A visiting psychologist to the territory says Indigenous groups can be looked to for guidance on alternative ways to understand trauma, particularly by taking a close look at linguistics.

That’s according to Dr. Eduardo Duran, who also spent years in the U.S. Navy submarine force. He delivered a keynote address at this morning’s Yukon Mental Wellness Summit in Whitehorse.

Duran noted his work has shown different cultures speak of trauma and mental wellness through different lenses and language.

“Indigenous languages understand reality not through nouns but through what we would call in English verbs,” Duran told a packed room at the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre.

In speaking to a number of elders from tribal communities, Duran explained he noted a difference in explaining things as they occurred, rather than as they are.

By focusing on the action and verb and not things or objects, there is less likelihood of objectifying the person that’s linked to the illness, he added.

It diverts attention away from the individual and focuses on the acts surrounding them.

“What they tell me is that the way trauma is understood in our way is by something called injury where the blood doesn’t flow,” he said.

He pointed out that instead of saying that is trauma, it can mean there are actions of trauma occurring in a person’s life at that point.

“When you talk to a patient that way, it can make a lot more sense than telling them you’re suffering from PTSD,” the veteran added.

It’s something that’s in line with beliefs that entities have a spirit which can carry out actions, he added.

“There’s a movement of energy,” he said. “If there’s movement, it must be alive and have a spirit to it.

“If I say there’s a man or a woman over there, I’m objectifying it – that’s all it can be, it can’t be anything else.”

Alternatively, he added, there is way of “verbing” it. The closest translation to English would be to say “manning is happening over there, womaning is happening over here.”

In essence, he explained, that means that actions and reality can happen anywhere and at any time – much like how both trauma and healing themselves can be flexible.

Duran provided the example of saying somebody has developed a relationship that is not a positive one with alcohol, as opposed to calling them an alcohol addict, to further his point.

That verb over noun choice, albeit minor, can make a big difference for the subject in question, he said. Especially since calling somebody an addict can also in a way be interpreted as renaming them.

“When you diagnose a person, you’re basically performing a naming ceremony,” he said.

Besides the fact that such labels can have connotations or stereotypes linked to them, “that ceremony then can become a reality of how they live their life,” he added.

The psychologist continued that the definition or characteristics of trauma can also be determined differently from more western cultures.

Through his work with various tribes, Duran has taken a closer look at clinical theory and methods that blend ancient traditional approaches with more modern western strategies.

This helps in making trauma and healing not only relevant to Indigenous people, but allows them to apply their own cultural approaches to universal situations, he added.

Some of those can be laid out in the way that mental health professionals name and define some conditions, Duran continued.

He referenced the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) being used as a principal tool for professionals in the field.

That agreed upon text published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) is seen as the guiding authority for diagnoses, but also lays out things like treatment, payment and other health care options for the disorders.

Some of the names, labels or disorders may sound close to defeatist at times, he added.

“It’s important to understand, we need to change the way we talk to people.

“Come up with resilient names – which you will not find in DSM because DSM is all about sickness,” he smiled encouragingly.

Meanwhile, this morning’s event marked the third annual summit for the territory.

It also featured an address from Health and Social Services Minister Pauline Frost and Peter Johnston, the Council of Yukon First Nations’ grand chief. The event will wrap up Wednesday afternoon.