Decolonizing Evaluation of Indigenous Guidance and Counseling Approaches: A Review of Selected Evaluated Programs

Abstract

The concept of Indigenization of research has been increasingly explored in recent studies, with emphasis placed on the ontological, epistemological, and axiological perspectives of Indigenous peoples to find effective solutions to their challenges. This also applies to the evaluation of guidance and counseling approaches in Africa and other nations, where Indigenous therapies are developed based on different philosophical foundations, such as Ubuntu (Africa). Relational ontologies and epistemologies appear to be common across various Indigenous nations in Africa, Australia, Canada, and North America. This article analyzes studies from these regions on evaluations of Indigenous guidance and counseling therapies. The majority of the evaluations use conventional paradigmatic assumptions in their approach, rather than relational models that are participatory and respectful of participants’ worldviews, including the living, non-living, metaphysical, and spiritual aspects of Indigenous people. However, the Indigenous therapeutic programs analyzed in this study incorporate culturally appropriate activities and curricula that align with relational axioms. This article proposes the use of relational models of evaluation to assess Indigenous counseling programs, where researchers can draw conclusions that align with the cultural contexts of the Indigenous people being researched.