Navajo psychiatrist bridges gaps between Native American culture and behavioral health care
As the only Navajo psychiatrist on the 27,000 square mile Navajo Reservation, Dr. Richard Laughter breaks down accessibility barriers for his people by blending Native cultural practices with Western behavioral health care.
His practice is critically important. The severe shortage of mental health care has impacted the Native American community at large, reflected in higher rates of suicide, alcoholism, domestic abuse and other social maladies.
Laughter is working to bridge gaps in mental health care in his work for the behavioral health unit at Sage Memorial Hospital in Ganado, Ariz., drawing upon personal experience and familial struggle to strengthen his connection with his patients and point them to available resources for help.
Working with a psychiatrist who understands Navajo culture and can offer alternatives to traditional Western medicine is relaxing and reassuring for his patients, Laugher says. He is expanding the diversity of mental health care through a variety of traditional practices, such as sweat lodges, hogans and teepees.
In addition, in partnership with a Navajo medical nutritionist, Sage Memorial last year piloted a program to increase fruits, vegetables, healthy foods and traditional foods in Native diets as a way to improve health outcomes.
“People come in, and they are expecting a Caucasian doctor,” Laughter says. “But I think when they see me, they’re able to at least put their mind at ease because I might understand some of their concepts. I understand the Native American thinking about how to get well.”