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WGST 305: (C2 & C3) / INST 305 (C1): Counselling with Indigenous Women Report a Broken Link

This course will engage students in issues and practices critical to working with First Nation, Métis, and Inuit women in culturally appropriate ways that promote principles of human dignity, decolonization, and self-sovereignty.

Unit 1: The Mental Health of Indigenous Peoples

The Agenda with Steve Paikin. (2013, May 10). Mental health matters: Aboriginals and substance abuse [Video file].
Kirmayer, L. J., Tait, C. L., & Simpson, C. (2009). The mental health of Aboriginal peoples in Canada: Transformations of identity and community. In J. L. Kirmayer & G. G. Valaskakis (Eds.), Healing traditions: The mental health of Aboriginal peoples in Canada (pp. 3–35). Vancouver, BC: UBC Press.
Million, D. (2013). An introduction to healing in an age of Indigenous human rights. In D. Million, Therapeutic nations: Healing in an age of Indigenous human rights (pp. 1–32). Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press.
First Nations Information Governance Centre (FNIGC). (2012). Chapter 17: Personal wellness and safety. In FNIGC, First Nations regional health survey (RHS) 2008/10: National report on adults, youth and children living in First Nations communities (pp. 196–211). Ottawa: FNIGC.

Unit 2: Indigenous Women and Canada

McCue, D. (2015, February 3). Racism against Aboriginal people in health-care system “pervasive”: Study. CBC News.
Million, D. (2013). Gendered racialized sexuality: The formation of states. In D. Million, Therapeutic nations: Healing in an age of Indigenous human rights (pp. 33–55). Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press.
Million, D. (2013). Felt theory. In D. Million, Therapeutic nations: Healing in an age of Indigenous human rights (pp. 56–77). Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press.
Million, D. (2013). The “Indian problem”: Anomie and its discontents. In D. Million, Therapeutic nations: Healing in an age of Indigenous human rights (pp. 78–102). Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press.
Allen, B. J. (n.d.). Privilege exercise.

Read “Privilege Surveys,” pages 4–11.

Unit 3: Children and Aboriginal Mental Health

canadabridges. (2014, October 23). 2014 Aboriginal youth explosion! [Video file].
Anderson, K. (2014). The “good life” and the “fast life”: Childhood and youth. In K. Anderson, Life stages and native women: Memory, teachings, and story medicine (pp. 65–96). Winnipeg, MB: University of Manitoba Press.
Fiske, J. (2009). Placing violence against First Nations children: The use of space and place to construct the (in)credible violated subject. In J. L. Kirmayer & G. G. Valaskakis (Eds.), Healing traditions: The mental health of Aboriginal peoples in Canada (pp. 140–159). Vancouver, BC: UBC Press.
Niezen, R. (2009). Suicide as a way of belonging: Causes and consequences of cluster suicides in Aboriginal communities. In J. L. Kirmayer & G. G. Valaskakis (Eds.), Healing traditions: The mental health of Aboriginal peoples in Canada (pp. 178–195). Vancouver, BC: UBC Press.
First Nations Information Governance Centre (FNIGC) (2012). Chapter 29: Personal wellness and after-school activities. In FNIGC, First Nations Regional Health Survey (RHS) 2008/10: National report on adults, youth and children living in First Nations communities (pp. 322–338). Ottawa: FNIGC.

Unit 4: The Construction of Social Suffering and Aboriginal Mental Health

Hari, J. (2015, July 9). Everything you think you know about addiction is wrong [Video file].
Samson, C. (2009). A colonial double-bind: Social and historical contexts of Innu mental health. In J. L. Kirmayer & G. G. Valaskakis (Eds.), Healing traditions: The mental health of Aboriginal peoples in Canada (pp. 109–139). Vancouver, BC: UBC Press.
Culhane, D. (2009). Narratives of hope and despair in downtown eastside Vancouver. In J. L. Kirmayer & G. G. Valaskakis (Eds.), Healing traditions: The mental health of Aboriginal peoples in Canada (pp. 160–177). Vancouver, BC: UBC Press.
Tait, C. L. (2009). Disruptions in nature, disruptions in society: Aboriginal peoples of Canada and the “making” of fetal alcohol syndrome. In J. L. Kirmayer & G. G. Valaskakis (Eds.), Healing traditions: The mental health of Aboriginal peoples in Canada (pp. 196–220). Vancouver, BC: UBC Press.

