"The research studied a culturally syntonic four‐day psychoeducational intervention designed to initiate a grief resolution process for a group of 45 Lakota human service providers. The methodology included assessment at three intervals: (a) a pre‐ and post‐test, utilizing a Lakota Grief Experience Questionnaire and the semantic differential, (b) a self-report evaluation instrument at the end of the intervention, and (c) a six‐week follow‐up questionnaire.
"The results confirmed the hypotheses that: (a) education about historical trauma would lead to increased awareness of the impact and associated grief related effects of the traumatic Lakota history, (b) sharing these affects with other Lakota in a traditional context would provide cathartic relief, and (c) grief resolution would be initiated, including a reduction in grief affects, more positive identity, and a commitment to individual and community healing."
Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart Ph.D. (1998) The return to the sacred path: Healing the historical trauma and historical unresolved grief response among the lakota through a psychoeducational group intervention, Smith College Studies in Social Work, 68:3, 287-305, DOI: 10.1080/00377319809517532
