Foluke Taylor, "Unruly Therapeutic: Black Feminist Writings and Practices in Living Room" (Norton, 2023)

·1 hr 7 min·5 clips

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This episode features an interview with Foluke Taylor about her book "Unruly Therapeutic: Black Feminist Writings and Practices in Living." The host is a scholar conducting an in-depth conversation for the New Books Network podcast series. Taylor is a writer and psychotherapist whose work centers Black feminist thought. The discussion explores Taylor's concept of the "unruly therapeutic" as a challenge to conventional psychology. Taylor argues that mainstream therapeutic models often individualize distress and ignore systemic oppression. Her framework integrates Black feminist literary and cultural texts as foundational resources for healing. The conversation references the writings of authors like Audre Lorde and Toni Morrison as theoretical guides. Taylor explains how these works offer narratives that resist pathologizing Black experience. She describes therapeutic practice as a space for "world-making" rather than just adjustment. The episode examines how therapy can engage with legacies of racial and gender-based violence. A key insight is that healing might look like collective refusal rather than personal compliance. Taylor suggests that wellness for marginalized people can be an act of creative disobedience. The interview highlights how standard diagnostic categories can erase the social context of suffering. An intriguing claim is that Black feminist storytelling itself constitutes a therapeutic technology. Taylor positions therapy not as a cure for brokenness but as a practice of nurturing life amidst constraint. The conversation frames "unruliness" as a vital source of knowledge and resilience. The tone is intellectual, reflective, and deeply conversational. The style is educational, focusing on theoretical ideas and their practical implications in therapeutic settings. Listeners interested in critical psychology, feminist theory, and decolonial approaches to mental health would find this episode compelling. Those seeking conventional self-help tips or apolitical psychological discussion might find it less aligned with their interests.

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