Unit 5: Women, Culture, and Healing

Geddes, C. (1986). Doctor, lawyer, Indian chief [Video file].
Anderson, K. (2014). Adult years: The women’s circle. In K. Anderson, Life stages and native women: Memory, teachings, and story medicine (pp. 97–125). Winnipeg, MB: University of Manitoba Press.
Anderson, K. (2014). Grandmothers and elders. In K. Anderson, Life stages and native women: Memory, teachings, and story medicine (pp. 126–160). Winnipeg, MB: University of Manitoba Press.
Chandler, M. J., & Lalonde, C. E. (2009). Cultural continuity as a moderator of suicide risk among Canada’s First Nations. In J. L. Kirmayer & G. G. Valaskakis (Eds.), Healing traditions: The mental health of Aboriginal peoples in Canada (pp. 221–248). Vancouver, BC: UBC Press.

Unit 6: Aboriginal Perspectives and Mental Health

Welsh, C. (2006). Finding Dawn [Video file].
Tanner, A. (2009). The origins of northern Aboriginal social pathologies and the Quebec Cree healing movement. In J. L. Kirmayer & G. G. Valaskakis (Eds.), Healing traditions: The mental health of Aboriginal peoples in Canada (pp. 249–271). Vancouver, BC: UBC Press.
Kirmayer, J. L., Fletcher, C., & Watt, R. (2009). Locating the ecocentric self: Inuit concepts of mental health and illness. In J. L. Kirmayer & G. G. Valaskakis (Eds.), Healing traditions: The mental health of Aboriginal peoples in Canada (pp. 289–314). Vancouver, BC: UBC Press.
Kral, M. J., & Idlout, L. (2009). Community wellness and social action in the Canadian Arctic: Collective agency as subjective well-being. In J. L. Kirmayer & G. G. Valaskakis (Eds.), Healing traditions: The mental health of Aboriginal peoples in Canada (pp. 315–336). Vancouver, BC: UBC Press.

Unit 7: Healing Stories

Barry, L. (2011). Topahdewin: The Gladys Cook story [Video file].
Anderson, K. (2014). Bundling the layers: Building on the strengths of the past to take us into the future. In K. Anderson, Life stages and native women: Memory, teachings, and story medicine (pp. 161–179). Winnipeg, MB: University of Manitoba Press.
Million, D. (2013). Therapeutic nations. In D. Million, Therapeutic nations: Healing in an age of Indigenous human rights (pp. 103–122). Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press.
Adelson, N. (2009). Toward a recuperation of souls and bodies: Community healing and the complex interplay of faith and history. In J. L. Kirmayer & G. G. Valaskakis (Eds.), Healing traditions: The mental health of Aboriginal peoples in Canada (pp. 272–287). Vancouver, BC: UBC Press.

Unit 8: Treatment Approaches

NCSA Video Channel. (2015, April 8). Ceremony and identity [Video file].
McCormick, R. (2009). Aboriginal approaches to counselling. In J. L. Kirmayer & G. G. Valaskakis (Eds.), Healing traditions: The mental health of Aboriginal peoples in Canada (pp. 337–354). Vancouver, BC: UBC Press.
Wieman, C. (2009). Six Nations Mental Health Services: A model of care for Aboriginal communities. In J. L. Kirmayer & G. G. Valaskakis (Eds.), Healing traditions: The mental health of Aboriginal peoples in Canada (pp. 401–418). Vancouver, BC: UBC Press.
Gone, J. P. (2009). Encountering professional psychology: Re-envisioning mental health services for native North America. In J. L. Kirmayer & G. G. Valaskakis (Eds.), Healing traditions: The mental health of Aboriginal peoples in Canada (pp. 419–439). Vancouver, BC: UBC Press.

Unit 9: Cultural Competence and Counsellor Development

Belcourt, A. (2015, June 9). Healing through story: Unpacking Indigenous resiliency and hope [Video file].
Kirmayer, J. L., Brass, G. M., & Valaskakis, G. G. (2009). Conclusion: Healing/invention/tradition. In J. L. Kirmayer & G. G. Valaskakis (Eds.), Healing traditions: The mental health of Aboriginal peoples in Canada (pp. 440–472). Vancouver, BC: UBC Press.
Johnson, A., & Williams, D. J. (2015). White racial identity, color-blind racial attitudes, and multicultural counseling competence. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 21(3), 440–449.
Robertson, L. H., Holleran, K., & Samuels, M. (2015). Tailoring university counselling services to Aboriginal and international students: Lessons from native and international student centres at a Canadian university. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 45(1), 122–135.
American Psychological Association. (1990). Guidelines for providers of psychological services to ethnic, linguistic, and culturally diverse populations [Web page].