Issues with American Indian Multicultural Counseling Essay

The continuous trauma that they endured has negatively affected the mental health and physical health of the population. Native Americans are at higher risk for depression, physical/sexual abuse, domestic violence, substance abuse, and mental health issues (McLeigh, 2010). Native American youth are three times more likely to commit suicide than the average population. Native Americans in general are twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression and five times more likely to have alcoholism. Colonization not damaged natives mentally, but also brought harm to their physical health as Europeans brought diseases (measles, chicken pox, smallpox, etc) to America (McLeigh, 2010). In order for this population to be served to treat their many medical and mental health issues brought on by years of trauma, policies must be implemented to help Native Americans specifically. However, the reality is that natives mental health needs are often ignored (Gone, 2004). There have been policies that have attempted to meet the needs, but much more is needed. In the most recent action towards improving mental health services for natives, the Affordable Care Act of 2010 permanently gave authorization to the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (Ross, Garfield, Brown, & Raghavan, 2015). This policy will be discussed and analyzed to examine further needs for services in this

Native Americans have been forced out of their culture over time, forced into assimilation, lost their rights, and have lost their land due to policies and laws by the whites that can’t bear the Native American way of life. There used to be many Native American tribes all throughout North America, and now these tribes are spread across the country and are blended into the rest of the population. The native ways have changed drastically in the last two centuries due to relocation programs, Indian boarding schools, and the way to classify which tribe each person belongs to. Native Americans have endured so much pain, which results from everything they have lost over time, and they have constantly paid the price for their ethnicity.

Another issue is how Native Americans internalize the stereotypes that are forced upon them. In a study conducted by Fryberg, Markus, Oyserman, and Stone (2008), they found three common stereotypes of Native Americans in mass media: Spiritual people who are in tune with nature, warriors, or people with stereotypically bad outcomes, such as alcoholism. It is important to note that not all of these stereotypes are negative, and in fact a few of them are positive. What Fryberg et al. (2008) found, however, was that regardless if the stereotype was seen as positive or negative, all three of those variations caused harm in the form of “students’ feelings of personal and community worth, and achievement-related possible selves” (p. 216). It did

Our nation’s history has been deep rooted in the conflict involving Native Americans, ever since the beginning of America and it is one hard to get rid of even as the days go by. The impact of colonialism can be seen in Native American communities even today, and it can only be understood through a cultural perspective once you experience it. Aaron Huey, who is a photographer, went to Pine Ridge reservation and it led him to document the poverty and issues that the Sioux Indians go through as a result of the United States government’s long term actions and policies against them. One must question all sources regarding these topics because there is a lot of biased and misinformation about Native American struggles, and sometimes schools do not thoroughly teach the truth so students can get an insight. There are also different sociological perspectives in this conflict, along with many differing opinions on how to approach the problem and deal with it. This is where ideas clash because people believe their views are right regarding how to handle it.

In city sites, family and public observances are preserved through links to tribal populations and city governments and backup organizations; therefore, diversities in tribal observances may be preserved with frequent Pan-Indianism performances (Evans-Campbell et al, 2002). In addition, important interpersonal links with parents, other relations, or care-provider are imperative in the growth of discrete resiliency (Evans-Campbell et al, 2002). Parent attachment and care have been acknowledged as barriers counter to drug abuse in the teenage years and as an adult (Evans-Campbell et al, 2002). The influence of parental sustenance to psychological and physical wellbeing may be even more noticeable and predominate in the American Indian parental structure (Evans-Campbell et al, 2002).

Native Americans have felt distress from societal and governmental interactions for hundreds of years. American Indian protests against these pressures date back to the colonial period. Broken treaties, removal policies, acculturation, and assimilation have scarred the indigenous societies of the United States. These policies and the continued oppression of the native communities produced an atmosphere of heightened tension. Governmental pressure for assimilation and their apparent aim to destroy cultures, communities, and identities through policies gave the native people a reason to fight. The unanticipated consequence was the subsequent creation of a pan-American Indian identity

The reading material from my textbook aligns with the issues presented in the video on Mental Health of Native Americans. The video talks about reconnecting adults and youths back into their culture. One issue is that American Indians have a low success rate academically. American Indian children often distrust European American which makes it difficult for cross cultural counseling. According to Baruth & Manning (2012), American Indian adolescents will end up being counseled by European American counselors because there are few American Indian counselors. The video states that there is high use of substance abuse, suicide, and dropout rates for American Indians. The textbook list suicide, alcohol abuse and other substance abuse, and high school and college drop-out rates as being potential problems American Indian adolescents may experience

Native Americans may have been displaced or band from their lands, but because of their suffering they managed to keep their culture alive. Throughout the years Native Americans have been ignored and not taken into consideration in the media. When they are included in media depictions, they generally are portrayed as individuals from the nineteenth centuries or when shown as modern people they are represented as people with addiction, poverty and lack of education. This representation does not reflect among the wide diversity of hundreds of tribal cultures that exist within the borders of the United States. History is a story most often related through the subjective experience if the teller. With the inclusion of more and varied voices, histories

In the 18oo's Native Americans and the United States government didn't get along so well. Native Americans were forced out of their land and forced to move somewhere else because the Americans wanted their land. Native Americans have suffered greatly. After World War II they didnt suffer as much as they did.

This document focuses on the contribution of ethnic background to family makeup and functioning based on Ed balers experience. It examines cultural context of relationships, education, family values, socioeconomic status and cultural differences. The paper highlights identity development, pluralistic trends, and systems-oriented intervention strategies. It looks at creating cultural awareness while eliminating biases, prejudice, oppression, and discrimination in interpersonal relationships.

Jeff Leer's presentation on Native Americans was insightful, with regards to the historical background, culture, and issues that currently impact Native Americans. Although I am not familiar with this population, to an extent I am able to relate to their plight due to my country’s experience with colonization by the British. From a counseling perspective, I do agree with Mr. Leer that when working with this population we should have an understanding of the culture, historical background, value system, and social norms and taboos. Although, we may not be in agreement with some of the beliefs and value system of Native Americans, we have to show sensitivity to their cultural beliefs and practices so as to minimize barriers in the therapeutic

Counseling Native American students can be a little tricky. After reading several articles, it is apparent that there are many differences in language, culture and learning styles

The position of several Native Indians’ people in the United States today is due to colonization of the Americas almost five centuries ago. Since the conquest and appropriation of their land, Native Indians have experienced several mishaps and complications. They are continuously discriminated against to where they are even excluded from political and social issues in our society. Indians are often labeled with stereotypes that are detrimental and destructive. In fact, if an average United Statesians was to describe their idea and thoughts of what Native Indians are like, one would get a list of stereotypical behaviors that is seemingly unfavorable and negative.

The relocation of Native American people has affected the United States in a negative way by not allowing them to live as they once did. They lost their land, their rights, and now live primarily on lower middle class reservations across the U.S. Native Americans have been neglected and mistreated since the moment white settlers stepped foot on North America.

Native Americans had endured a lot of problems especially with their land situations. For years, Americans chased them out of their civilization because more land to the Americans meant more power. The native Americans have suffered from cancer,homelessness,drug abuse and they're suicide rate rising.The native have been through a lot because the Americans took their land. This left native Americans out of order and lost. The damage that has been done was unjust and left the Native Americans with years of continual struggle.