Trauma and Alienation
Trauma plays a central role in our lives
because fear, and the anxiety it creates, is the glue that fixes our
habits. Psychological trauma is recognized, by far, as the major source
of spiritual distress.30 Acute trauma is a recognized
condition,
but this definition is insufficient because "any event or ongoing
condition may be considered traumatic if it overwhelms an individual's
ability to cope, rendering them helpless."31
Historical trauma, developed by Maria
Brave Heart and her colleagues, is an integrated description of a
condition
that underlies a range of chronic ailments. It is an approach that looks
outside the individual, and beyond one's own recollection and genetics
as we know it. Historical trauma recognizes that people find meaning
through the context of culture and family. And when one's culture
has been traumatized -- as in the case of Native Americans -- or has
been anesthetically amputated -- as in the case of the melting pot
of Western culture -- individuals may lack the internal resources
necessary
to build a viable identity.
"Studies among the Lakota provide evidence to support generational trauma response features similar to the survivor's-child complex. Closer examination of suicide studies reveals implicit unresolved, fixated, or anticipatory grief about perceived abandonment as well as affiliated cultural disruption." 32
-- Maria Brave Heart
Brave Heart argues that the high rates
of alcoholism, depression, suicide, homicide, domestic violence, and
child abuse among American Indians can be attributed to these processes
of internalized oppression. She suggests that remediation starts with
identity formation which, in turn, rests on a revival of extended kin
networks, a sense of belonging, and recognition of a shared history.
Traditional Dinà ©(Navajo) therapy addresses trauma in the remediation of substance abuse. Matthew Kelley points out the following seven advantages of traditional therapy over accepted Western methods.33
(1) Cultural congeniality between client and practitioner.
(2) An emphasis on personality, "power," and rapport of the healer over mechanical technique.
(3) Traditional healers are accessible, available, and permanent.
(4) Indigenous practitioners act as role models to anchor the community.
(5) Holistic therapy integrates psychology, physiology, social, and spiritual components.
(6) Enhanced altered states, engaged emotional conditions, and sharply focused awareness are utilized in conjunction with culturally validated images.
(7) Therapy reintegrates family,
kins-people, and community.
Victimized cultures carry a unique
unresolved
grief, but they have no monopoly over alienation, which is recognized
as a defining feature of Western culture.34 Trauma and
alienation
have similar malingering effects in undermining one's character and
spirit.
In those cases where alienation triggers substance abuse -- which are most cases -- indigenous therapy retains these same advantages. Why can't Western therapies and Western therapists provide these benefits even to members of their own culture?
Expanding the Healer
"The shadow of the therapist
crystallizes as pathology perceived in the patient."
35
-- Eduardo Duran
Western therapies fail to appreciate
the breadth and depth of addiction. This must change for the benefit
of culture generally, for the benefit of all of us who are addicted,
and not just for the remediation of substance abuse.
