UofGH explores how the profession of Psychology can respond to Truth & Reconciliation

A Northern Ontario landscape

When the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada was released in 2015, 94 calls to action were issued regarding reconciliation between Canadians and Indigenous peoples after the pain and oppression caused by the residential school system, which the report concluded amounted to cultural genocide.

After the report was released, University of Guelph-Humber Psychology Program Head Dr. David Danto immediately wondered how the profession of Psychology would respond to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s findings.

In 2015, he wrote a letter to the Canadian Psychological Association inquiring about the issue. Dr. Danto did not realize then that he – along with a group of University of Guelph-Humber students – would eventually have a role to play in encouraging and developing this crucial response.

“The Truth and Reconciliation Commission report was a call to action. There was a risk that it could be interpreted as the end of the story,” Dr. Danto said.

“We should be capable of recognizing that the profession of which we are a part has allowed assessments to be performed that pathologized Indigenous people. In some cases, those assessments were more inclined to be in favour of removing children from the home, more inclined to have longer terms of incarceration for Indigenous offenders, and more inclined to recommend significant psychiatric treatment, including medication, for Indigenous patients.

“Psychology has always prided itself for its Code of Ethics, as a role model for other health professions. But psychology has also been implicated in causing a lot of harm to Indigenous peoples.”

A joint Task Force

Two years after Dr. Danto sent his letter, he was asked to assemble and chair what what would become a joint Task Force between the Canadian Psychological Association and the Psychology Foundation of Canada. The Task Force was created to develop concrete, action-oriented recommendations to improve the psychology field’s service to the First Nations, Métis and Inuit populations in Canada.

The 17-person Task Force was composed of Indigenous knowledge keepers and community leaders as well as experts in mental health and psychology. With funding assistance from the University of Guelph-Humber, the Task Force members were brought from across Canada to Toronto last August for a wide-ranging three-day discussion of issues including accessibility to services, psychotherapy and psychological assessment.

Six student volunteers from UofGH recorded and transcribed those sessions, and ultimately those transcripts formed the basis of their report: Psychology’s Response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Report.

The Task Force’s report urged a number of substantive responses, including: a statement of accountability acknowledging the role of psychologists in the marginalization of Indigenous peoples in Canada, as well as a direction forward; new guiding principles for the profession of psychology with regard to Indigenous people, including cultural allyship, humility and collaboration; and changes to the role of the psychologist in the treatment of Indigenous peoples in Canada, with specific focus on diversity in intervention approaches, culturally appropriate treatment methods, and support for the healing wisdom and knowledge that already exists in Indigenous communities.

This summer, both the Canadian Psychological Association and the Psychology Foundation of Canada voted to accept the report and announced they would begin working on its recommendations.

“I think the Task Force report was long overdue,” Dr. Danto explained. “We need to change our approach to treatment and assessment. We need to be knowledgeable about the context of colonization and the impact that’s had.”

Students feel the impact of research

For the six UofGH students involved in the Task Force report, it was an illuminating experience.

Recent graduate Maggie Stein became involved with the project in part because the aspiring clinical psychologist, who intends to work to promote mental wellness among Indigenous communities across the country, had written her undergraduate thesis project on a related topic: “Cultural Safety Training for Students Involved in an Immersive Indigenous Field Study Course.”

Stein listened with fascination to the scholars, mental health professionals, granting agencies and Indigenous community members who comprised the Task Force, noting that it was a “validating and human experience to be seen and heard by community members and professionals” on such an important issue. The experience reinforced to Stein “how pressing the need is for substantial change in mental health services offered to Indigenous peoples in Canada.”

Not only was Stein inspired by her experience to continue working collaboratively to address the issues covered by the Task Force, she was also thrilled to eventually see that the report had been accepted in full by both psychological bodies.

“I was elated and proud,” said Stein, who volunteered alongside UofGH’s Priscilla Chou, Hannah Derue, Sandra Drozd, Sonia Oliveira and Jocelyn Sommerfeld.

“It was empowering to see results so quickly, and pretty incredible to see what can be accomplished when sincere intention, motivation and open-mindedness are the focus of a common objective.”