Volume One- Issue Three
Volume One- Issue Three

Volume One- Issue Three

Title: Table of Contents
Volume: 1
Journal Issue:  3
File: Table of Contents
Title: Editorial – Indigenous Mental Health.
Volume: 1
Journal Issue:  3
Abstract: 
Pages: 2-4
Keywords:
Authors:  Cynthia Wesley-Esquimaux & Steven Koptie
File: editorial-special-issue-indigenous-mental-health
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54127/UXEB5809
Title:  Review of Culturally-Adapted Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Interventions for North American Indigenous Children and Youth.
Volume: 1
Journal Issue:  3
Abstract:  Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a widely used and established evidence-based intervention; however the extension of CBT to specific cultural groups may require adaptations to align content and treatment process to cultural beliefs and values. The highly structured and often written nature of CBT might make it less acceptable to Indigenous people. A scoping review of culturally adapted CBT interventions for Indigenous people in North America was conducted. In total, 10 studies were identified that assessed or discussed interventions for trauma, substance use, and internalizing disorders. Studies included diverse Indigenous groups, tended toward small sample sizes, and varied in the level of cultural adaptation. Most included surface level changes, yet comparably fewer studies incorporated deeper structural changes. Overall, reductions in symptoms were demonstrated across interventions targeting various mental health concerns. Methodological limitations within studies inhibit the ability to determine if cultural adaptations led to improved outcomes in comparison to non-adapted interventions.
Pages: 5-22
Keywords: CBT; Indigenous; Youth: Child
Authors:  Kristy R. Kowatch, Fred Schmidt, & Christopher J. Mushquash
File: review-of-culturally-adapted-cognitive-behavioral-therapy-interventions-for-north-american-indigenous-children-and-youth
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54127/LDMQ1890
Title:  What Will it Take for Them to Hear Us?: Reacting and Not Reacting to Inuit Youth Suicide.
Volume: 1
Journal Issue:  3
Abstract:  Suicide among Inuit youth is a preventable public health crisis, but the question is: a crisis for whom? For nonIndigenous people in Canada, it may be known that suicide is a significant issue in Inuit communities. Regardless, what is the impact of reading that, in some areas, the rates for suicide are 25 times higher than the Canadian average, and in one small village of 1,800 up to 11 young Inuit died by suicide in one year? This is a decades-old issue, where one Inuk youth finally asked: What will it take for them to hear us? This article gets to the root of why we may not be listening, names what barriers there are to change, and elevates the voices of Inuit youth who are leading the way. It is through them that Inuit youth suicide can become a more meaningful, relevant and pressing concern for us all.
Pages: 23-36
Keywords: Inuit; Suicide; Youth.
Authors:  Andrew Snowball
File: what-will-it-take-for-them-to-hear-us-reacting-and-not-reacting-to-inuit-youth-suicide
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54127/ARAB2417
Title: Indigenous land-based interventions and nature-oriented wellness programs: Commonalities and important differences.
Volume: 1
Journal Issue: 3
Abstract: The importance of Indigenous mental health has been highlighted and affirmed by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada report (2015), the Canadian Psychological Association and The Psychology Foundation of Canada’s Task Force report responding to the TRC findings (2018), as well as numerous recent studies. Unfortunately, Indigenous Peoples in Canada continue to suffer from a lack of appropriate mental health care. Land-based interventions have been cited as one culturally appropriate approach to wellness; nevertheless, given the diversity of nature-oriented wellness programs, confusion exists over the qualities unique to and common across each program. As such, this paper will discuss the qualities of nature-oriented wellness programs currently in use by Indigenous communities (e.g. landbased interventions) with land-based approaches outside of Indigenous communities such as forest bathing, Outward Bound programs, and green or blue space research. The authors will then explore what sets Indigenous land-based interventions apart from these other wellness programs and discuss why land-based interventions hold a deeper meaning for Indigenous Peoples.
