Clinical Psychology Center (CPC) Statement of Purpose and Acknowledgment Regarding Psychology, Historical Racism, and Discrimination

The Clinical Psychology Center (CPC) is dedicated to the alleviation of human suffering and the promotion of holistic well-being within an environment that is safe, inclusive and supportive to all individuals from diverse backgrounds and experiences (including, but not limited to, race, ethnicity, age, country of origin, immigration status, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, ability status, and socioeconomic/financial status).  We disavow racism and all forms of identity-based discrimination.  Our clinic is committed to being a safe, inclusive and affirming place where individuals can fully address their emotional and behavioral health needs without fear of stigma or discrimination.  We are also committed to our ongoing professional development related to inclusive practices of our faculty, staff and trainees.  

In order to fully meet these goals, it is also important to acknowledge the past.  Specifically, we acknowledge larger historical and systemic contexts that have contributed to prejudice and injustice that have negatively impacted broad communities and individuals.  We acknowledge our country’s history of colonization and discrimination, including the displacement of native peoples, enslavement of Africans/African-Americans, and discrimination against other groups.  We further acknowledge the role that Psychology, as a field, has at times played in its past to contributing to racial stereotypes and other discrimination (see statement by American Psychological Association, https://www.apa.org/about/policy/resolution-racism-apology.pdf ). 

Clinical Psychology Center Acknowledgements of Land and Labor  

We respectfully acknowledge that the University of Pittsburgh and the Clinical Psychology Center occupy the traditional, ancestral lands of the Adena culture, Hopewell culture, Osage Nation, and Monongahela peoples (later joined by refugees of other tribes, including the Delaware, Shawnee, and Haudenosaunee), who were forcibly removed from their homelands by colonizers. Knowing and acknowledging the Native inhabitants of this land is a way of honoring and expressing gratitude to them. We pay our respects to their Elders and their past, present, and future people, communities, and cultures.  

We also acknowledge the lives and work of the peoples, primarily of African descent, who were enslaved by five of the University of Pittsburgh’s original trustees and we call on those in the University community to honor any whose involuntary labor contributed to the University’s history.   

Pronunciation Guide: 

Adena:  \ ə-ˈdē-nə \ 

Hopewell 

Osage: \ ō-ˈsāj \  

Or  \ ˈō-ˌsāj \ 

Monongahela: \ mə-ˌnän-gə-ˈhē-lə \ 

Or \ mə-ˌnän-gə-ˈhā-lə \ 

Shawnee: \ shȯ-ˈnē \   

Or \ shä-ˈnē \ 

Haudenosaunee: \ hō-dē-nō-shō-nē \  

Delaware: \ ˈde-lə-ˌwer \ 

Lenape: \ ˈle-nə-pē \  

Or \ lə-ˈnä-pē \ 

The above is based on our own research and we recognize that it may not be historically complete.