Two-eyed seeing as a philosophy to facilitate communication between indigenous counselors and psychiatry about mind and mental health

INTRODUCTION: The term “two-eyed seeing” is spreading across North America as a concept for explanatory pluralism. The concept was brought into academic science by Albert Marshall, a M’iqmaq from Nova, Scotia, Canada. It speaks to the idea that indigenous knowledge is an equally valid way of conceptualizing a phenomenon as is contemporary science. Marshall’s famous example compares a traditional M’iqmaq story about the origins of the large tides in the Bay of Fundy with contemporary oceanographic geology findings and simulations. OBJECTIVES: We wanted to explore how this two-eyed seeing model could be applied to mental health to facilitate a dialogue between psychiatry and traditional cultural healers. METHODS: We reviewed the existing literature on two-eyed seeing within mental health care using PubMed, IndexMedicus, OneSearch, and Google Scholar. We presented a course on two-eyed seeing for indigenous mental health services and two-eyed seeing for addressing trauma in indigenous communities and surveyed the participants about the two-eyed seeing concept. We offered this course primarily to providers within indigenous communities and also for other interested counsellors. RESULTS: Participants in our trainings were enthusiastic about the role of two-eyed seeing for improving communication among indigenous providers and patients and non-indigenous providers. Most indigenous counselors had not heard of two-eyed seeing and were quite enthusiastic about its affirming nature and how it gave them a basis for dialogue with non-indigenous practitioners. CONCLUSIONS: Two-eyed seeing allows a rich dialogue between European-derived practitioners and indigenous people that enabls each to appreciate the other’s perspectives, leading to greater cooperation and collaborative treatment. DISCLOSURE: No significant relationships.