Mindful Activism: Embracing the Complexities of International Border Crossings Kathryn L. Norsworthy Rollins College I am one of many psychologists from the minority world, or Global North, who regularly travel to the Global South, or majority world, to engage in activist research and practice. Drawing on postcolonial and decolonial frameworks, this testimonio discusses tensions and complexities that arise in these transnational border crossings, particularly given the current internationalization movement in U.S. psychology. A testimonio is a first-person narrative of experiences with oppression, resilience, and empowerment, that can “re-script history . . . and re-inscribe otherwise ignored stories” (Smith, 2010, p. 21). Following a description of a decolonizing praxis of mindful activism (Norsworthy & Khuankaew, 2006), I chronicle several examples of challenges my colleagues from Thailand and Burma and I have traversed in our efforts to employ a decolonial feminist liberation approach in our work in Southeast Asia. Keywords: internationalization, feminist liberation psychology, postcolonial, decolonial, testimonio For the last 20 years, I have traveled regularly to South- east Asia, accompanying local people and groups in their social justice and peacebuilding work. These international border crossings have provided fertile ground for reflecting on the “how” of effectively working in communities and countries outside the United States. In 1997, I met my long-time friend and colleague, Ouy- porn Khuankaew. Ouyporn is a Thai, engaged Buddhist, feminist activist, public intellectual, and facilitator of a wide range of social justice and peacebuilding projects in South- east Asia. Her graduate training focused on the popular education approach of Paulo Freire (1972) and other liber- ation educators. For years before we met, Ouyporn had been engaging in fieldwork centering on a variety of social issues in Thailand and with Cambodian refugee communities. For our first Thailand project together, Ouyporn and I conducted a workshop focusing on violence against women. When we began the project, we both assumed that I would teach and she would translate. Shortly into our first day, I asked participants to form small groups in preparation for sharing their interests in the workshop topic and identifying their personal goals for the 4 days we were to be together. Quickly, it became clear that Ouyporn was doing much more than translating. I could not understand the Thai language, but I suspected that she was cofacilitating, ex- panding, and elaborating to increase the relevance of the upcoming activity. This pattern continued throughout the day. That evening we debriefed and Ouyporn confirmed that she was indeed contextualizing the content as well as adding ideas to engage the group and encourage their participation in the exercises. We agreed that we would be a much more effective team if we based our work on values of mutuality and power-sharing. For the remainder of the workshop, we did our best to embody these principles as cofacilitators in partnership with the group. Participants accessed their own wisdom as they defined gender-based violence; actively analyzed its root causes based on their social, political, and cultural contexts; shared personal experiences; and articu- lated strategies for healing and social change. Upon reflection, I entered that project assuming the “ex- pert” position and Ouyporn took on the role of “support.” We enacted a hegemonic global politic in which the knowl- edge and practices of “first world” countries set the standard Editor’s note. Kathyrn Norsworthy received the 2017 APA Interna- tional Humanitarian Award. This article is based on an invited presentation at the 125th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Associa- tion, held August 3– 6, 2017, Washington, DC. Author’s note. Kathryn L. Norsworthy, Department of Graduate Stud- ies in Counseling, Rollins College. The author gratefully acknowledges Rollins College for the consistent travel support for our work over the last 20 years. The author wishes to express deep appreciation to my dear friend, teacher, and colleague, Ouy- porn Khuankaew, who has read and approved the content of this article. I extend my heartfelt respect to my local collaborators from Thailand and Burma, from and with whom I continue to learn and grow. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Kathryn L. Norsworthy, Department of Graduate Studies in Counseling, Rollins College, Winter Park, Box 2726, FL 32789. E-mail: knorsworthy@rollins .edu This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers. This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly. American Psychologist © 2017 American Psychological Association 2017, Vol. 72, No. 9, 1035–1043 0003-066X/17/$12.00 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/amp0000262 1035