Psychotherapy with native adolescents.

Psychotherapy with native adolescents requires that the therapist learn about a different set of values, develop new communication skills, and re-examine many of his practices. Varying with the individual tribe, the attitudes to time, property and anger may be significantly different from the values of the white culture. Many of the Indian adolescents rely heavily on non-verbal communication, requiring an increased sensitivity by the therapist to this form of communication. The therapist may need to review his office setting, with an eye to making it less alien, and because of the different attitude to time, he may have to adjust the time structure of his practice, often using more than the fifty-minute hour. Treatment begins with an exploration of Indian-White difficulties, especially the stereotyping of all whites. It then focuses on helping the adolescents to establish their own individual identity, bucking the stereotypes that are projected on them. Examples are given from the author's own practice with Cree and Saulteaux-Ojibway adolescents.