Healing images, healing stories, a new dreaming
Although there have been major breakthroughs in health and medical technology, there remains a significant gap in life outcomes for Indigenous peoples in Australia. An increased focus on treating ‘disease’ is not going to close the gap. Healing from an Indigenous context is much broader than treating illness and in the context of transgenerational trauma and loss, requires a different approach. Healing images and healing stories is based on cultural understandings of connection, relationships and the healing process. Whilst it may be important to move forward, the past is ever present and healing the past allows a new dreaming to emerge to put right the future. This paper will explore the duality of healing through understanding what stories and images need to be healed and how stories and images are a process in healing. Using cultural understandings of story, image and metaphor, an interconnected sense of self can be developed which promotes resilience and connection for eternity. As well, developing a sense of self, based on image, story and ecological connections gives a unique sense of purpose and place not usually contained within a psychodynamic formulation.
