Integrating GP, Psych, and Healing

Abstract

How does one integrate medicine, psychiatry, and healing in a rural general practice setting
within an Indigenous context? No manuals exist. We wish to share our experience in the hopes that it
will lead to further discussion and clarification.

We live in the second largest settlement in Maine -- Bangor, consisting of 30,000 people. Only
Portland is larger, though if one combines Auburn and Lewiston, neighboring cities, the two together are
larger than Bangor. We work for Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness where we are trying to create a
practice style that is life-affirming, relational, and not transactional. We believe that mind and body are
not separate and that we need to approach both simultaneously. Therefore, we implemented a group
called “Complicated Minds,” providing us with a two-hour block of time to connect with people
struggling to negotiate life. One day in Complicated Minds group, we began with a talking circle initiated
by the question – in what ways are you suffering? One woman whom LMM had seen earlier in the day
struggled to define her suffering. She said she suffered from PTSD. She suffered from a bad
relationship. She suffered from chronic pain. She suffered from chemical and environmental
sensitivities. Another man, Evan suffered from lack of trust. Catherine suffered from not being able to
manage her time. LMM took a turn and said that he suffered from a lack of time to write and to do
creative projects. In the second pass of the talking stick, LMM posed the question: how do we explain
our suffering to ourselves? What story do we tell ourselves to make sense of our suffering?