What if love isn't something we feel, but something we practice? In this deeply intimate and intellectually expansive conversation, P is for Pleasure host Tiana Hercules sits down with Tula Bischof, a psychologist and decolonial thinker who is reimagining what mental health, emotional wellness, and human connection can look like when we center love, responsibility, and cultural knowledge. Tula's work challenges the Western psychological frameworks that have dominated our understanding of mental health and invites us to consider: What if the way we've been taught to understand ourselves is incomplete? Together, Tiana and Tula explore decolonial psychology, emotional honesty, living lovingly, and what it means to build a life guided not by productivity or symptom reduction, but by connection, freedom, and responsibility to ourselves, each other, and the world. This conversation asks us to reconsider everything we think we know about emotions, relationships, intimacy, self-awareness, and what it actually means to be well. In this episode, we explore: • Tula's journey from horses and family dynamics to becoming a psychologist • What decolonial psychology actually means and why it matters • Who gets to decide what's "normal," functional, or healthy • Why therapy language hasn't necessarily made us healthier • The difference between protecting your peace and avoiding intimacy • Radical honesty and emotional companionship • Why self-awareness isn't enough without responsibility • Love as a practice, not just a feeling • What Western psychology has lost by centering the individual • Pluriversal psychology and honoring multiple ways of knowing • Why pleasure can be a source of self-knowledge and liberation • African approaches to mental health, conflict resolution, and community care • What it means to live lovingly in a world that rewards disconnection Tula's work is grounded in the belief that we cannot separate a person's mental health from their environment, history, culture, and the systems they navigate daily. And that healing isn't just an individual journey. It's relational. It's communal. It's political. This episode will challenge you to ask bigger questions about the stories you've inherited, the emotions you've been taught to suppress, and the relationships you've been conditioned to abandon instead of repair. Because love isn't passive. Love is a practice. And it requires us to show up fully, messily, and honestly. If this conversation resonates with you, share it with someone who needs permission to feel more, connect more deeply, and live more lovingly. Tell us in the comments: In what ways are you now inspired to live more lovingly? Subscribe to P is for Pleasure for conversations about intimacy, identity, healing, relationships, sexuality, embodiment, and the lives women are choosing to create for themselves. Because pleasure isn't a luxury. It's a practice. Connect with Tula Bischof Website: lovingtolove.com Instagram: @lovingtolove_ Join the waitlist for the Emotional Companionship Guide, a decolonial and Afro-epistemic approach to emotions inspired by African approaches to conflict resolution. Coming soon. About P is for Pleasure P is for Pleasure is an intimate nighttime talk show from Her Pleasure Media exploring pleasure, intimacy, relationships, identity, embodiment, healing, and the lives women create for themselves. Hosted by attorney, entrepreneur, and founder Tiana Hercules, the show centers Black women's voices while creating space for honest conversations about what it means to know yourself, trust yourself, and fully inhabit your life. Follow P is for Pleasure Instagram: @p.isforpleasure Her Pleasure Media: @herpleasuremedia Host Tiana Hercules: @tiana.hercules Website: herpleasuremedia.com Production Production by 5M Creative Labs — @5M.Media These inaugural episodes of P is for Pleasure were created in collaboration with Nivia, a brilliant artist, filmmaker, and creative partner whose eye, care, and artistry have been instrumental in bringing the visual world of the series to life. #PisForPleasure #TulaBischof #DecolonialPsychology #LoveAsAPractice #MentalHealth #EmotionalWellness #AfricanPsychology #HerPleasureMedia #LivingLovingly #PleasureIsAPractice