In this article, we share words spoken by Aboriginal elders from Saskatchewan, Canada, in response to the research question, “What would you like non-Aboriginal health care providers to know when providing end-of-life care for Aboriginal families?” Our purpose in publishing these results in a written format is to place information shared by oral tradition in an academic context and to make the information accessible to other researchers. Recent theoretical work in the areas of death and dying suggests that cultural beliefs and practices are particularly influential at the end of life; however, little work describing the traditional beliefs and practices of Aboriginal peoples in Canada exists to guide culturally appropriate end-of-life care delivery. Purposive sampling procedures were used to recruit five elders from culturally diverse First Nations in southern Saskatchewan. Key informant Aboriginal elder participants were videotaped by two Aboriginal research assistants, who approached the elders at powwows. Narrative analysis of the key informant interview transcripts was conducted to identify key concepts and emerging narrative themes describing culturally appropriate end-of-life health care for Aboriginal families. Six themes were identified to organize the data into a coherent narrative: realization; gathering of community; care and comfort/transition; moments after death; grief, wake, funeral; and messages to health care providers. These themes told the story of the dying person's journey and highlighted important messages from elders to non-Aboriginal health care providers.

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This paper argues that psychological objects are not entirely natural scientific objects; therefore, they are not entirely subject to procedures of empirical investigation. Focusing on the validation of cognitive therapy in clinical psychology, critiques are made of the theoretical coherence of cognitive‐behaviour therapy (CBT) as well as research practices used to validate therapeutic procedures. While validation may facilitate the marketability of psychology as a profession, it does not necessarily help to understand the human mind nor to develop the ability of psychologists to help people with their lives. It is suggested that clinical psychology can utilise a plethora of research strategies to promote the facilitation of mental health.

Hermeneutics has been central to the practice of Jung's psychology from the beginning, although he never fully and consistently developed a hermeneutic method of inquiry and the literature addressing this aspect of his psychology is not extensive. In this paper(1) we undertake a critical re-examination of Jung's relationship to hermeneutic thought, based on his explicit references to hermeneutics in the Collected Works and his theoretical development of the notion of archetypes. Although Jung did not consistently formulate a hermeneutic approach to inquiry, his theoretical development of archetypes is rich in hermeneutic implications. In particular, his notion of the archetype as such can be understood hermeneutically as a form of non-conceptual background understanding. Some implications of this construal of archetypes for Jungian hermeneutics as a form of inquiry are considered.

This paper theorizes how ancient literature can be used to inspire contemporary psychological understanding. We articulate a critical presentism that reads ancient literature symbolically without losing sight of important differences of meaning over time. Although ancient literature may inspire understanding of our present-day concerns, historical text cannot be used to explain contemporary understandings without charges of naïve presentism. A hermeneutics of archetypes is used to theorize a way of using ancient literature that remains critical of presentist claims to knowledge. Without losing sight of important socio-historical differences, the story of The Bacchae is used to illustrate how literature from the past can engender psychological understanding.

In health care settings, personal meanings of death, dying, grieving, and care at end of life tend to be eclipsed by technical and rational biomedical frameworks of understanding. We propose that by narrating personal meanings, multivocal significance can be restored within worlds of care. In this article, we illustrate a relationship-based approach to the construction of meaning. We convey messages of personal meaning as they emerge in the relationship of the researchers with traditionally minded Aboriginal friends asked to consider personal meanings of death, dying, grief, and end-of-life care. Recognizing that there are many different Aboriginal cultures unique to different Aboriginal peoples, the messages conveyed here are grounded in a unique personal perspective that is part of a diverse circle of cultural relations.

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