Category: Healing

• Silence, Story, and Healing

  The woods are increasingly silent. Now and then a blue jay or a nuthatch calls, or a squirrel scolds. The wind in the trees is low-pitched as it moves through the bare upper branches of the golden-yellow birches and beech trees. As the world grows quiet, our voices fill the evenings with story; it is…

  Michael Watson PhD

  October 13, 2014

  Healing, native american, Shamanism, Stories

  columbus day, healing, Native American, Shamanism, silence, stories

• Sacred Conversations

  Talk therapy did not begin with Freud’s “talking cure”. Rather, strategic conversations have likely always been an important tool in the tool kits of Indigenous healers. My teachers often referred to deep, therapeutic discussions as “wisdom talks,” opportunities to speak with the elders, consider the problems in one’s ways, and, in the process, change one’s…

  Michael Watson PhD

  October 5, 2014

  First Nations, Healing, Psychotherapy, Shamanism

  CBT, psychotherapy, Shamanism, wisdom talks

• Questioning the Expressive Therapies

  This past weekend we were in Montreal for an Expressive Therapies training. Oddly, it quickly became evident the presentation would largely ignore the experiences of persons of color, First Nations people, and those with disabilities. At about the time Jennie and I were becoming concerned about the direction the training was taking, a woman further…

  Michael Watson PhD

  September 29, 2014

  First Nations, Psychotherapy, Social issues, Travel

  Expressive Therapies, First Nations, Indigenous, Narrative Therapy, psychotherapy

• Dreaming

  The weather has turned damp and chilly, with the temperature only in the mid-fifties. A couple of days ago the first Titmouse of the season landed on the garden fence and looked into our window with that classic  “Why is the feeder empty?” look. Fall has certainly arrived! A few nights ago I dreamt about…

  Michael Watson PhD

  September 14, 2014

  Climate Change, First Nations, Healing, Shamanism

  autumn, climate change, Dreaming, Shamanism