A psycho‐cultural history of psychotherapy in Africa

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to construct a psycho‐cultural history of psychological therapies in Africa. It explores the origin, vision and direction, clinical and preventive goals and approaches, the philosophy and history, and issues of professional development and ethics, types of practitioners, and practice settings for psychotherapy in sub‐Saharan Africa, from the pre‐colonial period to the present. The central argument of the paper is that Psychotherapy in Africa should address not only the intrapsychic or interpersonal world of the clients but also phenomena that in traditional Western psychotherapy are not considered essential, namely, the socio‐cultural context. Overall, the principal objective is to share with our Western and Eastern partners the meaning and scope and the orientation and trends in Psychotherapy in Africa in the last 60 years; offering, in the same breadth, an X‐ray of the major issues and problems that confront our practice and the efforts we make to come to terms with these challenges. The expected outcome is the possibility and promise of successfully delineating, defining and establishing the field of Psychotherapy in Africa as a legitimate area of specialization for creative research and writings in the scientific study and clinical practice of modern psychology in Africa.