Using psychotherapeutic arts to decolonise counselling for Indigenous peoples

McKenna, Tarquam; Woods, Davina

doi:10.1080/21507686.2011.631145

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 13 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Research from Indigenous areas shows that the place and the landscape are related to people’s identity [ 20 ]. Being deprived of the land is a great loss, and getting back to the land that the Indigenous people have been robbed of is of great importance for mental health [ 21 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A culturally sensitive approach to Indigenous older Sámi living with memory loss– disconnected from their environment and spirituality

Minde

2021

International Journal of Circumpolar Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The aim of this article is to discuss attitudes to memory loss in old age among older Sámi people in the Arctic region of Norway. What preferences and lived experiences are expressed when older Sámi people need health and social care because of memory loss? According to the Sámi Act (§ 108), the Sámi Indigenous people in Norway have a legal right to receive equitable health and social services adapted to the Sámi language, traditional lifestyle and religious customs. However, standard services are offered that are adapted to the majority of clients in a homogenisation of needs and wishes, and older Sámi clients are treated in the same way regardless of their cultural background. Ethnographic interviews and participant observation illustrated as case studies. Older Sámis’ long-term connectedness to nature and spirituality makes them sensitive to the changes in the environment. Healthcare personnel enable older Sámi to feel connected to their environment and spirituality in old age, by facilitating culturally sensitive care. This study explores a need of culturally sensitive approach to health care, aiming to increase the understanding of the preferences and lived experiences of Indigenous older people with cognitive impairment.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A culturally sensitive approach to Indigenous older Sámi living with memory loss– disconnected from their environment and spirituality

Minde

2021

International Journal of Circumpolar Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The goal of art therapy is a new level of speculation on what is occurring in life (McKenna & Woods, 2012).…”

Section: The Stories and Working With Clay…mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Medical Archaeopedagogy of the Human Body as a Trauma-Informed Teaching Strategy for Indigenous Mexican-American Students

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this article, three co-authors share their narratives and clay figurines sculpted during the Mesoamerican Figurine Project of Rio Hondo College (Garcia, in press-a). Through reflective writing exercises and the sculpting of small-scale clay figurines, Los Angeles-based MexicanAmerican students unearthed parts of their Mesoamerican ancestry and materialized their stories of displacement and violence to assist in meeting student learning outcomes (SLOs). After interpreting these data alongside the medical tools observed on the four Tezcatlipocas of Mesoamerica (Acosta, 2007), the supposition is that Indigenous Mesoamerican students benefit when engaged through the following topics: 1) land and cosmology, 2) trauma and medicine, 3) resiliency and self-determination, and 4) community and family. To support all students' educational and mental health goals, and to prevent further trauma accumulation, the Mesoamerican figurine is modeled as a pedagogical tool with a wide range of therapeutic values.By employing a critical autoethnographic approach (Ohito, 2017), Instructor Garcia's ancestral knowledge-combined with his students' insights-enabled his conceptualization of a medical archaeopedagogy of the human body as a trauma-informed teaching strategy (Cole, Eisner, Gregory, & Ristuccia, 2013) to begin to address the mental health challenges prevalent in the MexicanAmerican community related to the cultural genocide of Native Americans.

show abstract

“…I learned that using decolonization practices in counselling is extremely important when practicing at an Aboriginal agency. McKenna and Woods (2012) explained that in order for counsellors to embody a decolonization practice, they must understand the historical and present day traumas faced by Aboriginal people. Equipped with the knowledge of colonization, counsellors must be cautious to not take a pan-Indigenous approach.…”

Section: Decolonization Teachingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, decolonization practice means looking to culture to guide a counsellor's practice (McKenna & Woods, 2012). My experience in this realm was interesting as I was a non-Aboriginal person doing a practicum at an Aboriginal agency.…”

Section: Decolonization Teachingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clinical social work and expressive arts therapy with youth at the Prince George Native Friendship Centre

Watler¹

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Traumatic life events affect a significant percentage of the population. The effects of trauma, and complex trauma on youth can have lasting affects throughout the lifespan. Mental health statistics in Canada show a grave disparity between Aboriginal youth and non-Aboriginal youth and mirror the impacts of intergenerational trauma. This report investigates the issues Aboriginal youth face today and how expressive art therapy and trauma sensitive yoga can benefit a youth's mental health. In reviewing the literature, extreme human rights violations are widely present throughout the history of colonization. My practicum at the Prince George Native Friendship centre granted me the opportunity to witness and engage first-hand with people affected by intergenerational trauma. This report describes how I will weave the learnings of decolonization, family centred care, and anti oppressive practice into my future work as a social worker in the mental health sector.

show abstract

Using psychotherapeutic arts to decolonise counselling for Indigenous peoples

Cited by 7 publications

References 13 publications

A culturally sensitive approach to Indigenous older Sámi living with memory loss– disconnected from their environment and spirituality

A culturally sensitive approach to Indigenous older Sámi living with memory loss– disconnected from their environment and spirituality

A Medical Archaeopedagogy of the Human Body as a Trauma-Informed Teaching Strategy for Indigenous Mexican-American Students

Clinical social work and expressive arts therapy with youth at the Prince George Native Friendship Centre

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About