Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia have been profoundly impacted by colonisation and continue to counter its affects by rebuilding language, regaining access to lands and living culture, and enhancing social and emotional wellbeing. The discipline of psychology has played a major role in perpetuating harm towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples by utilising oppressive and culturally biased mainstream psychological approaches. However, the discipline is slowly shifting with efforts to decolonise Australian psychology. This has been aided by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander psychologists and with the formation of the Australian Indigenous Psychologists Association (AIPA) which will be discussed and described within this chapter. Decolonising efforts are further illustrated by the experiences of two Aboriginal Clinical Psychologists who are aligned with community psychology paradigms and members of AIPA. The first example presents decolonising strategies that recognise and address the intersect amongst trauma, oppression, and lateral violence and outlines community awareness workshops. The second example discusses the inadequacy of mainstream psychology whilst advocating for multiple modalities for collective and traditional healing. Both psychologists within in their cultural practice and collectively within AIPA aim toward the improvement of social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
The information contained on this website has been sourced by the Australian Indigenous Psychology Education Project (AIPEP) and AIPEP 2. The first AIPEP was funded by the Australian Government Office of Teaching and Learning. AIPEP 2 is part of the Transforming Indigenous Mental Health and Wellbeing Project, funded by the Million Minds Mission Grant. The views expressed in this website do not necessarily reflect the views of the Australian Government Office of Teaching and Learning or the Million Minds Mission Grant.
Several of the images used throughout this website are credited to Chris Lewis