IP0201 PART 1: Decolonising Mental Health (w/ Shaheeda Sadeck)

Intersectional Psychology

Content note: This episode includes discussions of apartheid, colonialism, grief and loss, gender-based violence, and intergenerational trauma. If you’re unable to engage with these topics right now, you are welcome to skip this episode or come back to it when you feel better resourced.

In this powerful conversation, activist and Registered Counsellor Shaheeda Sadeck joins me to unpack what decolonial mental health looks like in practice — from schools and communities to spiritual spaces and activist networks.

We talk about the psychological legacy of apartheid, Shaheeda's work with marginalised communities in Cape Town, how social practice and multiculturalism enhance psychology, and the role of traditional healing in mental healthcare. You’ll walk away from this conversation inspired, challenged, and ready to rethink what healing really means.

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Download a transcript of this episode on IntersectionalPsychology.com.

Extras

📌 Support the Institute for Healing of Memories (IHOM): https://healing-memories.org/donate/

👇 Chapters

00:00:00 Land acknowledgement

00:00:28 Title credits and content note

00:01:13 Welcome and introduction

00:05:06 About the work of Shaheeda Sadeck

00:19:16 The historical, socioeconomic, and cultural factors impacting mental health

00:26:12 Decolonising mental health explained

00:38:13 How social practice and multiculturalism enhance psychology

00:47:02 End credits

This episode of Intersectional Psychology was researched, written, recorded, and edited by Aurora Brown.