Webinar Features

The 4-session Webinar Series emphasizes applications of Sankofa Theory & Practice for the work of "helpers and healers". The approach is concerned most directly with Black and BIPOC mental health, and speaks intentionally to the well-being of persons and communities who experience societal marginalization and stigmatization, oppression-related collective trauma, and sociocultural stressors (e.g., identity, exclusion, discrimination, acculturation). More broadly, as African wisdom is a healing offering to humanity, Sankofa Theory & Practice is offered to all who resonate with its principles and practices.

  • Four Sessions with Master Teacher Dr. Shelly Harrell

  • Unlimited Online Access to Video Recordings and Slides

  • Downloadable Handouts and Study Pages

  • Recommended Readings and References

  • Upon Completion, an opportunity to join Dr. Shelly's "Sankofa Study Circle and Practice Community"

Learn About Sankofa Theory & Practice

A new culturally-grounded and evidence-informed approach to psychotherapy, counseling, community-based prevention programs, wellness offerings, and life coaching developed by Dr. Shelly Harrell and inspired by the African indigenous wisdom of Sankofa

  • An Africultural Orientation that starts from the ground of African wisdom

    Sankofa Theory & Practice starts from the ground of African wisdom to offer an integrative and comprehensive praxis that centers the power of connection. Inspired by the wisdom of the Akan adinkra symbols, particularly Sankofa, the nature of connection is amplified through the lens of an indigenous African collectivist-communal-interconnected worldview and its many expressions throughout the African diaspora. A foundation in Pan African Black Psychology is supplemented by congruent theory and research in liberation, community, and humanistic psychologies, as well as by research on stress, trauma, resilience, and contemplative/mind-body practices.

  • Centers the Interrelated Dynamics of Connection, Disconnection, Reconnection, and Interconnection

    Sankofa Theory & Practice proposes that addressing pain and suffering, cultivating resilience, promoting well-being, and contributing to transformative and liberatory processes, must center the interrelated dynamics of disconnection and connection. The roots of distress, disorder, and dysfunction are illuminated by understanding the nature of disconnection. Movement toward the expression of optimal well-being must include processes of REconnection and INTERconnection.

  • The Sankofa 7s: Rich Resources to Enhance Your Services and Offerings

    The Sankofa Theory and Practice "ecosystem" provides a range of conceptual and practical resources (aka The Sankofa 7s) to utilize in developing and implementing interventions for psychotherapy, counseling, wellness, coaching, consultation, and community applications. These resources provide a deep dive into our multiple sources of wisdom, modes of connectivity, sites of connection/disconnection, qualities of healthy connection/disconnection, domains of interconnectedness, healing and liberatory pathways, and more.

  • For Healers, Mental Health Professionals, Wellness Program Creators & Facilitators, Community-based Providers, Holistic Practitioners, Life Coaches, Educators & Supervisors, Trainers & Consultants, Scholar-Activists, and More

    Sankofa Theory & Practice can benefit people in many different roles where the well-being, healing, and liberation of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color is an ultimate goal. If this is a calling that you have, you will likely find something in this webinar series that will enhance or provide added value to what you do. The larger intention of developing this approach is to contribute to expanding the ways of helping and healing that are grounded in culture, indigenous wisdom, and have a superordinate goal of justice and liberation.

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Infuse your Services and Offerings with Deep African Wisdom

Integrate African-centered conceptual and practical resources in your work with clients and communities

Sankofa Theory & Practice is inspired by, and emerges from, the wisdom of the Sankofa adinkra symbols and associated proverb. The core wisdom of Sankofa is return and retrieval in the context of forward movement. We are reclaiming, honoring, and restoring our connection to our bodies, our minds, our humanity, our culture, our wisdom, our communities, to each other, to the natural world, to God/Spirit. Sankofa is ultimately an invitation to reconnection. The deep wisdom of Sankofa is also a message of temporal interconnectedness (past-present-future, ancestors-ourselves-descendants). Sankofa encourages us listen to the inner voice that calls us into recognition of lostness and disconnection. We are invited to bring loving compassion to the reality that we WILL get lost and forget. The wisdom of Sankofa invites us into loving reconnection with who we are, with where/what/who we come from, and with the potential of who we can be, individually and collectively.  

