Amid today's polycrisis—marked by global violence, chaos, and uncertainty—there is an urgent imperative for healing. In this reimagined presidential address, I advocate for centering justice and joy as powerful forces for healing, which is a core value of the Society of Counseling Psychology (SCP). I share SCP's yearlong activities exploring personal and collective healing. Drawing from interdisciplinary research, critical dialogue, and my experiences co-teaching a course on this topic, I introduce a framework outlining six healing ingredients of joy: deep connection, existential recognition, flow, shared beliefs and actions, radical hope, and self-determination/freedom/liberation. Before presenting this framework, I examine Black joy as a counter to the epistemic violence that often erases the contributions of Black scholars. The proposed new framework portrays joy not only as a personal emotion, but as a collective assertion of humanity. I conclude with recommendations to advance healing practices in research, training, and practice.
AdamesH. Y.Chavez-DueñasN. Y. (2024, April 16). Joy is our superpower: Healing and therapy with communities of color [Public Lecture]. Justice & Joy: Transforming Healing Praxis in Counseling Psychology and Beyond. University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.
2.
ArnettJ. J. (2023). Joy: An integrative theory. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 18(1), 1–14.
3.
AtallahD. G. (2023). Beyond grief: Decolonial love for Palestinian life. Journal of Palestine Studies, 52(4), 70–75.
4.
BakerD. (2024, April 10). Joy and healing: Learning from our Communities. [Public Lecture]. In Justice & joy: Transforming healing praxis in counseling psychology and beyond, Arizona State University.
BettergarciaJ. (2024, August 7). Centering trans and nonbinary joy: Moving away from damage-centered narratives toward liberation. Joy Summit, Seattle, Washington.
7.
BosleyB.HarringtonC. N.MorrisS. M.Le DantecC. A. (2022). Healing justice: A framework for collective healing and well-being from systemic traumas. In Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS ’22), Virtual Event, Australia, June 13–17, 2022, (pp. 1-14). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3532106.3533492
8.
browna. m. (2019). Pleasure activism: The politics of feeling good. AK Press.
9.
Bryant-DavisT. (2007). Healing requires recognition: The case for race-based traumatic stress. The Counseling Psychologist, 35(1), 135–143. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000006295152
10.
BryantT. (2024, April 4). Cultivating joy as a sacred practice of resistance [Webinar]. In Justice & joy: Transforming healing praxis in counseling psychology and beyond.
11.
CaesarS. (1985). The world didn’t give it to me [song]. Coast To Coast Records.
12.
Caldwell-HarveyT. (2024, August 7). How are you? The gift of emotional transparency. Joy Summit, Seattle, Washington.
13.
CausadiasJ. M.NeblettE. W.Jr (2024). PARQUES: Dreaming a future for our Latinx children, youth, and families. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 53(1), 129–140. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2024.2304140
14.
CeasarS. (2005). This joy I have [Song]. On Higher Ground (Live) [Album].
15.
Chavez-DueñasN. Y.AdamesH. Y.Perez-ChavezJ. G.SalasS. P. (2019). Healing ethno-racial trauma in Latinx immigrant communities: Cultivating hope, resistance, and action. American Psychologist, 74(1), 49–62. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000289
16.
ChionesoN. A.HunterC. D.GobinR. L.McNeil SmithS.MendenhallR.NevilleH. A. (2020). Community healing and resistance through storytelling: A framework to address racial trauma in Africana communities. Journal of Black Psychology, 46(2-3), 95–121. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095798420929468
Comas-DíazL.(interviewee). (2024). Warriors of Justice and Joy [video] (11:00 minutes to 15:15 minutes), Society of Counseling Psychology (producer). https://linktr.ee/justiceandjoy
19.
CopelandS. (2023). Sustaining queer joy and potentiality: Through independent production with Homoground Music Podcast. Journal of Popular Music Studies, 35(4), 111–124. https://doi.org/10.1525/jpms.2023.35.4.111
20.
CruzK. (2023). The Black Joy Project. Mariner Books.
FishJ. (2023, November 15). On becoming a future ancestor [Webinar]. In Justice & joy: Transforming healing praxis in counseling psychology and beyond.
FrankJ. (1961). Persuasion and healing: A comparative study of psychotherapy. Johns Hopkins University Press.
25.
FrenchB. H.LewisJ. A.MosleyD.AdamesH. Y.Chavez- DueñasN. Y.ChenG. A.NevilleH. A. (2020). Toward a psychological framework of radical healing in communities of color. The Counseling Psychologist, 48(1),14–46. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000019843506
26.
FrenchB. H.NevilleH. A.LewisJ. A.MosleyD. V.AdamesH. Y.Chavez-DueñasN. Y. (2023). “We can create a better world for ourselves”: Radical hope in communities of color. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 70(4), 327–340. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000670
HammerJ. (interviewee). (2024). Justice and Joy in Action [Video], Society of Counseling Psychology (producer). https://linktr.ee/justiceandjoy
31.
HarrellS. (2023, November 15). Sankofa: Retrieving what we have lost as a healing balm and liberatory ground in the context anti-Black racism [Webinar]. In Justice & joy: Transforming healing praxis in counseling psychology and beyond.
32.
HelmsJ. E. (2024, February 29). “WHMP” Lash: A model for revealing how power and privilege contributes to racial injustice [Webinar]. In Justice & joy: Transforming healing praxis in counseling psychology and beyond, University of Maryland, College Park.
33.
HemphillP. (2024). What it takes to heal: How transforming ourselves can change the world. Penguin Random House.
34.
