An Earth-Centered Experiential Psycho-Educational Counseling Group for Native American College Students.

This article focuses on the Earth-Centered Group Approach (ECGA), an experiential psycho-educational counseling model designed to support Native American (NA) college students by fostering cultural awareness, interconnectedness, and identity through nature-based group activities. The study involved 20 NA university students from seven tribes who participated in two seven-hour group sessions incorporating Indigenous traditions, ecological context, and group processing. Three main themes emerged from participant experiences: cultural awareness and interconnectedness, belonging and being part of nature, and NA identity and tribal self, all aligning with ECGA’s Indigenous philosophical foundations. The findings suggest that ECGA offers a culturally resonant alternative to Western counseling models by promoting NA students’ cultural pride, community bonding, and holistic well-being, with implications for counselors and educators to incorporate culturally sensitive, land-based interventions. Limitations include the small, regionally specific sample and qualitative design, indicating a need for further research to evaluate and adapt ECGA across diverse NA populations.