For people seeking traditional indigenous healing, does compatibility of seeker’s and healer’s beliefs matter?
Format Type
Plenary
Format Type
Paper
Start Date
14-1-2021 10:15 AM
End Date
14-1-2021 10:35 AM
Abstract
For some time, we have served as a connector for people with illnesses to traditional indigenous healers. As part of that work, we have assisted people to chronicle their process of preparing to meet the healer, interacting with the healer, and integrating what happened into their daily life. These have resulted in narratives sometimes accompanied by art with some reaching the level of artists’ books. We gave 100 of these narratives to graduate students in psychology who were learning about qualitative methodology. They worked in teams of three to identify themes in the stories. Our first question concerned how people approached the uncertainty associated with what could happen to their health condition. Thirteen believed that the outcome was predetermined and in the hands of a higher power. Nine believed that anything was possible and that it was up to them to make healing happen. Thirty-eight believed that the healers were powerful and would heal them. Thirty-two espoused the idea that it was a mystery to them how things worked or if the healers could help them, but it was worth the effort to try. Eight believed that the healers could intervene for them with the powers who could heal them and make them well. Using a scale for improvement developed in previous research, we determined that compatibility of beliefs of the people with illnesses with the beliefs of the healers was associated with higher levels of improvement at a statistically significant level using chi-square testing (p < 0.001).
Keywords
indigenous healers, artists' books, narratives, beliefs about healing, traditional cultural healing, North America, Native American, American Indian, First Nations
For people seeking traditional indigenous healing, does compatibility of seeker’s and healer’s beliefs matter?
For some time, we have served as a connector for people with illnesses to traditional indigenous healers. As part of that work, we have assisted people to chronicle their process of preparing to meet the healer, interacting with the healer, and integrating what happened into their daily life. These have resulted in narratives sometimes accompanied by art with some reaching the level of artists’ books. We gave 100 of these narratives to graduate students in psychology who were learning about qualitative methodology. They worked in teams of three to identify themes in the stories. Our first question concerned how people approached the uncertainty associated with what could happen to their health condition. Thirteen believed that the outcome was predetermined and in the hands of a higher power. Nine believed that anything was possible and that it was up to them to make healing happen. Thirty-eight believed that the healers were powerful and would heal them. Thirty-two espoused the idea that it was a mystery to them how things worked or if the healers could help them, but it was worth the effort to try. Eight believed that the healers could intervene for them with the powers who could heal them and make them well. Using a scale for improvement developed in previous research, we determined that compatibility of beliefs of the people with illnesses with the beliefs of the healers was associated with higher levels of improvement at a statistically significant level using chi-square testing (p < 0.001).