubuntu➢ African Centered Psychology, Communalism➢ Extended Self (Nobles), Community of Self (Akbar), Optimal Psychology (Myers)

➢ Native American Influences ➢ The Medicine Wheel, The Four Directions, The Talking Circle➢ Native American Psychology- Cultural Soul Wounds (Duran), Boarding School Syndrome

➢ Latin American Influences➢ Cultural borderlands (Anzaldua)➢ Latino Psychology: Personalismo, Espiritismo, Dignidad➢ Post-Colonial Syndrome (Comas-Diaz)➢ Liberation Psychology (Martin-Baro, Freire)

➢ Asian Influences➢ Asian Psychology: Interdependent Self, Collectivism, Morita Therapy, jeong, etc.➢ Indian Psychology:Oneness and non-duality, Consciousness and Self (Paranjpe and Rao)➢ Buddhist Psychology (Kornfield; Hahn; Brach): Lovingkindness, Compassion, Enlightenment,

Mindfulness➢ Middle Eastern Influences:

➢ Sufi Psychology: Transformation of the Heart; Centrality of and closeness with the Divine

➢ Honor-based social self, emphasis on interpersonal relationships➢ Expression of strong emotion through poetry

Copyright 2016. Shelly P. Harrell, Ph.D. All Rights Reserved57

Common Themes Emerging From Culturally-Diverse Healing & Transformation Practices

CONNECTEDNESS of persons, nature, and spirit Mind-Body-Spirit interconnectedness Interconnectedness of persons, nature, and spirit Centrality of COMMUNITY

COMMITMENT to a centering belief system Values-centered, awareness of “what matters most” Practices are connected to beliefs and values

CONSCIOUSNESS enhancing technologies Methods of intensifying the connection of individuals and communities

to deeply held values and beliefs Methods of deepening or expanding experiential awareness of our

internal and/or lived experience, as well as our interconnectedness Strengthening connection to spiritual phenomena

58Copyright 2016. Shelly P. Harrell,


PII Wellness-Promoting Transactions

Culturally-Diverse “Communal and Contemplative Practices”

+Social Justice and Empowering Practices

COMMON THEMES ACROSS DIVERSE CULTURES: “Connectedness”, “Consciousness”, “Commitment”

Indigenous Psychologies, Culture, and Context

Health and Healing in Diverse Cultures59Copyright 2016. Shelly P. Harrell,


Cultural Infusion Processes Psychocultural Processes

o Reflect the transactions between culture and the multiple and interconnected biopsychorelational systems of the person

o The unique ways that cultural systems are internalized and expressed by the individual person

o The intentional choices that individuals makes regarding adopting and participating in particular cultural values, customs, behaviors, etc.

o The meaning of culture to the individual Sociocultural Processes

o Reflect the transactions between culture and the multiple ecological contexts within which we develop, live, and change

o The shared core elements of the cultural worldview, beliefs, customs, etc.

o General and commonly expressed cultural characteristics: Material culture, Social culture, Symbolic Culture, and Ideological Culture

o Manifestations of culture that emerge from a group’s cultural contexto The essential elements of a culture’s way of life passed down from

generation to generation


So Let’s Practice Some PEaCE…


PEaCE and The Cultural LensPEaCE Theory provides a foundation for

developing and implementing interventions grounded in an understanding of health and well-being as manifestations of the ongoing

transactions within and between interconnected biopsychorelational,

socioecological, and multicultural processes.

Personal, relational, and collective transformation are maximized when ALL of

these processes are part of the conceptualization and intervention planning.


Three Strategies for Integrating Culture into Practice

Three approaches to the conceptualization and integration of culture into psychological research and practiceCulturally-Adapted - Start with presumably

universal constructs, strategies and methods and then make cultural adaptations

Culturally-Centered - Start with constructs, strategies and methods that emerge from multicultural considerations and then integrate culturally-syntonic contributions from multiple traditions as appropriate

Culturally-Specific – Start with the specific ecological culture and design strategies that emerge from constructs relevant to the target group


Practicing PEaCE in PsychotherapyThe therapist as a cultural beingThe “culture” of psychotherapy Is it about getting people to be like “us”?

