exerpt:
Healing should help to restore balance, a concept inherent in the Medicine Wheel.
"When people with this cultural expectation encounter Western therapies, a conflict emerges. Because most Western therapies tend to focus on one aspect of the person, the First Nations client often leaves feeling that only part of the self has been attended to".
Rod McCormick asked a straightforward question: What facilitates healing for First Nations people? He came up with surprising answers!
With a background in counselling psychology, McCormick found that Western therapeutic techniques were only moderately effective with the First Nations people he had worked with. In 1986, not having grown up in Kahnawake, he started on the path to learning his culture. In working with and observing the success of culturally specific counselling approaches, McCormick became interested in other Indigenous paths to healing.
McCormick states in the introduction to his study that "...much of the theory and practice relating to the provision of mental health services for First Nations people is based on opinion and conjecture." In his literature review, he concludes that despite a high level of mental health problems among First Nations people and the observation that they tend not to use services provided by the majority culture, "researchers have all but ignored the successful healing strategies used by First Nations people themselves."
To investigate those strategies McCormick interviewed 50 people (15 males, 35 females) ranging in ages from their early twenties to early fifties, from 40 communities in British Columbia.
McCormick�s aim was to provide "a comprehensive map of what facilities healing among First Nations people in B.C." The fourteen categories of healing which emerged as significant are listed here in rank order: expressing oneself, connecting with nature, obtaining support from others, anchoring self in tradition, participation in ceremony, gaining an understanding of the problem, establishing a spiritual connection, exercise, helping others, setting goals, learning from a role model, establishing a social connection, involvement in challenging activities and self-care. Healing outcomes were thought to invoke empowerment, cleansing, balance, discipline and belonging.
Drawing on examples from the interviews and from expert commentary, he describes the meaning of each category in ways which make the healing process understandable. For example, on connecting with nature: "In respecting nature, First Nations people see nature as providing a blueprint of how to live a healthy life."
Also, a set of distinct themes emerged which provide invaluable learning for both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal practitioners. The first observation is that a broad spectrum of healing resources is available to First Nations people, particularly in terms of nature and ceremony. He notes that "Relative to the variety of approaches used by First Nations people, Western approaches are apt to be viewed as restrictive in what they have to offer for healing."
Second, Aboriginal people have different ways of seeing the world that reinforces the belief that healing practices are culturally bound.
A third theme involves the expectation that healing should help to restore balance, a concept inherent in the Medicine Wheel. McCormick observes, "When people with this cultural expectation encounter Western therapies, a conflict emerges. Because most Western therapies tend to focus on one aspect of the person, the First Nations client often leaves feeling that only part of the self has been attended to".
A fourth observation is that if someone is self-absorbed they cannot heal because they cannot connect with the spiritual world, family, community or culture. As he observes, this view contrasts with Western approaches that focus on strengthening the self or ego so that people master their environment.
Lastly, McCormick concludes that participants act as the agents of their own healing and that Elders and others treat them as their own agents.
This study fills a huge gap in cross-cultural understanding. Furthermore, as a research study, it also affirms many of the approaches to healing and wellness being implemented by Aboriginal communities through AHWS. For those engaged in the Strategy, he offers perspectives on healing which people could use for group reflection on their own projects and initiatives.
In providing a very brief synopsis of this study, I hope I have created a desire to hear more. Readers who read the study will not be disappointed. Unlike many academic papers, this study is written in a very accessible style and deserves to be read in its entirely.
The full study is in the Canadian Journal of Native Education (Vol.21, #2, 1995) available for $13.50 from First Nations House of Learning, U.B.C. 1985 West Mall, Vancouver, B.C., V6T 1Z2 (604) 822-8940, Fax (604) 822-8944.
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