Pages: 37-45
Keywords: Indigenous; Land-based intervention; Forest bathing
Authors: Jocelyn Sommerfeld, David Danto, & Russ Walsh
File: indigenous-land-based-interventions-and-nature-oriented-wellness-programs-commonalities-and-important-differences
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54127/QHPP7238
Title: Reservationization: After This Nothing Happened.
Volume: 1
Journal Issue:  3
Abstract: There are many answers to why Indigenous youth take their own lives; research is showing us that when we look back, we can find our way forward. Plenty Coups was born in 1848, and although his “life ended” in his early twenties after the buffalo died, he went on to garner many achievements and lived to be 84 years old. After the buffalo died, the lack of understanding and honest empathy between Euro-Canadian and Indigenous peoples, the steady decline of deep community connections, the loss of multiple generations of children to social services, and the ensuing violence, generated what Michael Lerner termed, “surplus powerlessness” across many territories, leaving next generations bereft. A decline caught and sometimes exploited by anthropologists like Abraham Maslow. Today, Indigenous peoples are healing the trauma, resolving their grief and reclaiming their cultural and ceremonial practices in day-to-day life. Indigenous children are being raised at the drum, singing the songs of their ancestors, correcting anthropological narratives, and telling their own stories. Something is happening, and the reclamation of our languages, values and cultural knowledge is restoring positive meaning to the lives of our children, and they will live, and Indigenous peoples will be here to fight another day. 
Pages: 46-57
Keywords: Indigenous; Youth; Trauma; Grief.
Authors: Cynthia Wesley-Esquimaux & Steven Koptie
File: reservationization-after-this-nothing-happened
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54127/HSJO6821
Title:  Digital Storytelling with First Nations Emerging Adults in Extensions of Care and Transitioning from Care in Manitoba
Volume: 1
Journal Issue:  3
Abstract: This study investigated the experiences of emerging First Nations adults in extensions of care and transitioning out of care in Manitoba. Four research questions were explored in this study: 1) What do you remember about your time in care and what was your transitioning experience out of care or upon reaching 18 years of age? 2) What challenges, barriers or opportunities have you experienced since leaving care or turning 18? 3) How have you maintained the connection to family, community and culture since transitioning out of care? 4) Do you think you have reached adulthood? 
Pages: 58-77
Keywords: Storytelling; First Nation; Care
Authors: Marlyn Bennett
File: digital-storytelling-with-first-nations-emerging-adults-in-extensions-of-care-and-transitioning-from-care-in-manitoba
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54127/NTPF6393
Title:  How is the Medicine Wheel considered in therapeutic practice?
Volume: 1
Journal Issue: 3
Abstract: This paper is a review of research in 2010 and then updated in 2019 which reflects the considerations given to the Medicine Wheel during an Indigenous person’s healing process. While at City University of Seattle in Edmonton, Alberta doing my Master’s in Psychology Counselling I was curious as a Gwich’in woman as to how Indigenous values, beliefs, and spirituality were and are being considered in therapeutic practice. The limited and now growing academic research over the past ten years speaks to integrating traditional Indigenous spirituality, such as the medicine wheel teachings into one’s healing journey. However it does not address any applications with respect to methodologies or practices — the medicine wheel is simply a concept. Through reconciliation many Canadians are learning how Indigenous people in Canada were denied their cultural practices and it is my intent to find a way for Indigenous people to introduce their own values and healing into what is defined as traditional therapeutic practices. My research I hope will open more doors to understanding how Indigenous people heal and grow over a lifetime and how that process continually shapes the person on their healing journey.
Pages: 78-93
Keywords: medicine wheel; healing; healing journey; Indigenous healing; Indigenous values, Indigenous beliefs, Indigenous ceremony, self-care
Authors: Alexis G. Ford-Ellis
File: how-is-the-medicine-wheel-considered-in-therapeutic-practice
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54127/ALJJ4787