Invited Commentary: Fostering Resilience Among Native American Youth Through Therapeutic Intervention

Abstract

This article offers a comprehensive overview and understanding of the needs of Native American Youth for researchers, educators, and practitioners based on current research and practice. Strengths and protective factors are discussed in terms of Native strengths in context, the strengths and resilience of Native ways, Indigenous ways of knowing, the relationship between cultural identity and the tribal nation, the importance of family, the roles of the wisdom keepers, spiritual ways, and communication styles. Contextual influences are explored in terms of the relationship between history and healing from intergenerational grief and trauma, the influence of acculturation, as well as current social, economic, and political issues that affect Native youth. Implications for research and therapeutic intervention are explored in terms of healing from historical trauma and oppression. The authors offer an overview of common presenting issues and recommendations, practical tribally-specific interventions, and reflections on what it means to work from a social justice and client/community advocacy perspective with a focus on providing effective therapeutic, culturally-based interventions with Native children and adolescents that promote resilience and foster positive development with this population.

Psychological‐Mindedness and American Indian Historical Trauma: Interviews with Service Providers from a Great Plains Reservation

“…Finally, no SPs in this sample mentioned pressure from the tribe's health and human services administration or on the basis of involvement in other behavioral health initiatives to adopt stock HT narratives. The same may not hold for SPs involved in the numerous HT-focused community interventions and educational campaigns throughout "Indian Country" (e.g., Brave Heart & DeBruyn, 1998;Brave Heart, Elkins, Tafoya, Bird & Salvador, 2012;Garrett et al, 2014;Heckert & Eisenhauer, 2014) and around the globe (e.g., Beltr an & Begun, 2014), that often represent HT as an inherently indigenous framework for understanding and addressing distress in indigenous populations around the world. As such, this work adds psychologicalmindedness to the growing list of cultural exports in the context of asymmetrical power relations between the local and the global within biomedicine and emerging movements for global mental health (see Collins et al, 2011;Kirmayer & Pedersen, 2014).…”

Designing for Learning Engagement in Remote Communities: Narratives from North of Sixty / Concevoir pour favoriser la participation active à l’apprentissage dans les communautés éloignées : récits d’Au nord du soixantième parallèle

“…Cultural engagement, youth identity formation, self-representation, and resilience are key concepts in Indigenous communities struggling with rapid environmental and societal changes (Allen et al, 2013;Garrett et al, 2014;Mistry et al, 2014;Nichols, 2011;Wexler, 2009). Wexler (2009) notes, "identifying with one's heritage and developing a strong cultural identity is extremely important for Indigenous young people.…”

Identifying community risk factors for violence against indigenous women: A framework of historical oppression and resilience

“…As Garrett et al. () summarize: “From both a historical and contemporary perspective, oppression is and continues to be a very real experience for Native people” (p. 477).…”