Promoting Indigenous mental health: Cultural perspectives on healing from Native counsellors in Canada

Objectives: This paper will present the findings from a qualitative study exploring the narratives of Indigenous counsellors in Native community. Design: The study employed a qualitative design. Semi-structured narrative interviews were used and analyzed through a narrative methodology. Methods: One Native community health agency participated and five individuals, who worked as counsellors with the agency's clients, were interviewed. Results: Four metathemes: community, cultural identity, holistic approach, and interdependence were identified as the main results. Further, a model for mental health and healing was created by the overlapping nature of these metathemes in practice. Conclusions: A health promoting counselling model for Indigenous clients could be based on cultural values and perspectives. However, employing these values and perspectives entails an understanding that a contemporary conception of Indigenous mental health contains two components: mental health as wellness, and mental health as a process of healing.