Getting in touch

Meeting with whakamā in psychotherapy

Abstract

The knowledge and practice of psychotherapy in New Zealand has strong, fiercely protected roots that originate from outside of this land. For most Māori, if they enter into a psychotherapeutic relationship, it will most often be with a Pakeha, or non-Māori practitioner who has gained their theory and understanding of healing the psyche from these 'other' traditions. However, with the shift in consciousness that is occurring here in Aotearoa, there is a genuine growing desire, particularly among psychotherapists, to know more about concepts that are important for Māori, the tangata whenua of Aotearoa, so that these can be understood, appreciated and tentatively integrated into professional practice and personal worldviews. Metge (1986) believes that understanding whakamā is of crucial importance in understanding and improving relations between Māori and Pakeha. This would surely follow through to the therapeutic relationship and it is therefore timely to begin exploring the concept of whakamā in psychotherapy practised here in Aotearoa. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of whakamā and other supporting or associated concepts, and to invite further discussion of whakamā in practice. There has been no attempt to provide a cross-cultural integration or comparison at this point.