Connecting across Cultural DifferencesThe client in cultural contextKnowledge!!!! Rhythms and Culturally-Syntonic Practice


Multicultural Psychology 1011. Terminology (Race, Ethnicity, and Culture)2. The “Culture” of Psychology3. Research Methodology and Cultural Diversity4. Dynamics of Difference5. Racial-Ethnic Socialization and Identity6. Sociopolitical and Sociohistorical Context7. Immigration, Refugee, Colonization, Genocide, and Slavery Experiences8. Acculturation, Assimilation, Biculturation, Alienation9. Collectivism, Communalism, and the Interdependent Self10. Worldview and Culture11. Indigenous Psychologies12. Intersectionality and Ecological Niche13. Implicit bias14. Stereotypes, Prejudice, Discrimination and Oppression15. Stereotype Threat research16. Racism-related Stress: episodic life events, chronic, microaggressions, vicarious, transgenerational17. The Physical and Mental Health Effects of Racism18. Internalized Racism and Colorism19. White Privilege20. Intergroup Relations and the Dynamics of Difference21. Liberation Psychology and the role of Social Justice in Psychotherapeutic Interventions22. Critical Consciousness23. Multicultural Competence24. EBPP and Cultural Diversity25. Culture and Theoretical Orientation26. Culturally-Adapted and Culturally-Centered Interventions27. Language and Psychotherapy


On ColorblindnessLove sees “ALL” color“Before you can read me, you’ve got to learn

how to see me” ~En Vogue “Free Your Mind”In the service of WHAT?

Colorblindness is important in connecting to the basic humanity of another person and when it is in the servide making negative judgments

Colorblindness is problematic in the context of understanding and seeing the wholeness of another person’s experience

Being blind to any part of a person’s experience creates invisibility


Helpful Frameworks for Practicing PEaCE

Dynamics of difference (5 Ds)Diversity Principles and Orienting stancesContextualized Understanding Informed CompassionEmpowered Humility


5 Ds of Difference (Harrell, 1995)

Ways we resolve the anxiety that difference creates

Ways we resolve the cognitive dissonance of aversive racism and implicit biasDistancingDenialDefensivenessDevaluaingDiscovery


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Cultural Lenses for Practicing PEaCECultural Identity

Dimensions of ExposureBeing, Believing, Bonding, Belonging, Behaving,

BecomingSociocultural Identities

Dynamics of DifferenceSociopolitical/Sociohistorical

Oppression / Psychology of liberationSocial location, power, and privilegeCollective/Historical trauma and memory

Community Connectedness (SOC)Copyright 2016. Shelly P. Harrell,


Seven Guiding Principlesfor Interventions that emerge from

PEaCE Theory

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The PEaCE-InformedIntervention (PII)

Principles


The Seven PII PrinciplesCulturally-Syntonic EngagementComplexity and ContextualizationAffirmative HumanizationRelational InterconnectednessExistential-Diunital ThinkingCreative TransformationEmpowering Liberation


Why Culturally “Syntonic”? Syn – with or together the Greek “suntonos”-- in harmony with – Collins English Dictionary

Emotionally in harmony with one’s environment -Collins English Dictionary

Normally responsive and adaptive to the social or interpersonal environment -Merriam Webster’s Medical Dictionary

In emotional equilibrium and responsive to the environment –YourDictionary.com

Describes somebody who is normally attuned to the environment; used to describe behavior that does not conflict with somebody’s basic attitudes and beliefs –Microsoft Encarta College Dictionary

Characterized by a high degree of emotional responsiveness to the environment; Of or relating to two oscillating circuits having the same resonant frequency -American Heritage Dictionary 73Copyright 2016. Shelly P. Harrell, Ph.D. All Rights Reserved

Culturally-Syntonic Engagement(Harrell, 2008/2011)

In the context of psychological and preventive interventions, culturally-syntonic engagement involves:

processes, activities, relationships, and experiential presence

that reflect attunement, harmony, and resonance

with relevant dimensions of collective cultural elements (sociocultural processes) and their individual expressions (psychocultural processes)

such that engagement with, and the effectiveness of, interventions is enhanced and optimized.


“The struggle has always been inner, and is played out in outer terrains. Awareness

of our situation must come before inner changes, which in turn comes before

changes in society.”-Gloria Anzaldua


What does it mean to be aware

of “your situation”?

-Understanding self-in-culture-in-context-Consciousness of yourself as a cultural being


The inclusion of culture in the analysis of human experience, behavior, and transformation facilitates the identification of constructs, methods, and strategies that may enhance the effectiveness of applied work in diverse cultural contexts


Practicing PEaCE:The Therapeutic Relationship

Interpersonal processes and sociopolitical dynamics reflected in cultural attunement

Exploring how macro-level constructs are played out in the therapeutic relationship

Barriers to cultural attunementBenevolence from a position of privilege that

directly or indirectly communicates one’s acceptance of their superiority

Dynamics of silencing and invisibilityCopyright 2016. Shelly P. Harrell,


Mechanisms of Change in PIIPrimary Target of Change in PII

Increase Positive Wellness Outcomes of Resilience, Well-Being, Thriving, & Optimal Functioning

