TPC Journal-V6, Issue 4- FULL ISSUE

The Professional Counselor /Volume 6, Issue 4 337 traumatic stress symptoms. When working with Native American survivors of trauma, counselors can expand this model by incorporating the Native American Medicine Wheel throughout the cognitive restructuring process. The Native American Medicine Wheel is comprised of four sections with various concepts dedicated to each section. The wheel symbolizes how various elements in one’s life are separate, yet interconnected. When utilizing the wheel as an intervention tool, counselors can focus on the sections dedicated to thoughts, emotions, behavior and spirituality. CBT aims to help clients identify, challenge and change dysfunctional thought patterns in order to alter emotions and behaviors. Therefore, the counselor can use the Native American Medicine Wheel as a guide to help the client conceptualize how change is created. It may be beneficial to begin by focusing on the section dedicated to spirituality in order to gain insight into the spiritual beliefs and values held by the client. The knowledge gained in this process will help the counselor to understand what spiritual practices may be incorporated into sessions. The counselor can proceed by focusing on the sections dedicated to cognition, emotion and behavior. The suggested goals for counseling sessions are provided in Figure 1. Figure 1. Incorporating the Native American Medicine Wheel into CBT. As the counselor and client move through these sections, the counselor also can incorporate the other elements within each section. For example, while processing the section dedicated to emotion, the counselor can incorporate visual imagery of summer and water while practicing relaxation techniques. The counselor and client can process how the role of the teacher applies to training oneself to cope with environmental triggers. It is further suggested that the counselor find opportunities to use traditional Native American healing methods during counseling sessions