Counselling Aboriginal peoples: A thematic study of counselling experiences

Aboriginal people in Canada have experienced the effects of colonization, oppression, and marginalization. The Federal Government of Canada has formally apologized for the policy of residential schools. Aboriginal people who attended the schools are entitled to compensation and counselling. This research focused on Aboriginal people who attended counselling with a non-Aboriginal counsellor. The research aimed to understand how the counselling process was beneficial and how it might be improved. Following the recruitment and interviews of nine participants, four themes emerged, which revealed the different aspects of counselling experiences. Theme one examined the benefits of the counselling process, themes two and three identified motivation and level of comfort as playing roles in the counselling process, while theme four identified external factors affecting counselling. Overall, this thesis provides insight into the counselling experience of nine Aboriginal participants who received counselling from non-Aboriginal counsellors. Suggestions for improvements and future research are outlined.