Join Dr. Shelly Harrell in this webinar series to explore how the wisdom of Sankofa can be both a ground and a guide for our healing, transformation, and liberation.

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Get updates, resources, discounts, and find out about opportunities to learn more about Sankofa Theory & Practice

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FAQs

Questions and Answers about the Webinar Series

  • Are there scholarships or student discounts available?

    We do offer the course to students for $47. To qualify for the student discount rate, we must receive documentation of your student status in a degree or certificate program (college, graduate school, vocational or professional training program). This can include a student id card with a date, current schedule of classes, transcript, etc.. There is not a structured scholarship process. However, if you feel called to this webinar series but have extenuating circumstances impacting your ability to pay, reach out we will consider your situation. Contact us about student discounts or scholarships at [email protected]

  • What if I want to continue learning after this webinar series?

    We offer a membership-based "Sankofa Study Circle and Practice Community" to those who have completed the Webinar series. The group will meet monthly live on Zoom with Dr. Shelly, as well as receive special updates and resources, discounts, access to community events, and more. After completion of the webinar series, we welcome you to reach out and let us know you are interested. [email protected]

  • What is the relationship between Soulfulness and Sankofa Theory & Practice?

    Sankofa Theory & Practice is the larger encompassing framework within which soulfulness practices live. Soulfulness is an orientation to contemplative practices (such as meditation) that emphasizes experiencing our inner aliveness and interconnectedness. Soulfulness practices emphasize authenticity, attunement, and alignment. They facilitate and enhance connection, and are thus very consistent with the central aims of Sankofa Theory & Practice. They are a primary intervention resource to draw upon in delivering services guided by Sankofa Theory & Practice.

  • Who is this for?

    The webinar will speak most directly to "helpers and healers". This includes (but is not limited to) Mental Health Professionals, Counselors, Wellness Program Creators & Facilitators, Community-based Providers, Holistic Practitioners, Life Coaches, Educators & Supervisors, Trainers & Consultants, and Scholar-Activists. However, people with personal interests in culture and healing, African and indigenous wisdom, or who want to expand their self-development repertoire are welcome to attend.

  • Does this only apply to Black people?

    No! African wisdom is a healing offering for all of humanity. Identifying the harms of disconnection, and amplifying the benefits of reconnection and interconnection, has relevance to all people. However, there is an intentional Africultural orientation with the cultural ground and primary points of reference being Pan African (indigenous and diasporic). This cultural foundation makes the likelihood of resonance with, and relevance to, Black people espectially strong. Cultural communities with shared collectivist-communal-interconnected worldviews and values may find much resonance as well. The concepts, methods, and practices are also strongly informed by a decolonial and liberation psychology orientation that makes Sankofa Theory & Practice particularly applicable to persons and communities most impacted by oppression and its intersectionalities.

  • Does this webinar address racial stress and trauma?

    Yes! Dr. Harrell's early scholarship focused on racial stress. She developed an highly cited multidimensional conceptualization of racial stress, as well as developed one of the earliest and most commonly used measures of racial stress. Among the primary motivational factors for developing Sankofa Theory & Practice includes the limited intervention resources for working effectively with racial stress and trauma in psychotherapy and counseling contexts. Disconnection is at the core of how racial stress and trauma harms and wounds. Reconnection and interconnection are the foundations for healing.

  • Are Continuing Education (CE) units available?

    No. However, this is a priority for future trainings and possibilities are being investigated.

Your Instructor

Dr. Shelly Harrell

Born and raised in Detroit, Dr. Shelly Harrell is an award-winning Harvard-educated and UCLA-trained psychologist, as well as a certified meditation teacher.  As an experienced therapist, mentor, and professor she has been helping, healing, teaching, and training for over 30 years. She is a researcher and published author in the areas of culture and psychotherapy, sociocultural and sociopolitical aspects of stress, racism and mental health, and  psychological well-being among Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). Her soulfulness approach to wellness and resilience represents an integration of her work that is informed by cultural, African-centered, and liberation psychologies, contemplative practices, and stress science.