ABSTRACT
The author gives a firsthand account of her experience as a counselor working with Native communities in Western Canada. She describes her training and background – including her being Métis, meaning a person of mixed European-Native heritage. She takes us inside a smoky lodge of sweating, chanting people; and she recounts a counseling session with a village man. Each session is seen as a “single session” in that it is an experience unto itself. She also offers various suggestions for other Western-trained clinicians considering work with Indigenous populations.
