Overview

This study examines cultural differences in styles of emotional expression and psychological mindedness by comparing two groups: Euro-Canadians and Cree-Amerindians. It investigates the ethnographic, historical and cultural context of the Cree People as well as their style of communication, narratives, beliefs and views of imagery, dreams and art. Workign with the Cree people, the author discovers that art therapy provides an effective channel of emotional communication for many of them: thus, inability to discuss feelings, imagery or fantasy may not indicate an underlying psychological deficit. The text argues that some cultures predispose individuals to use non-verbal modes of emotional expression, but that psychiatry does not take this into consideration in clinical assessment. This study challenges the assumption that the constructs and practices of psychiatry can always be appropriate cross-culturally.

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9781853026560

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Nadia Ferrara is a registered art therapist and researcher who has been working with Native Americans for the past ten years as a consultant and art psychologist. She received her MA in Art Therapy from Vermont College, Norwich University, and her MSc in Transcultural Psychiatry from McGill University. She has worked in residential treatment settings, educational settings and hospitals. In her attempts to develop the area of cross-cultural art therapy, Nadia has published several papers and presented workshops across North America and Europe. She is also a researcher at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, involved in the Native Mental Health Team, and is currently working on her doctorate in Medical Anthropology.

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