Pathway 2 Critical Consciousness

Abstract

In this opening chapter of Pathway 2 Awakening Critical Consciousness, Sandra, Melissa, and Janelle carefully define the terms awakening, critical consciousness, and woke, positioning each within historical contexts of social justice movements, particularly those challenging racism and systemic injustices. The term woke invites the intent to disrupt and dismantle systemic oppression, including white supremacy, at sociocultural, institutional, and political levels. The authors warn that terms embedded in social justice movements are often misconstrued and misappropriated, making reclaiming and clearly defining those terms critical to awakening our critical consciousness as healthcare professionals. They provide concrete examples of enacting woke ideologies in service of inclusivity and justice-seeking for all persons and peoples. The focus of the other chapters in Pathway 2 is on the sociocultural determinants of health that result in the pervasive oppression and marginalization of certain persons and peoples in society. By leaning into consciousness-raising, practitioners increase awareness of the work required to offer counselling, psychotherapy, and other mental health services that are accessible, culturally responsive, and socially just and to work collectively toward a better world in which all persons and peoples have equal opportunity to experience health and healing. The authors honour the foundations of liberation psychology, critical race theory, feminist theory, whiteness studies, critical psychology, and others upon which they draw in this section of the book.

As an example of the far-reaching influence of anti-woke movements, Sandra, Melissa, and Janelle are honoured to be joined by Robin Stevenson, who writes about her experiences as a book author and offers suggestions for challenging the suppression of diversity through book banning.

Co-Authors

Sandra Collins (she/her), PhD, is a co-editor of this book. She writes from the perspective of a feminist, lesbian, cisgender, woman with an invisible disability, who is a white, retired professor, and inhabits a privileged social class. Over the 25 years of her academic and professional career, she focused her research, writing, and teaching on cultural responsivity and social justice in theory, research, and practice. This is her fifth book on these topics, two of which were awarded the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Counselling biannual book award. She also received a silver medal for best ebook design by the Independent Publisher Book Awards. 

Melissa Jay (she/her), PhD, RPsych, is a cisgender nehiyaw (Cree) member of the Métis Nation of Alberta and lifelong student of yoga philosophy. She is a cisgender, able-bodied woman who moves through the world with white-passing privilege. She is a psychologist and associate professor at Athabasca University. Her work is centred in reciprocity and relationship, decolonized healing, anti-oppressive practices, and the integration of ancient wisdom and psychology. Her intention is to share trauma-informed, culturally responsive care, alongside her ongoing collaborative research exploring relational accountability, Indigenous methodologies, and ethical engagement with community.

Janelle Baker (she/her), PhD is of mixed settler and Métis descent. She is an associate professor in anthropology at Athabasca University and recipient of the 2024 Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations’ Distinguished Academic Early Career Award. Her research specializations include ethnography of contamination, environmental and ecological anthropology, ethnobiology and ethnoecology, posthumanism and the anthropocene, anthropology of food, food sovereignty, political ecology, and ethnographic writing. She was the winner of the 2019 Canadian Association for Graduate Studies “ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award,” arts, humanities, and social sciences category.

Robin Stevenson (she/her), MSW. is the author of 30 books, both fiction and nonfiction. Her books have won the Silver Birch Award, the Sheila A. Egoff Award, and a Stonewall Honour, and they have been finalists for the Governor General’s Literary Awards, the Lambda Literary Awards, and many reader’s choice awards. Her books include the picture books Pride Puppy andPride Colors (Orca), and the middle-grade non-fiction books Queer History A-Z (Kids Can Press) and Pride: The Celebration and the Struggle, as well as a number of novels for kids and teens. She is a former social worker and crisis counsellor, has taught creative writing, has worked as a freelance editor. She was the Book and Periodical Council of Canada’s Champion of Free Expression for 2022, and in 2023 I received the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence.

Citation

Collins, S., Jay, M., Baker, J., & Stevenson, R. (2025). Pathway 2 Awakening critical consciousness. In S. Collins and M. Jay (Eds.), Decolonizing health, healing, and care: Embodying culturally responsive and socially just counselling (Chapter 2.0). Counselling Concepts. https://doi.org/10.71446/ro87097252