SCP President-Elect Candidate Statements

Helen Neville, Ph.D.

2022 SCP President Elect Candidate Statement on APA Ballot

Question: How would your skills and vision help you to contribute to and lead SCP’s efforts to uproot anti-Black racism in SCP and beyond?

Uprooting anti-Black racism has been my entire career's work—I have a responsibility to do so. My ancestors labored to provide the opportunities they were denied for simply existing and being Black Americans. Our children and their children's children deserve to live in a more equalitarian and humane world. We all benefit from uprooting anti-Black racial oppression, whether in the intimacy of our homes, counseling psychology, the workplace, or society more broadly

 My professional interest in working to end racism began as a graduate student when I served as a facilitator for a program providing anti-racism workshops at the University of California at Santa Barbara. I later evaluated the program for my dissertation. As a full professor, I now continue to investigate issues related to racism. One of my research areas focuses on (a) investigating people's denial, distortion, and minimalization of structural racism and (b) identifying interventions to increase racism awareness and promote anti-racism activism. Although these efforts center on racism more generally, I have always incorporated anti-Black racial oppression into my work as a Black Studies scholar.

If elected president, I would prioritize a radical envisioning of counseling psychology and our possible futures, one in which the field is thriving and helping to address society's grand challenges. These endeavors include actively creating a field that (a) welcomes, highlights, and honors the contributions of Black people and (b) promotes the health and wellbeing of Black people and communities. The values of justice, equity, liberation, and self-determination will guide our collective efforts.