Outline of book "Native American Approaches to Mental Health and Wellness Still Apply"

Outline of Jeanne's upcoming book: Harmony, Hope and Respect: Native American Approaches to Mental Health and Wellness Still Apply

Jeanne Hernandez, PhD MSPH, ASCH Consultant

The Indian mindset/living style

1	Harmony with all elements around us Extends broad and wide to include the universe Accepts what is Interconnection with everything -- family, tribe and everything outside
2	Animism Draw from animal wisdom Adopt the characteristics you need
3	The circle of life No ending that it isn't a beginning FLOW The rule of opposites nothing is polar that isn't circular Rule of acceptance is easy when there is no end point All life starts again You exist forever Influence to and from 14 generations around you
4	Language Words Thoughts, inseparable from language, are alive Words' vibrations --- energies that become reality A concept forms according to how it is said Nouns represent stages or actions of objects Algonquin words are sound representations of objects Use them sparingly, like the unconscious mind Metaphorical Names Sacred, an animal and action, found in a vision quest
5	Groundedness -- We belong to the earth, not the other way around Protective Humbling Eternal Vortex energy Refocus to attending it Fundamental reframe Promote positive vs negative energy Using up flow and down flow energy
6	Indians are right brained Spacial Intuitive Don't rely on language
7	Real time Infinity regarding life such that life and death are events, not to be feared Deal with what is Trains focus Possible with security the life circle gives
8	Ritual is trance-like The pow-wow, sacred, and a metaphor for life The way of the circle Opens to higher power wisdom Carries synesthetic associations
9	Healing Illness is disharmony within the body or within one's life Medicine is setting the way 'right' again The medicine wheel is a metaphor for life
10	Shamanism Healing involves retraining Forgetting the negative past, sensing the present
11	Natural physical order Modern sciences are reverting to indigenous understanding Physics – string theory Architecture Yoga, tai chi Biology – healing energy and cellular understanding Life is centralized around balance, IS balance numbers 4, 3, and 7

Simple, effective, hypnotic principles/truisms for psychotherapy and healing

Holding these principles in mind when you listen to your client

1	Invite Suspension of time Living in the present The here-and-now as mid-way within fourteen generations Every event as part of a universal system
2	Use language and words carefully Thinking and conversing in, rather than referencing metaphors
3	Exemplify ‘Flow’ Two poles of the problem are on the same circle All things pass See the larger picture in which the problem exists Simpler is better Spatial conceptualization, allows one to see more solutions Release the boundaries around the problem, the edges of pain
4	Encourage acceptance -- use all energy positively It IS possible to live and still have the problem
5	Emphasize opposites Your enemy is the one you most want connection with See the disaster as the opportunity
6	Tap the qualities and strengths of animals
7	Utilize the four, indeed seven influences of the wheel Walking meditation Hypnosis
8	Stress interconnection with others Social support Release from isolation Respect, gratefulness and safety Utility of everything
9	Design a life plan that emphasizes and prioritizes your values instead of your catastrophes
10	Utilization Use what is there Waste not

Heuristically…..What might you do?

1	Think nature and natural
2	Music - going with the mind’s innate programming
3	Refer to animals analogously and in metaphors
4	Speak simply to the unconscious
5	Careful choice of words; use words sparingly
6	Create and use metaphors
7	Aromas - use them and be sensitive to them
8	Harmony - create it - be harmonious -- insist on harmony and positive energy
9	Encourage flow with your sentences, voice, dress, movement
10	Immediately chunk up to show the circle of life with the problem state on it
11	Teach clients to be in the moment they like, and, in the moments they don’t like, to be grateful for what else is there
12	Rituals – use them and suggest their use
13	Use the magic numbers
14	Dare to go with the spiritual connections even when you don’t ‘get’ them yourself---- “Don’t give the gift you want to give, give the gift the benefactor wants to get”-
15	When your client gets into his right mind, then he can envision alternative states to the one he finds himself in, and then he can work with his unconscious physical and mental selves.

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