Acknowledgments
PROLOGUE
“Things of Power”
Releasing the Healing Potentials of Psychology
PART ONE -- PREPARATIONS
CHAPTER ONE
“If We Can’t Measure It, Is It Real?”
Entering the Profession of Psychology Maps
CHAPTER TWO
“We Try to Understand Our World--That’s Just What We Do” Indigenous
Elders as Our First Psychologists
PART TWO -- THE WORKINGS OF PSYCHOLOGY
CHAPTER THREE
“We Respect What Remains a Mystery in Our Lives”
The Enduring Foundation of Spirituality in Everyday Life
CHAPTER FOUR
“The Purpose of Life Is to Learn”
Research as a Respectful Way of Experiencing and Knowing
CHAPTER FIVE
“All in the Circle of Our Lives Remains Valuable” Nourishing a
Recurring Fullness throughout the Life Cycle
CHAPTER SIX
“Health Is More Than Not Being Sick”
Balance and Exchange as Foundations of Well-Being
CHAPTER SEVEN
“All My Relations” Honoring the Interconnections That Define Us
PART THREE -- A FUTURE OF PSYCHOLOGIES
CHAPTER EIGHT
“There Is No One Way, Only Right Ways”
The Renewing Synergy of Multiple Psychologies
Bibliography
Index
Richard Katz received his Ph.D. from Harvard University and taught there for twenty years. The author of several books, he has spent time over the past 50 years living and working with Indigenous peoples in Africa, India, the Pacific, and the Americas. He is professor emeritus at the First Nations University of Canada and an adjunct professor of psychology at the University of Saskatchewan. He lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
“A remarkable culmination of Katz’s invaluable life-long work with
Indigenous healers, Indigenous Healing Psychology is a brilliant,
groundbreaking work connecting psychology to its roots so it can
more truly become a force for healing and social change. A genuine
invitation to a breathtaking journey that is a rare treasure. Just
what psychology so desperately needs.”
*Joan Borysenko, Ph.D., New York Times bestselling author*
“A deeply honest book showing the greatest respect for Indigenous
knowledge. You can see how our traditional Anishnabe teachings can
offer a path to healing psychology. Indigenous Healing Psychology
shows how psychology can finally begin to heal our people.”
*Danny Musqua, Anishnabe Elder, Keeseekoose First Nation*
“Katz shares his extraordinary journey through world cultures and
methods for inner and community work. Psychology will only be the
better for encompassing such powerful Indigenous wisdom. This book
is a mind-expanding gift to the reader, a well-researched offering
to psychology, and a force for good.”
*Daniel Goleman, Ph.D., author of Emotional Intelligence*
“Katz convincingly argues that the inclusion of Indigenous
spiritual worldviews in mental health intervention and treatment
will produce better client outcomes and better relationships among
people no matter where they live. He offers the reader a profound
challenge that is supported with Indigenous ways of knowing and
living. His long-awaited book is beautifully crafted, clearly
written, convincing, and logically organized--complete with a
wealth of thought-provoking material written in a confident,
authoritative voice. Anyone who carefully and thoughtfully studies
these pages will come out a richer, well-informed person who will
view spirit, the sacred, place, and connectedness through a
discerning lens.”
*Joseph E. Trimble, Ph.D., distinguished professor of psychology at
Western Washington University*
Indigenous Healing Psychology presents a powerful and inspirational
pedagogy into Western and Indigenous healing traditions; it offers
valuable guideposts to ways we can all transform ourselves to meet
the challenges of our fast-changing world.”
*Harvey Knight, Indigenous cultural advisor to the Regional
Psychiatric Centre, Saskatoon*
“Katz journeys into the heart of what psychology is and what it can
be. He exposes the Western myopia that limits the espoused goal of
psychology, i.e. understanding the human experience of mind, body,
and our relationship to the world. His personal experiences of
navigating formal psychology and his subsequent lessons learned
from traditional healers point to the ignored facets of
spirituality, humanism, culture, and community that cannot be
separated from a truly holistic human psychology and healing.”
*Dennis Norman, Ed.D., ABPP, faculty chair of the Harvard
University Native American Program*
“This book is a must-read for all students of indigenous
psychology. It teaches all the essentials. Consistent with the
experiential focus of the wisdom tradition, Katz does not preach;
he tells what he knows experientially. The reader is invited to
join him on a personal journey that took him from the lecture halls
of Harvard to paths in search of the healing wisdom of the
Indigenous peoples. This account of Katz is testimonial to the
possibility that doing research in Indigenous psychology is a
spiritual journey that can be profoundly fulfilling and
transformative for the reader as well.”
*Louise Sundararajan, Ph.D., Ed.D., fellow of the American
Psychological Association*
“In this engaging and excellent book, Katz gives the reader a
foundation for understanding the quality and depth of Indigenous
healing. He has learned from the elders to do it in the best
possible way: by telling stories that illuminate complex concepts
and make them relatable and usable.”
*Melinda A. García, Ph.D., author*
“Indigenous Healing Psychology is a powerful, provocative, and
enlivening book that, through Katz’s expansive and inspiring voice,
offers psychology just what it needs to hear in order to fulfill
its promise to be truly healing and equitable. I know from my own
work as a psychologist and counselor that people are searching for
precisely what Indigenous Healing Psychology offers. Celebrating
diversity in all its myriad manifestations, this is a bold and
exhilarating book.”
*Niti Seth, Ed.D., academic counselor at the Harvard University
Bureau of Study Counsel*
“Indigenous Healing Psychology is a fascinating look at the world
of psychology as a discipline in need of healing. Katz traces the
evolution of his encounters with some of the giants of psychology
at Harvard as well as honored Indigenous healers in other cultures.
This book is a major contribution to revisioning mainstream
psychology by returning it to its fundamental commitments to
diversity, cultural meanings, human potential, and social
justice.”
*Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu, LifeWorks program of integrative
learning at Stanford University*
![]() |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
![]() |