Yarning circles

Domain V · Systemic, relational, group & community · Australia

What it is

Yarning is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural form of conversation, used to share stories and knowledge and to build relationships. Bessarab & Ng'andu call it "an Indigenous cultural form of conversation". A yarning circle is a group held in that form: people sit together, share…

Format

• No source publishes fixed phases, session counts or progression criteria for therapeutic yarning circles. The sequence below is assembled from the yarning stages the sources describe. Use it as an outline to negotiate with the Aboriginal lead, not as a protocol.
• Delivery formats that are published:

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• It is not a manualised therapy. Yarning circles are a cultural practice that belongs to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Research, education, health and social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) services have adopted it, but no treatment manual, session protocol or certification exists. Protocols differ from nation to nation. The Newcastle kit calls its own guidance a generic overview for that reason.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• abrupt endings.
• education taking over from yarning.
• an abrupt close. Lin et al. list closing abruptly as a pitfall.
• reports that go to management before the community has seen them.
• drifting into the leadership role, or being treated as the expert by default.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.