HoangT. M. H.LeeB. A.HsiehW. J.LukacenaK. M.TabbK. M. (2023). Experiences of racial trauma among perinatal women of color in seeking healthcare services. General Hospital Psychiatry, 84, 60–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2023.06.015
35.
HoangT.-M. (2024, February 6). Building community-engaged and implementation research program to address Black maternal and infant health crises [Webinar]. In Justice & joy: Transforming healing praxis in counseling psychology and beyond.
36.
hooksb. (2000). All about love: New visions. William Morrow and Company.
37.
hooksb. (2004). We real cool: Black men and masculinity. Psychology Press.
JohnsonM. K. (2020). Joy: A review of the literature and suggestions for future directions. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 15(1), 5–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2019.1685581
MaryaR.PatelR. (2021). Inflamed: Deep medicine and the anatomy of injustice. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
46.
McCabeG. H. (2007). The healing path: A culture and community-derived indigenous therapy model. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 44(2), 148–160. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-3204.44.2.148
47.
MolloyJ. K.KeyesT. S.WahlertH.RiquinoM. R. (2023). An exploratory integrative review of restorative justice and social work: Untapped potential for pursuing social justice. Journal of Social Work Education, 59(1), 133–148. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2021.1997690
48.
MoodleyR.SutherlandP.OulanovaO. (2008). Traditional healing, the body and mind in psychotherapy. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 21(2), 153–165. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515070802066870
49.
Moore-LobbanS. J. (2023). Dismantling anti-Black racism with unapologetic boldness: Redefining our values and living them out loud. The Counseling Psychologist, 51(8), 1128–1148. https://doi.org/10.1177/00110000231205075
50.
MosleyD. V. (2023, November 6). Healing healers heal: Definition, expansion, & insistence for our wellness [Public Lecture, Webinar]. In Justice & joy: Transforming healing praxis in counseling psychology and beyond, UCSB Center for Black Studies Research.
51.
MuhammadG. (2023). Unearthing joy: A guide to culturally and historically responsive curriculum and instruction. Scholastic Teaching Solutions.
52.
NevilleH. A.MonetteM.LewisJ. T.SafirS. (2024). Shifting the gaze from racism to healing from racism: A systematic review of selected psychology journals from 1992 to 2022. American Psychologist, 79(5), 706–724. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0001317
53.
NevilleH. A.ViardB.TurnerL. (2015). Race and recognition: Pathways to an affirmative Black identity. Journal of Black Psychology, 41(3), 247–271. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095798414523290
O’Leary WileyM. (2021). It takes a village: Engaging with solidarity in practice, anti-Black racism work, advocacy, leadership, and education. The Counseling Psychologist, 49(4), 516–539. https://doi.org/10.1177/00110000211039557
56.
PageC.WoodlandE. (2023). Healing justice lineages: Dreaming at the crossroads of liberation, collective care, and safety. North Atlantic Books.
57.
ParameswaranU. D.MolloyJ.KuttnerP. (2024). Healing schools: A framework for joining trauma-informed care, restorative justice, and multicultural education for whole school reform. The Urban Review, 56(1), 186–209. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-023-00666-5
58.
PeaseM V.GalupoM. P. (2024). Simply being: A found poem for the trans community from trans mental health professionals and trainees. Qualitative Psychology. Advanceonline publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/qup0000305
59.
PeaseM. V.KangN.OluwakemiG.JinL.BradshawB.LeT. P. (2024). “It’s like having a superpower”: Reclaiming creativity and the intersectional experiences of trans young adults of color. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 71(4), 215–228. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000737
SandínB.EspinosaV.ValienteR. M.García-EscaleraJ.SchmittJ. C.ArnáezS.ChorotP. (2021). Effects of coronavirus fears on anxiety and depressive disorder symptoms in clinical and subclinical adolescents: The role of negative affect, intolerance of uncertainty, and emotion regulation strategies. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 716528. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.716528
62.
ShusterS. M.WestbrookL. (2022). Reducing the joy deficit in sociology: A study of transgender joy. Social Problems, 71(6), 791–809. https://doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spac034
63.
SinghA. (2020). Building a counseling psychology of liberation: The path behind us, under us, and before us. The Counseling Psychologist, 48(8), 1109–1130. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000020959007
64.
SinghA. (2024, February 6). Trans liberation: The next steps in our collective healing and joy [Webinar]. In Justice & joy: Transforming healing praxis in counseling psychology and beyond.
65.
SkeltonS.RiggsD. W.Pullen SansfaconA.Katz-WiseS.AroraM.ThibeaultC. (2024). ‘It just feels really nice when people call me by my name’: Accounts of gender euphoria among Australian trans young people and their parents. Journal of Gender Studies, 33(4), 470–482. https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2023.2285984
66.
SoyinkaW. (1972). The man died. Noonday PR.
67.
SteelZ.CheyT.SiloveD.MarnaneC.BryantR. A.van OmmerenM. (2009). Association of torture and other potentially traumatic events with mental health outcomes among populations exposed to mass conflict and displacement: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA, 302(5), 537–549. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2009.1132
68.
StewartL. (2021). The politics of Black joy: Zora Neale Hurston and neo-abolitionism. Northwestern University Press.
69.
ThomasT. (2024). Justice and Joy in Action [Video]. Society of Counseling Psychology(producer). https://linktr.ee/justiceandjoy
70.
VontressC. E. (1991). Traditional healing in Africa: Implications for cross-cultural counseling. Journal of Counseling & Development, 70(1), 242–249. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6676.1991.tb01590.x
71.
WaheedA (2018). Black joy and resistance.Waheedpix LLC.
