Songline and Country practices

Domain XI · Traditional medicine & indigenous healing · Australia

What it is

What this is, plainly. "Songline and Country practices" is not a therapy and not something a psychotherapist does. Songlines are Aboriginal knowledge and Law held by custodians. AIATSIS describes them as ancient and continuing routes across the continent that link people, places and practice, trace…

Format

• The SEWB model is a framework, not a manualised treatment; it has no fixed session count. The national framework sets a stepped-care structure (promote wellness; build resilience in people at risk; care for mild to moderate illness; care for severe illness), each with cultural and clinical…
• Spirituality and ancestors: purpose and meaning; protective factors include access to cultural events and ceremonies. Around these sit social, historical and political determinants; needs change across the life course, and understandings of SEWB vary between groups and individuals. The authors'…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• 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

• using family members as interpreters for sensitive topics; worker overload. Working when misunderstandings drop.
• the history of child removal shaping fear of services. Working when the client stays engaged through the process.
• shame silencing disclosure; substance use; recent losses and sorry business. Working when the client and family hold a shared safety plan.
• politeness masking dissatisfaction; dropout as the only feedback. Working when the client gives you specific feedback and sees it acted on.
• obligations that overload the client; family violence (screen privately). Working when family supports the plan and the client feels backed rather than exposed.

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.