8 Black Individuals Who Helped Move Mental Health & Psychology Forward

Feb 1, 20244 min read

When we think about people who have contributed to mental health movements and psychology in general, most people think of Freud, Erikson, and Jung. Many think of Bandura, Rogers, Ellis, or Adler. Without a doubt, these are people who have been hugely beneficial in moving psychology and mental health forward. They also have something in common: white males. What about Horney, or Ainsworth? They're females, yet they still share something: whiteness. Why aren't we talking about Sumner, Clark, Prosser, or Landrine? These are Black people who have been hugely influential in the field of psychology.

So, in honor of Black History Month, I want to take this post to look at how eight Black people have contributed to the movement of psychology forward. In the society we live in, we have overlooked the efforts of people of color. Black people have been major contributors to psychology, and I want to dive into some of these individuals who continue to influence our world. Keep in mind, these are only eight individuals-- there are so many more, and as always, I encourage personal research!

1.Francis Sumner (1895-1954): Also known as The Father of Black Psychology. Sumner was the first African American to earn a PhD in psychology, and he studied all sorts of elements of society and psychology that are important to today: justice and education being just two of them. He helped to found the department of psychology at Howard University, and was the chair of the board for years. Some of Sumner's greatest work occurred where he placed a huge emphasis on helping African American individuals gain access to better education. He advocated for Black Americans in their pursuit of learning and psychology, despite the institutionalized barriers that existed (and still exist today!!).

2. Kenneth Bancroft Clark (1914-2005): Another hugely influential member of the Black community in psychology. Maybe you've heard of the Doll Test (also conducted by his wife who we'll talk about next) where it showed that children as young as three years old showed a preference for white over black dolls. Clark, from there, gave a key testimony in the Brown v. Board of Education case, resulting in the decision to end racial segregation, because the study showed how damaging it was to children (and thus society). He was the first Black president of the American Psychological Association, too.

3. Mamie Phipps Clark (1917-1983): Clark's wife! She also contributed to in the Doll Test. Clark participated in identifying racial issues and the damage that racial segregation did to children. Clark was also amazing, in that one of her jobs was counseling homeless Black girls-- a place where she identified the impact a racist society has on individuals. She was a major advocate for ending segregation.

4. Inez Beverly Prosser (1897-1934): Prosser is often identified as the first Black woman to receive a PhD in Psychology. Prosser taught, as well as helped many Black students achieve the financial means for post-secondary education. Prosser was thoughtful in her ability to look at how prejudice impacted children, including the impact of segregation of such kids.

5. Joseph L White (1932-2017): White is sometimes called the "godfather" of Black Psychology. He identified that Black individuals were often misrepresented and wrongly described throughout psychology, and had an article published in Ebony magazine about this issue. White was also a professor of psychology in California, and mentored over 100 students.

6. Maxie Clarence Maultsby Jr (1932-2016): Maultsby was the creator of something called Rational Behavior Therapy (or RBT). RBT was huge in that it provided short-term therapy that also offered some elements of self-counseling, since it's both easy to teach and easy to learn. Maultsby also wrote books, and advocated for self-help through rational self-counseling. Maultsby focused on person-centered counseling and also created the New Self-Help Alcoholic Relapse Prevention Method. As a mental health counselor, Maultsby's work is, in my opinion, something we should all be reading about and learning. His work is beneficial and thoughtful.

7. Hope Landrine (1954-2019): Landrine is another one of those people I think we should all know. Landrine researched and published her results that showed the social inequality that women, those in poverty, and minorities dealt with, and how these issues impacted their psychiatric diagnoses. Landrine demonstrated that there was bias in psychiatric diagnosing, and advocated that we need to look at public health (including health disparities!) in general to really understand a person's mental health and wellbeing.

8. Solomon Carter Fuller (1872-1953): Fuller was hugely influential in the research and understanding of Alzheimer's disease (and yes, this is part of the mental health world!). Fuller faced a lot of discrimination, but continued to persevere and publish groundbreaking research. He is known as America's first Black psychiatrist.

These are just eight Black individuals who have contributed to psychology-- eight individuals who, during graduate school, I may have heard about, but didn't have the chance to study as deeply as I could have. I encourage everyone reading this to click the hyperlinks-- learn about these eight people, and then learn about more (because there are plenty more). And don't just focus on this topic during Black History Month. One day, I hope that Black History Month is every month and Black individuals who make such major contributions to the world are honored in the way they should be.

Here are some links to some more people who have been influential in the field of mental health-- you'll recognize some of the people listed above are in these lists, too, but you'll learn even more about them!:

8 Black Individuals Who Helped Move Mental Health & Psychology Forward

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