Three primary Change Processes are hypothesized to lead to enhancement of Positive Wellness Outcomes Communal Processes (change mechanism =

relatedness) Contemplative Processes (change mechanism =

awareness) Empowerment Processes (chance mechanism =

agency)Change happens through the modification of “Person-

in-Culture-in-Context” transactions using strategies and practices that involve Communal, Contemplative, and/or Empowerment Processes (i.e., increase relatedness, awareness, and agency)Copyright 2016. Shelly P. Harrell,


PII Change Model


PEaCE-Informed InterventionCommunal, Contemplative, and

Empowerment ProcessesCoCo Practices First

Affirmative Humanization and HEARing, Giving Testimony and Bearing Witness

“Focus and Flow” Contemplative PracticesEmpowerment

Transforming awareness and insight into action


“HEAR”ing HEARing is a way of relating that is centered

in listening with the ears, eyes, heart, mind, and spirit. It refer to creating a Humanizing, Empowering, and Authentic Relationship Cultivating a HUMANIZING connection through the

energies of Relationality, Presence, Compassion, Gratitude, and Receptivity

Cultivating an EMPOWERING connection through the energies of Engagement, Intentionality, Flexibility, Creativity and Liberation

Creating and constantly re-creating AUTHENTIC connection and being through the energies of Release, Authenticity, Affirmation, Wholeness, Groundedness, and Transcendence


Paolo Freire’s “Humanization” As A Foundation For HEARing

Brazilian educator, author of Pedagogy of the Oppressed Committed to social injustice centered on illiterate peasants Among the influences on his thoughts and writings include existential

philosophy, French personalist Emmanuel Mounier, Spanish poet and educator Miguel de Unamuno, psychiatrists Franz Fanon and Erich Fromm, and activists Che Guevara & Martin Luther King Jr.

Strong influence on Latin American Liberation Psychology KEY IDEAS: Humanization, Culture of Silence, Duality of the Oppressed,

Liberating/Problem-posing Education (vs. The Banking Concept of Education), Critical Consciousness, Critical Dialogue, Dialogic Action, Praxis

HUMANIZATION- Freire refers to humanization as the “people’s vocation” and describes it as a revolutionary process of becoming more fully human involving “the overcoming of alienation”, “the affirmation of men and women as persons”, and the liberation from oppression.

83


Freire’s Humanization Through Dialogue Humanization involves the process of relating to others as subjects

capable of knowing; affirmation of one’s dignity and worth as a human being. Dehumanization is the objectification of others as “things”

Conceptualizes an act as oppressive when it is dehumanizes another by preventing a person from expressing their full humanity and freedom

Humanization of both the oppressed and oppressor is required for liberation and transformation

Praxis is the methodology of reflection and action Dialogue is the humanizing process of learning and knowing through

sharing lived experience; it is the vehicle for transformation of both the individual and the collective

Requires mutual trust and is a horizontal relationship grounded in love, humility and faith; faith in humankind is a requirement for dialogue

Alienation and oppression thwart, block, and impair our power as human beings to create and transform ourselves and the world. Experiencing oneself as subject (capable of naming and acting) vs. object (to be named and acted upon) can be reborn through dialogue 84Copyright 2016. Shelly P. Harrell,


Affirmative Humanization (“AH”)

“AH” =The Core Method for “HEAR”ing the Client

Affirmative Humanization involves attunement through the nonverbal connecting and verbal expressions that: Affirm the humanity and dignity of the client; Convey acceptance of the imperfections of being human; Demonstrate care and empathy in the identification and

validation of dehumanization and invisibility experiences and processes;

Establish a safe environment for taking off the protective and defensive “masks” we wear;

Encourage the client to allow themselves to be “seen”; Provide strong reinforcement for emotional, interpersonal,

and sociopolitical risks taken, and Communicate that therapist sees the humanity and essence

of the client85Copyright 2016. Shelly P. Harrell,


Giving Testimony & Bearing WitnessThe helping professional is a facilitator of the client’s

process of giving the testimony of their lived experience, telling their story, and expressing their experiential truths both within and outside of the helping relationship and intervention processThe helping professional bears witness to the client’s

experiences by the willingness to be emotionally and relationally present during the client’s sharing and by engaging in empathic, active, and responsive listening. The process of bearing witness is a “connected” witnessing rather than a dispassionate observing.In a group intervention context the facilitator

encourages group members to both “give testimony” of their own experience by telling their story to the group, as well as to actively “bear witness” to the stories of others. 86Copyright 2016. Shelly P. Harrell,


Thich Nhat Hanh on Meditation

“Meditation is not to escape from society, but to come back to ourselves and see what is going on. Once there is seeing, there must

be acting.”

