Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

Aboriginal peoples in Canada experience a range of psychological issues at higher rates than the general population, including depression, anxiety, suicide, substance abuse and domestic violence. Despite these mental health concerns, First Nations peoples underutilize mental health services, such as psychotherapy. The majority of First Nations report a preference for traditional healing methods or an Aboriginal therapist; however, there are few Aboriginal psychologists in Canada and some First Nations peoples prefer not to seek traditional resources. Thus, the primary alternative is to obtain services through non-Aboriginal psychologists. Unfortunately, these experiences may be unhelpful due to practitioners' lack of knowledge about working with Indigenous clients. This study will explore First Nations' experiences in seeking western mental health services, reasons they may seek or avoid seeking western services, and themes associated with positive or unhelpful experiences with non-Aboriginal therapists. Themes will be used to improve mental health service provision and therapeutic training that reflect the needs and desires of the First Nations community. Themes associated with First Nations help seeking and avoiding behaviours can inform successful promotion of mental health services among this population. In addition, themes perceived to contribute to positive and negative therapeutic experiences can be integrated into educating psychological professionals in how to work effectively with these clients. Overall, this research will build on the lack of available literature regarding counselling Aboriginals, and will ultimately contribute to more effective psychological practice to empower and heal this oppressed and devalued population.