Indigenous healing: an introduction
Critical and Radical Social Work April 7, 2025 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1332/20498608y2025d000000076 via OpenAlex
Summary
There is a significant gap in social work regarding the inclusion of Indigenous cultural healing practices. This article introduces social workers and therapists to core Indigenous healing methods, such as concepts of 'all my relations,' land, story, and medicine, along with specific practices like sweat lodge and ayahuasca ceremonies. It addresses the importance of these methods in social work contexts.
Study at a glance
| Key finding | Indigenous cultural healing practices are notably absent from social work literature and practice. |
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Abstract
Social work literature, education and practice are replete with ‘evidence-based’ treatments. However, upon analysing (1) what counts as evidence, (2) who created the treatment models and (3) who they are intended to treat, it becomes clear that there is a significant gap in social work that needs to be addressed. The clinical and disciplinary fields of social work have not attended to Indigenous cultural healing. This article introduces social workers and therapists to several core Indigenous healing methods and concepts, including (1) all my relations, (2) land, (3) story and (4) medicine. The healing practices of sweat lodge and ayahuasca ceremonies are discussed. In this article, I answer two major questions: (1) ‘What are some Indigenous healing methods?’; and (b) ‘Why are they important, including in social work contexts?’.