His lecture, "When Psychology Meets the Ancestors: Towards a Ritual-Informed Humanitarian Psychology (RIHP)", explored how psychology can be enriched by acknowledging ancestral traditions, rituals and cosmologies often dismissed as superstition.

Ally reflected on his path in academia, emphasising that consistency and hard work are the cornerstones of success. He noted that progress may feel slow, but persistence accumulates into meaningful achievement. Balancing his personal life with academic demands, he highlighted the importance of maintaining equilibrium and making time for family, rest, exercise and social connections.

His research lies at the intersection of psychology as a science and psychology as a lived moral practice. Ally investigates phenomena such as bewitchment, possession and rituals, examining their role in mental health and illness. He explained that the South African context, where spirituality is deeply woven into daily life, shaped his fascination with these themes.

Ally has supervised 35 master’s and nine PhD students, many of whom produced decolonial research challenging dominant paradigms. He stressed that supervision is never neutral; it shapes what counts as "real psychology". While mentorship and supervision overlap, he distinguished them as follows: supervision is evaluative and competency-driven, while mentorship fosters broader professional growth.

For Ally, teaching is about more than transmitting theory. It is about shaping practitioners who can responsibly engage with complexity in plural societies. He called for higher education to embed epistemic reflexivity into curricula, enabling students to examine the historical and cultural foundations of psychological theories critically.

Ally is actively involved in sport-based interventions in schools, designed to enhance cognitive performance, self-esteem and motivation. He emphasised that community engagement transforms communities from passive recipients of academic expertise into co-producers of knowledge, enriching both research and teaching.

While he does not yet have formal international collaborations, Ally expressed aspirations to expand his research globally, bringing his unique perspective on ritual-informed psychology to diverse contexts. At this stage of his career, Ally is committed to advancing Ritual-Informed Humanitarian Psychology (RIHP), a framework that integrates cultural, spiritual and scientific systems of care. His vision is to leave behind a discipline that is intellectually honest, culturally grounded and humane in its engagement with suffering.

Prof Yaseen Ally’s inaugural lecture was not only an academic milestone but also a call to reimagine psychology in ways that honour ancestral wisdom and cultural plurality. His work challenges the field to move beyond narrow definitions of mental health and embrace a more holistic, inclusive and ethically grounded practice.

* By  Khabo Maduna, Communication and Marketing Specialist, College of Human Sciences