Te Reo Māori in Clinical Psychology: Are the Therapeutic Experiences of Whānau Influenced by Clinicians' Te Reo?

Clinical psychologists are predominantly tangata tiriti in Aotearoa/New Zealand, which is a demographic with relatively low te reo Māori/Māori language speakership. This suggests that te reo Māori might not be available in therapy for tangata whenua whānau who might want it. That would mean clinical psychology as a discipline might be ineffectively attending to the needs of tangata whenua clients. To consider these issues, five tangata whenua participants—four who previously saw tangata tiriti clinical psychologists and one who saw a tangata tiriti counsellor—were asked about their experiences in qualitative interviews. Findings suggested tangata tiriti clinicians rarely used te reo Māori with tangata whenua, and that this impacted therapy. Despite this, it was suggested that if clinicians engage with te reo Māori sincerely, this can positively influence the clinician-client relationship. Whānau tangata whenua did not generally endorse a level of proficiency, fluency, or accuracy using kupu Māori/Māori words as being necessary for this relationship to be positive. Rather, whānau indicated that correct pronunciation results from tūhonohono/connection to broad te ao Māori/the Māori worldview concepts underpinning te reo Māori use. Recommended applications for clinical psychology were further explored with whānau. Implications, limitations, and future directions are finally discussed in turn. Overall, the kōrero with whānau tangata whenua highlighted that te reo Māori is missing from therapy too often, and that proper engagement with this space is an opportunity for tangata tiriti clinicians to improve the therapeutic experiences for whānau.