Testimony of Hope: African Centered Praxis for Therapeutic Ends

This essay describes Testimony therapy, the name given to a range of therapeutic practices grounded in the culture, history, and experience of the African-American community. Testimony therapy is an African-centered1 therapy that focuses on the personal stories of those who consult with the therapist, as well as the collective stories of the African experience in the United States. The focus on storytelling relates Testimony therapy to narrative therapies. The focus on and centering in indigenous cultural ways of being relates this approach to therapies such as the Just therapy of the team in New Zealand. Testimony therapy is communitarian, that is, it emphasizes the person within community and is social constructionist in its outlook.