ABSTRACT
The first author (who is a professional counselor and a member of Australian Aboriginal community), the second author (who is a professional counselor and a member of the Papua New Guinean community) and the third author (who is Australian of European heritage) use a culturally congruent (oral tradition) interview format to discuss aspects of doing counseling with Aboriginal people. They emphasize the importance of five principles emphasized at The Bouverie Centre: safety, trust, choice, collaboration, and empowerment. The importance of Dadirri (deep listening), the use of clients’ language and avoiding professional jargon, and the asking of permission and not imposing goals or agenda are all emphasized as decolonizing and in themselves healing aspects of work with Aboriginal clients who have long suffered disrespect and disempowerment.
