Synergy, Healing, and Empowerment: Insights from Cultural Diversity

Richard Katz · Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu

Jan 2012 · Brush Education

About this ebook

Guided by the concept of synergy, this groundbreaking collection explores alternatives in the areas of counseling, education, and community health and development. Synergy refers to the process of two or more things coming together to create a new, greater, and often-unexpected whole. When synergy exists, formerly scarce resources can expand and become renewable and accessible to all.

Drawing upon the diverse cultural experiences of Aboriginal groups in North America and around the world, these compelling narratives provide practical insights into the emergence of synergy and obstacles to its existence. Synergy, Healing and Empowerment offers invaluable guidance in the pursuit of a just and equitable society.

About the author

Richard Katz, PhD, received his doctorate in clinical psychology from Harvard University and taught there for nearly 20 years. Over the past 45 years, he has also lived and worked with Indigenous Elders and healers around the world. Richard is currently a professor emeritus at the First Nations University of Canada and an adjunct professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Saskatchewan.

Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu, PhD, a psychologist and writer, received a doctorate in counseling and consulting psychology from Harvard University and was a Fulbright scholar in Japan. He is currently a consulting professor in the Stanford University School of Medicine, teaching in the Arts, Humanities, and Medicine Program. He is also in the faculty of the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity at Stanford.