Author Identifier (ORCID)
Deisy Amorin Woods: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1906-5299
Abstract
This paper is a decolonising, Indigenous qualitative inquiry that integrates elements of critical autoethnography, narrative methods and conceptual analysis to explore how Peruvian Andean cosmology can inform contemporary systems thinking and family therapy practice. Writing as a mestiza, a Peruvian migrant in Australia, the author traces the lived experience of cultural erosion within Western, individualistic contexts and her reconnection with ancestral Andean teachings. These teachings—rooted in reciprocity, ecological attachment, collective responsibility and relational balance—are presented as living epistemologies that offer timely contributions to working therapeutically. The author examines core Andean concepts including ayll (kinship-based community), ayni (sacred reciprocity), Yachay (aprenderes Spanish) (embodied ancestral knowledge, through experiential learning), the Chakana (Andean cross) and the cosmological trilogy of Hanan Pacha, Kay Pacha and Ukhu Pacha. These relational ontologies predate and enrich systems thinking and practice, challenging anthropocentric assumptions embedded in Western perspectives and offering timeless frameworks for understanding identity, belonging, ecological distress and intergenerational trauma. Ecological attachment—connection to land, place and the more-than-human world—is proposed as foundational to wellbeing and particularly relevant for Indigenous and migrant families. Applications for systemic practice include recentring relational ontology; integrating ecological and ancestral systems into assessment and formulation; adopting ayni as a relational ethic of humility and accountability; applying yanantin (complementary dualism) to reframe conflict and difference; and incorporating ritual, symbol and embodied practice to support healing. The paper concludes by advocating for a decolonising therapeutic stance that honours Indigenous therapeutic sovereignty, resists cultural imperialism and positions systemic thinkers and practitioners as agents of relational, ecological and cultural reconnection.
Keywords
Ancestral knowledge, Andean cosmology, ayllu, ayni, ecological attachment, family therapy, Peruvian Indigenous peoples, systems thinking
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
6-1-2026
Volume
47
Issue
2
Publication Title
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy
Publisher
Wiley
School
School of Arts and Humanities
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Comments
Woods, D. A. (2026). La espiritualidad: Transmitting Peruvian culturo-spiritual elements into occidental systemic spaces. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 47(2), e70073. https://doi.org/10.1002/anzf.70073