ABSTRACT
Martin-Baro (1994), the Jesuit psychologist murdered by a Salvadorean death squad in 1989, called in his work for the creation of a “liberation psychology.” I would like to begin to explore what depth psychology can contribute to such an undertaking. At the same time, I would like liberation psychology to challenge and help rework problematic aspects of depth psychology. Depth psychology can be seen as an effort which radically challenges dominant cultural paradigms of selfhood and reality. It can also be seen as reflecting, conserving, and perpetuating aspects of the cultural status quo that contribute to human suffering. It is a confusing mixture of oppressive and libertory practices and theories. It is a mixture which perhaps the lens of a psychology of liberation can help us begin to clarify, so that liberation of one level does not mitigate against but supports liberation on other levels.
