Culture-Centered Case Conceptualization Using NTU Psychotherapy With an African-American Gay Male Client

Half-Connecting Theory: Developing African Psychology Theory in a “Radical Beginnings” Direction

In existential philosophy, “radical beginnings” refers to the task of uncovering the earliest, constitutive moments of a phenomenon’s existence. In this article, the author develops African psychology in a radical beginnings direction by using the theory of half-connecting (HCT) to trace the origins of the African and European worldviews to the earliest stages of human development, particularly to the unconscious and physical bodies of people. It is found that the differences and tensions between the worldviews are traceable to their original and intimate relationship. It is also found that African and European worldviews do not operate only in obvious instances involving race and racism but in everything humans create, including in the technologies and infrastructures in the background of everyday life. Finally, the author discusses how HCT can help therapists expand their understanding of the sources of mental and behavioral distress, which may incite new, creative thinking around how disorders are treated.

Mind-Body Interventions to Reduce Risk for Health Disparities Related to Stress and Strength Among African American Women: The Potential of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Loving-Kindness, and the NTU Therapeutic Framework

In the current article, the authors examine the potential role of mind-body interventions for preventing or reducing health disparities in a specific group-African American women. The authors first discuss how health disparities affect this group, including empirical evidence regarding the influence of biopsychosocial processes (e.g., psychological stress and social context) on disparate health outcomes. They also detail how African American women's unique stress experiences as a result of distinct sociohistorical and cultural experiences related to race and gender potentially widen exposure to stressors and influence stress responses and coping behaviors. Using two independent, but related, frameworks (Superwoman Schema [SWS] and the Strong Black Woman Script [SBW-S]), they discuss how, for African American women, stress is affected by "strength" (vis-à-vis resilience, fortitude, and self-sufficiency) and the emergent health-compromising behaviors related to strength (e.g., emotional suppression, extraordinary caregiving, and self-care postponement). The authors then describe the potential utility of three mind-body interventions-mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), loving-kindness meditation (LKM), and NTU psychotherapy-for specifically targeting the stress-, strength-, and contextually related factors that are thought to influence disparate outcomes for African American women. Self-awareness, self-care, inter- and intrapersonal restorative healing and a redefinition of inner strength may manifest through developing a mindfulness practice to decrease stress-related responses; using LKM to cultivate compassion and forgiveness for self and others; and the balance of independence and interdependence as a grounding NTU principle for redefining strength. The authors conclude with a discussion of potential benefits for integrating key aspects of the interventions with recommendations for future research.