The Professional Counselor | Volume 13, Issue 4 451 To further attend to issues of ethics and harm in drawing on Indigenous healing ceremonies, nonNative counselors may refer to Meade et al.’s Checklist for Counselor Practitioners (2022). Meade and colleagues (2022) cited the need for practitioners to acquire cultural knowledge to more ethically implement ceremony-assisted practices, beginning with researching the “origins of the clinical intervention” (p. 103). We encourage practitioners to consider relevant ethical standards (ACA, 2014) as a starting point in the journey to Indigenous practice implementation and adaptation. We will denote suggested ethical standards after each ceremony-assisted treatment description. Ceremony-Assisted Treatments In the following sections we describe three specific healing rituals premised on Indigenous ceremonial treatments as means for supporting clients in healing or in sustaining wellness in a private (i.e., individual client) setting: smudging, drumming, and a letting-go ceremony. We detail when and how (and with whom) such practices could optimally be applied. A case example is used to illustrate application of each ritual with clients, with directives for the cultural adaptation of each. Considering the right and essential need for Indigenous peoples to protect their lands, traditions, and ceremonies (Drissi, 2023; United Nations, 2008), each ritual includes directives according to ethical use of its application, including consideration around appropriation and reverence for land and material use, when applicable. Smudging Smudging is an act of burning a traditional medicinal plant with the purpose of cleansing the body, mind, or spirit; renewing energy within and around individuals in a particular space or with a certain object; or calling for help in opening oneself to a new experience (Borden & Coyote, 1991). Some people incorporate smudging into their daily lives, while others apply it as needed. For instance, if a person is in the presence of someone who is giving off negativity or energy that is not welcoming, they may leave and smudge themselves to cleanse themselves of the negativity. At other times, if a person receives a gift or buys something new, they smudge that object in order to cleanse it. Cleansing a space to bring positive energy is also a common use of smudging. Hence, if someone moves into a new or different home, or is using a specific space for a ceremony, they might walk around the space, smudging it. Smudging may invoke positive energy for a specific event. For instance, both in-person or virtual meetings can be started with a smudge. Smith-Yliniemi smudges each morning as a way to start her day positively. A counselor could begin sessions with a smudge, if the client desires to do so, along with personalizing or adapting the ceremony according to the client’s expressed needs or wants. Smudging is a ceremonial process with a purpose, a beginning, and an end, with different teachings according to different tribal or community norms. Examples of smudging materials include cedar, sage, and sweetgrass. Those materials can be purchased or found in nature. In Smith-Yliniemi’s Anishinaabe community, sage is used, and it is gathered within a natural setting, with the act of gathering as part of the ceremonial process. Grown in the wild, sage differs according to the ecosystem in which it resides. Smith-Yliniemi’s community typically picks sage annually during the summer months when it is grown and ready, typically found in ditches and usually in patches. The person picking the sage will offer tobacco to Mother Earth and to the sage plant prior to picking it, to give thanks. Traditional tobacco has been used for spiritual and medicinal purposes within communities for generations. It is central to culture, spirituality, and healing (National Native Network, n.d.). To offer tobacco, a person takes a pinch of loose-leaf tobacco from a bag or jar and places it in the palm of their left hand. The left hand is typically used because it is closest to our hearts. One then closes their hand
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDU5MTM1