In these days of pain and sorrow, times of degradation from the good human nature, Guido Veronese, a research fellow in the Department of Psychology, feels a deep sense of honor on receiving the Ignacio Martín-Baró Martin Lifetime Peace Practitioner Award. His work has been devoted over the years to rethinking Western models in clinical psychology as a means for social justice and human rights, transcending the mere conceptualization of human functioning as a process of resocialization and adaptation to inequitable conditions.
Guido firmly believes in mental health as a collective process of mutualistic collaboration between individuals and communities, and he has made action research and liberation psychology the cornerstones of his research and clinical practices. As a teacher, mentor, researcher, practitioner, and supervisor, he has worked in challenging contexts, such as the Occupied Palestinian territories and Iraq Kurdistan, collaborating closely with local NGOs and CBOs.
The most recent decade of Guido’s work has been dedicated to decolonizing clinical psychology, with the support of colleagues and friends in regions like South Africa, Niger, and, most prominently, the Gaza Strip. Here, he teaches Family Therapy in the postgraduate diploma program in Community Mental Health and Human Rights, with a focus on decoloniality as a radical critique of neoliberal approaches in mental health and healing sciences. This award, presented by the Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict, and Violence: Peace Psychology Division (APA Division 48), recognizes Guido Veronese’s lifetime achievement as a peace practitioner, a testament to his unwavering commitment to promoting peace and justice in a world marred by injustice, dehumanization of the voiceless and genocide.