Psychoanalytic Reflections on Wairua and Trauma

Spiritual Holding at a Māori Mental Health Service in New Zealand

Abstract

Psychoanalytic work within a cultural framework of a Māori mental health service raises central questions of the socio-political dimensions of intergenerational trauma as part of the impacts of colonisation. Importantly, the sacred aspect of this trauma is addressed, often dismissed in Western political thought as secondary, yet so central in most indigenous experiences. In this article, some thought is given to the complexities of this work in regards to “spiritual holding”, a means of addressing and healing the politico-sacred wounds of a person.

Waitara

Mai i ngā mahi tātarihanga hinengaro i raro i te ahurea ratonga hauora hinengaro ka ara ake ngā pātai mō ngā taha hāpori-tōrangapū whakapā atu ki ngā whetuki tirohia ā-rēanga, arokorehia ai mai i ngā whakaaro tōrangapū Hauāuru, ahakoa te noho pū ki te maha o ngā wheako tāngata whenua. I tēnei tuhinga, ka whāia ētahi whakaaro ki te uauatanga o tēnei mahi arā, te ‘pūnga wairua’, he huarahi aronga whakaora hoki i ngā mamae rangapū-tapu o te tangata.