Abstract

ORTIZ, Blanca. The academic, the communitarian, and the personal in Community Psychology praxis: A three-headed monster or the holy trinity?. Psicol. Conoc. Soc. [online]. 2015, vol.5, n.1, pp.206-221. ISSN 1688-7026.

Community Psychologists’ praxis is characterized by the integration of our action domains to reflect the goals and values of the discipline. My work as a Community Psychologist has included scenarios such as: undergraduate and graduate programs at the state university, researchcenters, community-basedorganizations working with prevention, collaborative researchwithgeographical communities, consultancies with workers unions, international collaborations, and volunteer work with multisectoralinitiatives.Fromthispraxisthree identities have emerged: university professor and researcher ina graduate Community Psychology program, community psychologist working in “real world” scenarios, and social activist. This article is a reflection about the complexity of simultaneously assuming these identities and the dilemmas that emerge from them, as well of potential ways of harmonizing them. This reflection is necessary as we consider the training of future psychologists as well as the renovation and/or transformation of Community Psychology’s values and goals.

Keywords : Community Psychology; Praxis; Values; Academia.