A Borderlands View on Latinos, Latin Americans, and Decolonization: Rethinking Mental Health

(Paperback)

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Latinos in the U.S. and Latin Americans are a combination of diverse populations that differ on a range of factors including length of time in the country, migration background, ethnicity, geographical location, socio-economic status, and so on. The reader will find perspectives of those of us who live in the borderlandsthat is, those of us whom Gloria Anzalda identified as Mestizas, who inhabit the intersticios, the spaces in between souls, minds, identities, and geographies. This book assists new generations of Latino/as and of those involved in Latino Culture and Latin America in understanding how the colonization of the Americas is still tied to current issues of migration from the South to the North and how mental health practices have been created and maintained from the wound of coloniality. It offers a rich and alternative foundation for approaching trauma, identity, and resilience through the integration of a decolonization paradigm, borderlands theory, and social justice approaches in couple and family therapy.

Reviews

Therapy, at best, is about transformation. Dr. Hernandez-Wolfe's brilliant book provides nepanthla, the territory for transformationan in-between space in which, through individual and collective reflection, we can see ourselves and each other more clearly. By showing how macro-societal processes are enacted in the micro-processes of everyday life, she challenges taken-for-granted practices and offers pathways for new therapeutic action. I highly recommend this book for clinicians of all levels of experience. -- Kaeth Weingarten, PhD, Harvard Medical School
"Woven with innovative thinking and compelling case examples, this book deeply engages the reader. With the author's searing honesty and her keen capacities to crisscross many worlds, your therapeutic work will be forever amplified and changed." -- Janine Roberts, PhD, Professor emerita, University of Massachussetts
"The author weaves an exciting tapestry of contemporary perspectives that are relevant to therapeutic work in the globalized contexts of patriarchy and coloniality. Intriguing case studies anchor an argument for fluidity of thought and community-based collaborative practices. This is essential reading for all who are taking up the challenges of liberation, decolonization, and the reconnection of humanity with the rest of nature." -- Tod Sloan, PhD, co-editor; "Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology"
A Borderlands View on Latinos, Latin Americans, and Decolonization: Rethinking Mental Health... illustrate[s] two important facets to multicultural understanding, particularly within a mental health context. One facet is knowledge of ones clients cultural history, past and present, and how this is likely to impact them psychologically, understanding, of course, that individuals vary greatly. Another important aspect is the acknowledgment of ones own culture and history, especially where they intersect with those of clients. * PsycCRITIQUES *

Author Bio

Pilar Hernndez-Wolfe, PhD, is an educator, researcher, therapist, speaker, author, consultant, and community organizer. She is Associate Professor and Director of the Marriage, Couple and Family Therapy program at Lewis & Clark College. She is past president of the Maryland Association for Counseling and Development (MACD) and board member of the American Family Therapy Academy (AFTA). She is a licensed marriage and family therapist and American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) approved supervisor. She has authored or co-authored over forty peer reviewed article and book chapters in English and Spanish.