Towards cultural identity integration and synthesis in counselling

Let me introduce myself. I am a consultant counsellor, life coach, and teacher, and am currently finishing a Master of Education Honours looking at healing personal identity through the use of narrative. My work is with minority groups using alternative learning models that encourage others to enrich their lives through helping them weave their experiences into a more meaningful existence and achieve their life goals. I identify and honour both sides of my family's Indigenous Australian heritage, my maternal grandmother and the Kwiambal peoples, and my paternal grandfather and the Wiradjuri tribe. In my Aboriginal culture, integration is thought of as bringing people together to share their stories. When people have the opportunity to share openly, be challenged, and find solutions to their issues,they find themselves enriched. Integration is not simply about individuals. It is about a community of individuals whose lives are deeply entwined. Synthesis is a similar word, and in my culture, it is represented by the Dreamtime Serpent, who weaves the mystery of Life in and out of many levels of reality. Synthesis is this weaving, like the opal stone, my totem is woven through the deep layers of the earth's crust. Its nature illuminates the wealth and creativity of the Creator Spirit. In terms of psychotherapy today, and from my own cultural worldview, integration and synthesis represent processes of becoming more human. They represent finding new layers of maturity, and weaving personal stories into something meaningful. In a counselling context, we may speak about a subjective approach to psychology. The mainstream approach tends to focus on the internal determinants of behaviour. These might include values, beliefs, attitudes, goals, interests and personal meanings.