Reflecting on Ways of Knowing: A Rejoinder on the Integrative Neuroaffirming Framework (INAF)

We invite readers into an open dialogue about the foundations of the integrative neuroaffirming framework (INAF). We begin by reflecting on our own responses to critique as an example of how meaning-making unfolds within INAF, highlighting the value of remaining grounded and approaching relationships with curiosity and openness. INAF encourages psychologists to move beyond critical analysis toward a more integrative practice that includes embodied awareness and self-reflection. Drawing on epistemic humility, epistemic plurality, and decolonial scholarship, we examine how dominant top-down approaches to knowledge production can constrain emerging perspectives, whereas bottom-up approaches grounded in lived experience may generate novel and clinically meaningful insights. We argue that scholarly dialogue can unintentionally reproduce systems of power when a select few determine what counts as legitimate knowledge. Meaningful progress requires shifting from gatekeeping toward greater openness to diverse ways of knowing. Doing so can strengthen psychology’s capacity for attunement and responsive practice.