Traditional swing provides therapy for the inner child

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Swing therapist Darlene Auger recalls a time when many Aboriginal families would have a baby swing as a main feature in their homes. Often located in a corner, the swing would rock to the beat of a mother's lullaby putting children to sleep for their afternoon naps or in the evening.

Today, Auger is not swinging babies to sleep. She's using the swing for adults and children as part of a healing process.

During the residential school gathering at the Nechi Institute and Poundmakers Lodge in August, Auger set up her therapy sessions in a tipi on the grounds. Two ropes were tied to two poles on opposite sides of the tipi. The hammock-style swing was joined with a blanket connecting both ropes and a pillow was placed inside the swing. Over the course of two days, more than 80 people lined up to use the swing as a form of therapy that took 20 minutes to 1 hour. "There were so many things that came up emotionally for a lot of the people. Every person had a different experience and they shared those experiences with me. They spoke about the beauty of it, the love they experienced and the spirituality they felt and about how wonderful the therapy was for them. People were able to do their inner child work and were able to work through their painful memories as well," said Auger.

A vision at a pipe ceremony in 2001 prompted Auger to begin this form of therapy.

"I feel really good about following this vision and making it happen. I think that it is something very simple and yet very profound.

"I really believe that this is a powerful type of therapy and very much needed for the nurturing of our people. I think, in particular, when people went to the residential schools they lost and forgot our traditional way of nurturing. As a result there is a generation of children or infants that were never swung," she said.

This is just speculation on Auger's part. In the future the University of Alberta graduate in Psychology would like to research the health benefits of the therapeutic swing.

Three communities in Alberta have approached Auger to bring this form of therapy to them. While a tipi might not be used during the winter months, she is willing to set up her swing in a home or one of the buildings in the community. One of the questions Auger has been asked was, do the people wanting this form of therapy have to be believers of the Native traditional ways?

"I said absolutely not. It is not about religion. It is all about spirituality, which is something completely different. Everyone has a form of spirituality, no matter what kind of religion he or she practices, and prayer is prayer," she said.