Indigenous healing: an introduction
Critical and Radical Social Work April 7, 2025 Darlene Trujillo
Mainstream social work relies heavily on evidence-based treatments, but the criteria for evidence, the origins of treatment models, and the populations they serve overlook Indigenous cultural healing. This article introduces core Indigenous healing concepts—all my relations, land, story, and medicine—and describes practices such as sweat lodge and ayahuasca ceremonies. It argues that these methods are essential for social work to address a significant gap in the field, answering what some Indigenous healing methods are and why they matter in social work contexts.