Healing the Soul Wound

In this groundbreaking book, Eduardo Duran—a psychologist working in Indian country—draws on his own clinical experience to provide guidance to counselors working with Native Peoples and other vulnerable populations. This second edition includes an important new chapter devoted to working with veterans, examining what it means to go to war and what is required for veterans to heal. Duran also updates his thinking on research, including suggestions on how to invent a new liberation research methodology through applied story science. Translating theory into day-to-day practice, the text presents case materials that illustrate effective intervention strategies for prevalent problems, including substance abuse, intergenerational trauma, and internalized oppression. This unique resource explores theoretical Indigenous understanding of cosmology and how understanding natural law can lead us to new ways of understanding and healing the psyche.

Book Features:

• Offers a culture-specific approach that has profound implications for all counseling, therapy, and trauma-informed care.
• Provides invaluable concepts and strategies that can be applied directly to practice.
• Outlines very different ways of serving American Indian clients, translating Western metaphor into Indigenous ideas that make sense to Native People.
• Presents a model in which patients have a relationship with the problems they are having, whether these are physical, mental, or spiritual. This model can be used with any population dealing with the legacy of trauma and with all individuals who present symptoms and complications resulting from trauma.
• Includes a section in each chapter to help non–American Indian counselors generalize the concepts presented to use in their own practice in culturally sensitive ways.

Eduardo Duran is currently a psychologist and consultant working and living in Bozeman, Montana.

“The approaches discussed in this work are truly liberating and healing as they encompass the wisdom and respect for the diverse cultures of the world and their religions and spiritual traditions.”

—Spiritual Psychology and Counseling

“Duran begins by informing the reader that he is a witness as a new healing narrative emerges and transformation occurs. He shares ancient knowledge in a contemporary and engaging way.”
—Gayle Morse, licensed psychologist and professor at Russell Sage College

Praise for Previous Edition:

“Duran’s personal and engaging style captivates the reader as he or she catches a glimpse of what training with this master must be like .”
—PsycCRITIQUES

"I applaud and thank Doctor Duran for his gift and invite our colleagues in all communities to join in the new beginning. Let us stop tripping around in big western boots and walk again softly and gently in a Natural way in our communities."
—Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology

Contents

Foreword Allen E. Ivey xi

Acknowledgments xiii

Introduction 1
A Brief Look at Relevant Literature 4
The Importance of Cultural Competence 7
Previous Treatment and Research: Methods of Oppression 11

1. Wounding Seeking Wounding: The Psychology of Internalized Oppression 14
Liberation Psychology Through Hybridism 14
Intergenerational Trauma: The Soul Wound 17
The Psychology of the Healer 22
The Rape of Turtle Island 23
Starting a New Narrative 28

2. Overpathologizing Original People 31
Transference Toward Original People 32
Diagnosis as a Naming Ceremony  33
Therapists as Perpetrators of Historical Trauma 35
Clinical Racism in Indian Country 37

3. The Healing/Therapeutic Circle 41
In the Very Beginning 42
The Healing Container 44
The Identity of the Healer 45
Initial Sessions 48

4. Historical Trauma: Treating the Soul Wound 50
Case #1: Recognizing Violence as a Historical Inheritance 51
Case #2: Working with the Feeling Function 57
Conclusion 59

5. The Spirit of Alcohol: Treating Addiction 61
Teachings on the Spirit of Alcohol 61
Addiction as a Spiritual Disorder 63
Alcoholic as a Name 65
Case #3: Relating to the Spirit of Alcohol 67
Case #4: Interpreting a Dream Within a Group Session 76
Conclusion 78

6. Diagnosis: Treating Emotional Problems as Living Entities 80
Visits by Depression and Anxiety 81
Case #5: A Patient Visited by Depression and Anxiety 84
Conclusion: Pain and the Spirit of Healing 111

7. “All Conditions Normal”: Working with Veterans 112
Warrior Soul Wounding 114
Injury Where Blood Doesn’t Flow 116
Archetypal and Spiritual Understanding of Trauma 117
“He Restores My Soul” (Psalm 23:3) 120
Spirit of Suicide 120
Restoring Balance Through Gift Offerings 124
Don’t Waste Your Suffering 125
Case Study 126
Transitional Therapy 143
Conclusion 145

8. Community Intervention 148
Is Research the Answer?  149
Liberation Research Through Community Story Sciencing 153
Interventions with Indigenous Communities 158
Addressing Religious Differences in Native Communities 162
Healing the Land 164
Conclusion: A Slow Process 166

9. Clinical Supervision 168
A Sample of Supervisory Dialogue 169
Conclusion 175

10. Before Completion 178

References 183

Index 187

About the Author 193