Abstract

An important area of inquiry in meta-scientific theorizing today is disciplinary boundaries and disciplinary and professional identity. At a critical crossroads in its history and identity, theoretical psychology has a unique opportunity in this twenty-first century to engage meaningfully with social work and other disciplines, and through such engagement to expand and strengthen its own capabilities to effect social change in the face of societal suffering on a global scale. Such directions hold great promise for genuine encounter with the deepest and perhaps most challenging realities of our times, especially at the margins of scientific inquiry. A critical reframing of the goals of theoretical psychology as maternal will help to equip psychology to confront such challenges without apology, and to guide the development of the psychological humanities.