The Indigenous Roots Psychological Assessment Program

Blending Ways of Knowing

The Indigenous Roots Psychological Assessment Program for North American Tribal Youth

The Indigenous Roots Psychological Assessment Program took form in 2024, in response to an awareness of a dearth of Indigenous mental health practitioners around the country. It was created specifically to address the need for culturally responsive evaluations for North American Indigenous youth and their families in Oregon.

Conceived of and being designed by a North American Native psychologist, the Indigenous Roots Program is deeply aware of the diverse lived experiences of Indigenous peoples, and seeks to blend, merge, and/or integrate elements of “mainstream” treatments with Indigenous practices and traditions. It strives to apply an understanding of cultural differences, historical trauma (the Indigenous “soul wound”), and evidence-based practice to assessment services, in order to provide collaborative treatment recommendations for Indigenous children, their families, and their communities, that support healing and foster positive Indigenous identities.

Our program strives to honor the family network of the child, reframe behavioral health issues in terms of historical trauma, and align with many Indigenous communities who value the uniqueness and diversity of those with “disability,” seeing neurodivergence as a “gift.” The tribal family and clinician collaborate on an understanding of presenting concerns and what can be done, with a focus on emphasizing Indigenous voices, building trust, and providing choice and agency.

To learn more about psychological assessment services, click here.

To request services, please email Dr. Liesel Christo-Frazier at
[email protected].

“To see from one eye with the strengths of Indigenous ways of knowing, and to see from the other eye with the strengths of Western ways of knowing, and to use both of these eyes together …” (Bartlett et al.).