Course overview
This course aims to develop students' understanding of the knowledge, values and skills required to work effectively within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander contexts in a manner which is culturally accountable to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and Communities. It will provide you with a foundation on which to consider the contemporary issues facing practitioners working with Aboriginal Peoples. Such issues include racism, lateral violence, intergenerational trauma, and the implications for practising positive effects of cultural traditions on family, values, roles and parenting; power and powerlessness; critical analysis of privilege and Whiteness; Positionality and Personal viewpoint and reflective practice; and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People's perspectives on historical and contemporary research and practice in psychology and counselling.
Course learning outcomes
- Identify Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and Communities perspectives and apply respectful engagement and terminology protocols in the context of professional practice in psychology and counselling
- Recognise the complexity of cross-cultural understandings of the past and current wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and Communities including global Indigenous healing practices
- Examine the ethical dimensions of research, reflective Practice and the issues of accountability for professionals working in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander contexts
- Reflect on the impacts of colonisation, racism, whiteness and the role of privilege, positionality and personal viewpoint and power in the profession and as a practitioner, and the impact of these upon Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and Communities
- Understand the impact of intergenerational trauma on individuals and communities and how lateral violence influences community interactions and the past and current wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and Communities