Background: An American Native tribe residing in a rural and remote reservation faces a tragic situation when an 18-year-old daughter named Kele (pseudonym) goes missing without any trace. The community is devastated and deeply concerned for her well-being. In response to the emotional turmoil and need for support, a teletherapy program is initiated to provide culturally sensitive assistance to the family during this distressing time.
How to Prepare
Mental health practitioners wishing to be of service must review relevant studies, including the following:
Telehealth and indigenous populations around the world. A systematic review of current physical and mental health modalities by researcher Aprill Dawson and colleagues. This systematic review aims to identify trials conducted among Indigenous adults and summarize the components of interventions that have been found to effectively improve the health of Indigenous peoples.
Conversations on telemental health: listening to remote and rural First Nations communities by researcher KH Gibson and colleagues documented Canadian remote and rural First Nations communities, where there are often challenges to obtaining mental healthcare in the community and working with external mental health workers. Given that community members’ perspectives on the usefulness and appropriateness of telemental health can greatly influence the level of engagement with the service, external therapists must increase their awareness of the community and how telehealth might be perceived. The researchers explore the views of telehealth held by community members living in two rural and remote First Nations communities in Ontario, Canada. The researchers summarized the study by outlining community member reports of advantages (e.g., facilitation of disclosure, increased access to services, usefulness) and disadvantages or concerns (i.e., interference with privacy concerns and reductions in capacity-building from other pressing concerns such as getting running water in homes). They reported that 47% of participants expressed a positive response toward telemental health, 32% expressed a negative response, and 21% were neutral or undecided.
Therapists must also know relevant facts about women in native communities. For example, the murder rate of Indigenous women is three times higher than non-Native women. It is the third leading cause of death for Indigenous women:
Over 84 percent have experienced violence.
94% had been raped or coerced in their lifetime.
42% attempted suicide if they had been raped or coerced.
34% Binge drank every week after they were initially attacked.
Only 8% of rape victims’ first attack cases result in a conviction.
86% reported being affected by historical trauma.
Cultural Competence Training: Mental health professionals involved in the teletherapy program undergo extensive training in American indigenous culture, history, and spirituality. This training helps them understand the tribe’s unique worldview, values, and historical trauma. It also increases their awareness of these relevant facts: The murder rate of Indigenous women is three times higher than non-Native women’s. It is the third leading cause of death for Indigenous women:
Over 84 percent have experienced violence.
94% had been raped or coerced in their lifetime.
42% attempted suicide if they had been raped or coerced.
34% Binge drank every week after they were initially attacked.
Only 8% of rape victims’ first attack cases ended in a conviction.
86% reported being