Indigenous cultures have a rich history of combining conscious-altering medicines and body work as a healing modality. For example, shamanic and Native American healers have utilized methods to produce altered states of consciousness in themselves and their patients for thousands of years. These methods include sonic driving, photic driving, and other means of changing consciousness ².
In addition, many Indigenous Peoples have used traditional healing methods, modalities, and associated practitioners for centuries. These methods include herbal remedies, sweat lodge ceremonies, smudging, drumming, sharing circles, traditional healers, and Elder teachings ⁶.
Research has shown that effective counseling interventions for many Indigenous Peoples infuse Indigenous worldviews, values, and practices into treatment. Research has also shown that the use of mainstream or Western therapeutic interventions alone has often proved ineffective for Indigenous clients, as many Indigenous clients drop out of therapy or do not make use of Western counseling at all. In response, Indigenous mental health scholars have turned toward harmonized or integrative approaches to healing services for Indigenous clients, which combine the best of Western psychology and Indigenous medicine ⁵.
Some professionals who have contributed to the field of Indigenous healing include Nicole Redvers and Be’sha Blondin ¹, who conducted a scoping review on traditional Indigenous medicine in North America; Teresa Beaulieu and Allison Reeves ⁵, who wrote about integrating Indigenous healing and Western counseling.
Source:
(1) The Role of Altered States of Consciousness in Native American Healing. https://www.cuyamungueinstitute.com/articles-and-news/the-role-of-altered-states-of-consciousness-in-native-american-healing/.
(2) Blending Aboriginal and Western healing methods to treat …. https://harmreductionjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12954-015-0046-1.
(3) Integrating Indigenous Healing and Western Counseling … – Springer. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-71346-1_15.
(4) Traditional Indigenous medicine in North America: A scoping review – PLOS. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0237531.
(5) How Should Allopathic Physicians Respond to Native American Patients …. https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/how-should-allopathic-physicians-respond-native-american-patients-hesitant-about-allopathic-medicine/2020-10.
(6) Indigenous Culture-as-Health: A Systematized Literature Review. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10935-022-00666-3.
(7) Introduction: Ethnomedicine and Tribal Healing Practices in … – Springer. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-19-4286-0_1.
For more info regarding this topic in the context of mental health and addiction, please review: https://www.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/tribal-tta-healing-informed-care-handout.pdf
Conscious Osteopathy 