The Making of a Critical Practitioner/Activist

Abstract

Since much of critical psychology has been academic in nature, there is a need for training students of critical psychology in action-oriented strategies (Austin and Prilleltensky, 2001). In this regard, we agree with Bennett and Hallman (1987) who have argued that supervised field experience should be a central part of the training component for critical psychology practitioners/activists. As we noted in the previous chapters in this section, critical approaches to teaching and research are oriented towards social action and social change. In this chapter, we consider training for skills in applied practice. We begin by identifying the key features of critical psychology practice/action. In so doing, we briefly review the foundations of critical psychology practice/action and its values, assumptions, and practices. We then describe what we believe are the core competencies and skills for applied practice/action in critical psychology. Finally, we discuss strategies for training in critical psychology practice/action.