Attitudes Towards Indigenous Healing & Ethnic Identity
Research indicates that ethnic minorities tend to access community-based resources such as indigenous healers, family, and friends over mental health services. Therefore, it seems pertinent to study indigenous ways of healing along with people's beliefs in its philosophies. Research also indicates a strong relationship between interdependent cultural selves and indigenous perspectives to healing. Our present project focuses on the attitudes towards indigenous healing and the relationship of these attitudes with ethnic identity, spirituality, social connectedness and attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help.
Indigenous and Interdependent Perspectives of Healing: Implications for Counseling and Research
Due to the dramatic increases of culturally diverse individuals in the U.S., indigenous perspectives to healing must be understood in the context of interdependent cultural selves. An extensive review of the literature was presented with a focus on understanding the role of spirituality, balancing energies, close social networks, and interconnectedness in indigenous healing perspectives and philosophies. Examples of indigenous healing approaches were presented and implications for counseling and research were discussed.
Indigenous Healing Project
As part of the research team we wanted to expand the definition of competency as it now stands. We felt that competency is currently defined narrowly from a counseling psychology perspective. We questioned whether competency takes a different meaning for the indigenous healers/helpers and for the helpees (a person who goes to a healer for help). Team members interviewed an indigenous healer and a helpee. Interview questions focused on learning more about an indigenous healer's philosophies, use of techniques, and training. We also asked what range of problems were presented to them. Both helpees and healers were asked how they realized that someone had been helped or if a session was successful. We asked helpees as to what qualities they look for in a healer. These interviews helped us learn more about other ways of healing and were the basis for an article and a poster presentation.
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In our quest to learn more about different types of indigenous healers and their philosophies, an indigenous healer database was created. This database includes the names of different kinds of healing, along with the names and contact information of some of the healers in the New York City area. This database was created not only to learn more about community resources but also for educational purposes. In the multicultural counseling classes taught by Professor Christine Yeh (Perspectives in Cross-Cultural Counseling), students were asked to interview an indigenous healer. Moreover, a panel of healers presented at the class. The healers discussed their philosophies and demonstrated their healing techniques. Click on the links below to see more about indigenous healers.
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