ABSTRACT
Psychotherapy with Native American clients offers a challenge to the culturally aware therapist. At issue are the underlying premises of western psychology and value orientations within psychotherapy. The core issue is the generalizability of therapeutic processes that have been developed within a European (or "western" cultural context). Do western oriented psychotherapies work well with non-western or traditional peoples? The purposes of this chapter are to critically examine western therapies in the cultural context of Native Americans and to examine methods to modify existing therapy approaches to fit Native American cultural perspectives. Although traditional Native American healing approaches to depression are viewed as being important. the scope of the present chapter focuses only on western therapies. Psychotherapy is based upon several clinician conceptual tools that most be examined: psychological processes, diagnostic self-reports and protocols. and the DSM-III (APA, 1980). The term Native American will be used throughout this chapter to refer to all indigenous people of the continental United States. Canada. and Alaska.
