Beyond the office: The role of clinical outreach services in counselling with Indigenous youth and families

Stepping into a counselling office can be rife with barriers and inherent challenges, particularly for Indigenous communities who experience structural forms of marginalization or colonial violence or oppression. Outreach counselling, which is an alternative to traditional, often Eurocentric, office-based counselling services, can serve as a flexible, personal, cultural, and community-centered support. There is currently a scarcity of research that explores outreach counselling and its impacts on client engagement and wellness, specifically from Indigenous youth voices. This project involved a literature review of the available information on outreach counselling use with Indigenous communities across the globe. Through thematic analysis, four main themes were identified including 1) a lack of evidence on outreach service models and research evaluating its use with Indigenous communities and particularly with Indigenous youth, 2) evidence that suggests a strong call for more outreach counselling as it increases accessibility, 3) improved wellness through outreach models, and 4) considerations for practitioners when implementing outreach models in counselling. Actionable recommendations to enhance the accessibility and sustainability of outreach counselling services with Indigenous youth and families and ethical considerations are discussed. These findings offer communities and mental health professionals an overview of an alternative counselling model that can provide a more tailored approach to clinical care for Indigenous youth.