Two-eyed seeing is a concept presented by Eskasoni elder Albert Marshall that describes the need to adopt a world view that recognizes differences in individual perspectives. There are different ways of looking at the world. The beauty of two-eyed seeing is to take the strengths of different perspectives and combine the views to become something much more powerful. Two views that we are focusing on most are the Western view and the Indigenous perspective. If we take a two-eyed seeing approach and consider the strengths of each perspective we could create a very powerful mindset.
Western science has the strength of analysis. It breaks down larger concepts into smaller more tangible units to manipulate. Through controlled observation, they decide how manipulation of different units impacts the outcome of the larger concept. Western science often examines the physical world and attempts to create technological solutions to any problems.
An Indigenous perspective looks at the bigger picture when viewing problems and attempts to come to more holistic solutions. Instead of picking problems apart, Indigenous perspective considers relationships between variables and patterns within problems.
In a Western health care system we break people down into components. Individuals specialise in different systems of the human body. Science delves deep into the core underpinnings that are causing your body to be distressed right down to specific DNA codes and sequences. They decide what part of the human body is malfunctioning and then use very complex technologies to solve these problems such pharmaceutical or biotechnological interventions.
An Indigenous health perspective looks at the whole person in search for balance between all aspects of wellbeing including physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. A disruption in balance causes distress.
So what does it mean to take a two-eyed seeing approach to health?
As a health care professional you could actively decide to apply many of these key messages to your practice. To begin, recognize that individuals have different views of what it is to be healthy. Health is a very difficult concept to define and a person’s definition of health may change with changes in their own health status. Remember that views that differ from your own view (or the view which your education has instilled in you) should not be seen as inferior. Apply the two-eyed seeing approach and consider taking the strengths of both the Western medical model and the Indigenous perspective. The Western view has provided us with great advances in technology and knowledge of our physical being that has saved many lives and greatly increased our life expectancy. However, it struggles to work with elements of health that are not tangible. The indigenous perspective better recognizes the interplay between all aspects of wellbeing and takes a much more holistic view of health. If we combine the strengths of both of these models we could create something beautiful- a truly holistic health care approach.
Two-Eyed Seeing for Health 