Rehabilitating Psychology in Australia: The Journey from Colonising Agent to Cultural Broker

Abstract

Historically, research, theory and practice have focused on promoting and maintaining Western privilege through Western knowledge and Western ways of knowing that deny the validity of Indigenous knowledge and culture. In Australia, psychology, in particular, has been complicit in the colonising process and, as a dominant discourse, has a documented past that has been ethnocentric and has objectified, dehumanised, and devalued those from culturally different groups. It has acted as an agent for assimilation and oppression. As psychotherapists who may be invited into the lives of Indigenous clients, we need to develop reflective competency in, and respect for, the distinct and diverse nature of Indigenous cultural identity and experience if we are to successfully forge meaningful therapeutic alliances. We need to engage in a journey of decolonisation. Such a journey will take many of us through two mindscapes, two worlds. Decolonisation is not a simple process. Managing its complexity requires personal, professional, and social introspection, and commitment to change. This paper offers a model for decolonisation which can support this process. Central to the success of this model will be the role psychotherapists can play as change agents and cultural brokers in developing approaches which are fully committed to genuine reconciliation. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key words: decolonisation; reconciliation; Indigenous psychologyThe process of decolonisation will require more than passing a law to remove oppression or highlight the legitimacy of Indigenous knowledge and cultural identity. It will demand a full and honest acknowledgement of history, a history where psychological theory and practice have been complicit in the processes of colonisation and assimilation. A movement away from colonisation will only occur when non-Indigenous Australians participate in a debate which will allow them to question their own institutions and ways of seeing -only then will they truly hear Indigenous concerns and be able to relate to their experience (Watson, 2007). This, however, will require a massive shift in understanding, and a new way of seeing the world which will inevitably "unsettle the settler" (de Costa & Clark, 2011, p. 332). Past and current wrongs need to be fully recognised, and issues relating to grief, loss, and shame addressed. Shame breeds fear. If left to

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