How is the Medicine Wheel considered in therapeutic practice?

Abstract

This paper is a review of research in 2010 and then updated in 2019 which reflects the considerations given to the Medicine Wheel during an Indigenous person's healing process. While at City University of Seattle in Edmonton, Alberta doing my Master's in Psychology Counselling I was curious as a Gwich'in woman as to how Indigenous values, beliefs, and spirituality were and are being considered in therapeutic practice. The limited and now growing academic research over the past ten years speaks to integrating traditional Indigenous spirituality, such as the medicine wheel teachings into one's healing journey. However it does not address any applications with respect to methodologies or practices-the medicine wheel is simply a concept. Through reconciliation many Canadians are learning how Indigenous people in Canada were denied their cultural practices and it is my intent to find a way for Indigenous people to introduce their own values and healing into what is defined as traditional therapeutic practices. My research I hope will open more doors to understanding how Indigenous people heal and grow over a lifetime and how that process continually shapes the person on their healing journey.