Substance Abuse Treatment Through a Tribal Lens
Klamath Tribal Health & Family Services (KTHFS) Youth & Family Guidance Center (YFGC) is fully integrating tribal based practices and spirituality into substance abuse treatment approaches.
Cultural practices and spirit have been the foundation of behavioral health for indigenous peoples for time immemorial and hold strong validation. With the backdrop of historical trauma impacting our tribal individuals in various ways, integrating pre-colonial, indigenous approaches is significant.
In many Behavioral Health programs there is a separation of spirituality and treatment, or at best it gets cursory attention. Evidenced based practices are highly favored, however the research lacks indigenous voice. Spirituality is a topic that many are reluctant to discuss for a variety of reasons including discomfort, organization policy, or even the clinician not having spiritual beliefs. This is an issue that deserves discussion however, given that so many individuals in recovery list spirituality as one of, if not the biggest aid to recovery.
| Spiritual practices such as prayer and meditation can help individuals cope with difficult emotions and situations, and give them space to make decisions that are in line with their values- which in turns helps them to build new brain pathways as they experience success in handling tough situations in a measured, spiritually grounded way. |
In secular treatment models, individuals are given instruction on the types of people, places and things to avoid and are encouraged to build a support network. They receive instruction on how to cope with uncomfortable feelings and situations. For indigenous people some unique risk factors for chronic substance abuse include, but are certainly not limited to the internalization of racism, loss of territories, culture and pride; high levels of mortality, poverty, and poor health; and disregard of Indigenous Peoples’ sovereignty and rights. Cultural practices and opportunities to foster spirituality honors and supports an individual’s identity.
Spirituality works in conjunction with these components of treatment. In fact, it gives a venue to apply these lessons in real time, thus cementing the habits and improving recovery outcomes. Furthermore, spirituality can support on deeper levels as well. Recovery that is based solely on building recovery skills can be tenuous at best. Spirituality can help influence the seed of motivation. It can help mold a recovering person’s identity to be in line with a person’s values.
