Treating depression: toward an Indigenous psychotherapy

There is a gap in psychotherapy that becomes clearly evident to psychologists who treat Aboriginal clients who present with the symptoms of depression. The problem is that there is very little available by way of psychotherapeutic interventions that are culturally suitable in the treatment of Aboriginal clients who present with the symptoms of a depressed mood. A description of depression is given, and current psychotherapies outlined. At the same time, Aboriginal voices that explain Aboriginal culture and the expression of mental health is recognised and discussed. The study acknowledges these two culturally different systems;\ud Western psychological knowledge which often reflects\ud individualistic, materialistic and secular philosophical\ud underpinnings: and Australian Aboriginal knowledge which is mostly grounded in a philosophy that is communal, spiritual and ecological. The data for this study was gathered over a twelve-month period (January 2003 - December 2003) in North Queensland. Interviews were conducted with Aboriginal Australians who were employed at an urban Community Controlled Health Service. Aboriginal academics, Aboriginal\ud psychologists, Aboriginals from a North Queensland urban community and Elders from that same North Queensland urban community. The author used a 'free association' narrative and interview methodology and an interpretive analysis to analyse the transcripts. The findings indicate that there is an Aboriginal psychology. It is grounded in a theory of connectedness and relatedness. These findings ofter a theoretical underpinning for the development of an\ud Indigenous/Aboriginal psychotherapy that is available to\ud psychologists who treat Aboriginal clients