Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart, PhD
Associate Professor, Columbia University School of Social Work

Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart, PhD (Hunkpapa/Oglala Lakota) is an Associate Professor at Columbia University School of Social Work and a clinical intervention research team member at the Hispanic Treatment Program, New York State Psychiatric Institute/Columbia University Medical School. Prior to coming to Columbia, Dr. Brave Heart was a tenured faculty member at the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work and Coordinator of the Native People’s Curriculum Project, serving both Denver and the Four Corners region, which include Navajo and Ute reservations.

Dr. Brave Heart received her M.S. from Columbia University School of Social Work in 1976 and her PhD in Clinical Social Work from Smith College in 1995. Dr. Brave Heart developed historical trauma and historical unresolved grief theory and interventions among Indigenous Peoples, which have become internationally recognized. In 1992, she founded the Takini Network, a Native non-profit organization devoted to community healing from intergenerational massive group trauma among Native Peoples. Dr. Brave Heart’s Historical Trauma and Unresolved Grief Intervention was recognized as an exemplary model by the Center for Mental Health Services in 2001. Dr. Brave Heart also incorporated the intervention components in reservation parenting prevention and intervention work through a number of successful grants. Dr. Brave Heart developed and directed the international Models for Healing Indigenous Survivors of Historical Trauma: A Multicultural Dialogue Among Allies Conference from 2001-2004.

Since 1976, Dr. Brave Heart has worked among the Lakota in South Dakota, tribes in New Mexico, and urban Indigenous Peoples and Latinos in Denver, New Mexico, and New York. Dr. Brave Heart has conducted over 175 historical trauma presentations and trainings for numerous tribes across the country and in Canada. She has served as: Vice President, American Indian Social Work Educators Association; Vice President and Treasurer, National Indian Social Workers Association; member of the national Task Force on American Indian Suicide; and consultant to the national Indian Country Child Trauma Center. Dr. Brave Heart was honored as a Lakota Woman Leader at Kyle Fair on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota and is a former Francis Allen Fellow at the Newberry Library, D'Arcy McNickle Center for the American Indian.

Dr. Brave Heart’s current research is further developing her Historical Trauma and Unresolved Grief Intervention for Indigenous Peoples from Latin America. She is examining key cultural factors impacting collective loss, grief, and depression among Indigenous Peoples from Mexico and other parts of Latin America, as well as continuing to refine her intervention for Indigenous Peoples from the United States and Canada.

Selected Publications:
Brave Heart, M.Y.H. (2007) The Impact of Historical Trauma: The Example of the Native Community. In Marian Bussey & Judy Wise, (Eds.), Transforming Trauma: Empowerment Responses. New York: Columbia University Press.
Brave Heart, M.Y.H., DeBruyn, L.M., Crazy Thunder, D., Rodriguez, Jr., B., & Grube, K. (2005). This is hallowed ground: Native Voices From Ground Zero, In Danieli, Y. & Dingman, R. (Eds)  On the Ground After September 11: Mental Health Responses and Practical Knowledge Gained on the Third Anniversary, (pp.332-340). New York: Haworth Press.
Brave Heart, M.Y.H. (2005). Substance abuse, co-occurring mental health disorders, and the historical trauma response among American Indians/ Alaska Natives. Research Monograph, Bureau of Indian Affairs, DASAP, Washington, DC
Crazy Thunder, D. & Brave Heart, M.Y.H. (2005) Cumulative trauma among tribal law enforcement officers: Search, rescue, & recovery at Ground Zero and on the reservation. Research Monograph, Bureau of Indian Affairs, DASAP, Washington, DC
Brave Heart, M.Y.H. (2004) The Historical Trauma Response Among Natives and Its Relationship with Substance Abuse: A Lakota Illustration, In Nebelkopf, E. & Phillips, M. (Eds). Healing and Mental Health for Native Americans: Speaking in Red, (pp. 7-18).
Brave Heart, M.Y.H. (2004) Incorporating Native Historical Trauma Content in Gutierrez, L., Zuniga, M., & Lum, D. (Eds) Education for Multicultural Social Work Practice, (pp. 201-211). Alexandria, VA: Council on Social Work Education
Brave Heart, M.Y.H. & Chase, J.  (2004). Social Work Practice with First Nations Peoples in Lum, D. (Ed). Cultural Competence, Practice Stages, and Client Systems: A Case Study Approach, Brooks/Cole Thomsen Learning
Yellow Horse, S & Brave Heart, M.Y.H. (2004). Native American Children. In: Ann Strode (Ed), Mental Health Best Practices for Vulnerable Populations. The Washington Institute for Mental Illness Research and Training.

Brave Heart, M.Y.H. (2003) The historical trauma response among Natives and its relationship with substance abuse: A Lakota illustration, Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 35, 7-13.

Brave Heart, M.Y.H. (2001) Clinical assessment with American Indians. In R.Fong & S. Furuto (Eds), Cultural competent social work practice: Practice skills, interventions, and evaluation (pp. 163-177). Reading, MA: Longman Publishers.
Brave Heart, M.Y.H. (2001) Clinical interventions with American Indians. In R. Fong & S. Furuto (Eds). Cultural competent social work practice: Practice skills, interventions, and evaluation (pp. 285-298). Reading, MA: Longman Publishers.

Brave Heart, M.Y.H. (2000) Wakiksuyapi: Carrying the historical trauma of the Lakota. Tulane Studies in Social Welfare, 21-22, 245-266.
Brave Heart, M.Y.H. (1999) Oyate Ptayela: Rebuilding the Lakota Nation through addressing historical trauma among Lakota parents, Journal of Human Behavior and the Social Environment, 2(1/2), 109-126.

Brave Heart, M.Y.H. (1999) Gender differences in the historical trauma response among the Lakota. Journal of Health and Social Policy, 10(4), 1-21.

Brave Heart, M.Y.H. (1998) The return to the sacred path: Healing the historical trauma response among the Lakota. Smith College Studies in Social Work, 68(3), 287-305.

Brave Heart, M.Y.H., & De Bruyn, L. (1998). The American holocaust: Historical unresolved grief among Native American Indians. National Center for American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research Journal, 8(2), 56-78.
Videos

Celebration of Survival: The Takini Network (2002) Gemma Lockhart, videographer, Takini Network, Producer