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Contemplative Processes:Focus and Flow


“FOCUS and FLOW”= Seeing + Acting

Focus = Connected and Conscious “Seeing”CONSCIOUS and integrated awareness

through the intentional regulation of attention, emotion, and physiological processes

(Engaged Consciousness)

Flow = Connected and Congruent “Acting”Active, committed, and relational ENGAGEMENT with life motivated and informed by the process

and content of focusing (Conscious Engagement)88Copyright 2016. Shelly P. Harrell,


“Where your focus goes,your energy flows.”

FOCUS = Connected and Conscious Awareness Increase inner, other, and outer awareness Increase connectedness to purpose, values, identities,

strengths Identify culturally-syntonic and values-congruent

commitments, activities, and relationships Develop strategies for expression of purpose, values, identity,

strengths

FLOW = Connected and Congruent Action Release what gets in the way and create space for full

experiencing and immersion in valued life contexts Engage in activities that promote physical, psychological,

relational, collective, and transcendent wellness Full expression of strengths and passions


FOCUS (“seeing”) Awareness, Attention, Attunement Being, Believing, Beholding Centering, Consciousness Commitment Deepening, Directing, Discovering Experiencing, Essence, Equanimity

FLOW (“acting”) Authenticity, Allowing, Actualizing Becoming, Broadening, Bravery Connecting, Creating, Congruence Dynamic, Doing, Developing Engagement, Expression, Efficacy


The PII Approach toContemplative Practices

Contemplative Practices can be thought of as encompassing a variety of strategies for deepening

and expanding experiential and critical awareness by bearing witness to one’s own experience, both

internally and in the world. In PII/CO-EXIST, contemplative practices are a

culturally-diverse group of meditative and consciousness practices that involve experiencing and

directing Mind-Body-Spirit energies.


Contemplative Practice in PII Contemplative Practice Involves Culture, Context, and Liberation

“Culture” because there are diverse contemplative practices in many cultural and religious traditions and the resonance and effectiveness of any meditative or contemplative approach is a function of its congruence with language, rhythms, values, beliefs, and cultural worldview

“Context” because contemplative practices such as meditation, like all human behavior, occurs in multiple ecological contexts and these must be understood to maximize the potential effectiveness of any particular meditative or contemplative practice

“Liberation” because the meaningful core of all contemplative practices is freedom in the context of the challenges and boundaries of the human condition such that the effectiveness of the practice is enhanced when it remains connected to this ultimate purpose of liberation


“Meditation for Liberation”

Meditation is a type of Contemplative Practice that occurs within the context of larger values-centered,

transformative and liberatory purposes with the intention of being manifestated in how we live

individually, relationally, and collectively. (Harrell, 2013/14)


from contemplativemind.org

Contemplative practices are practical, radical, and transformative, developing capacities for deep concentration and quieting the mind in the midst of the action and distraction that fills everyday life.

This state of calm centeredness is an aid to exploration of meaning, purpose and values.

Contemplative Practices cultivate a critical, first-person focus, sometimes with direct experience as the object, while at other times concentrating on complex ideas or situations.

Incorporated into daily life, they act as a reminder to connect to what we find most meaningful.

Contemplative practices can help develop greater empathy and communication skills, improve focus and attention, reduce stress and enhance creativity, supporting a loving and compassionate approach to life.

Center from Contemplative Mind in SocietyCopyright 2016. Shelly P. Harrell,


Using Contemplative Practices to Address Implicit Bias

Promising Research:Kang, Gray, & Dovidio (2014)


Creating “P.E.A.C.E.”: A Meditative Moment


Pause

Exhale

Anchor

Connect

Express


Pause and be Present with yourself in the here-and-now.

Exhale into your Experience allowing yourself to become more consciously aware of what you are experiencing; observing what is going on physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and intersubjectively.

Anchor your Attention in your breath, sound, word or other sensation in order to ground and stabilize your mind.


Connect to symbol, image, song, or phrase that centers you in your interconnectedness internally, relationally, and collectively- helping you access what matters most and what peace means to you.


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Express what matters most with the energy of Empowerment knowing that you can liberate yourself from traps of the mind that separate you from yourself, others and the world, and reconnect you to your peace.


Main Take-Aways

Mind and culture mutually constitute each other so culture must be central to the conversation

Consider Multiple levels of analysisExplore the role of implicit bias and non-

conscious enactment of privilegeLEARN the theory and research of cultural

and multicultural psychology


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Practice “PEaCE” to optimize peace

at Personal, Relational,

& CollectiveLevels Of Analysis


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Thank you to my Research AssistantsSoumita SenWhitney EastonJem Powell


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harrell - practicing peace- ucla ipnb 2016 conference

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