Issue
27(2)
Healing
the Soul Wound: Counseling With American Indians And Other Native
Peoples.
(2006). Eduardo Duran. New York: Teachers College Press. Paperback.
$ 32.95. ISBN # 0-8077-4689-4.
Review
by: Neva Baron
Graduate
Student, College Counseling Program
Eastern Michigan University
While geared
towards the fields of psychology and counseling the subject matter
of the text would be useful for academic advisors. Advising professionals
should know the historical trauma that American Indians and other
native peoples have encountered.
The
author employs liberation psychology to explain how the reader
can bring dignity to working with American Indians and other native
peoples. "By operating in a manner that liberates the individual
and community, we humanize and restore human dignity just because
it is a dignified thing to be human. Through the creation of liberation
discourse, we help the patient address the immediate problem and
simultaneously set in motion the act of decolonizing.the intent
of this book is to begin a healing process for all of those who
want to restore their humanity in a way that is harmonious with
natural laws" (p. 14).
It is important that advisors know how to manage their own issues
before they advise and counsel students. This is especially true
when working with native peoples because of their distrust of
professionals who operate within bureaucracies such as those found
in higher education. "When therapists and healers do not deal
with their own history, they bring unconscious contents into the
therapeutic setting. The natural consequence of this is projection
of unconscious fantasies and ideas on the patient. This projection
process is known as transference" (p.29).
The text is
recommended reading for any professional who wants to gain a better
understanding of the potential positive counseling that can occur
with this population if s/he takes an active interest in the cultures
of native peoples. It is a beneficial start to gaining knowledge
of multicultural foundations of psychology and counseling.
