Counselling with Indigenous People

Accessing counselling and psychotherapy services as a member of an equity-seeking group can mean that you are looking for a professional who can provide high-quality, evidence-informed interventions, while also looking for a person can understand your experiences of living in a society that can be oppressive, discriminatory, and racist, and how the stress of being a minority can impact the ability to maintain the mental wellness we all seek.

I am a white settler and I have been working throughout my career with Indigenous people, families, communities, and organizations.  I am committed to understanding the experiences of Indigenous people living in a colonial-Canadian state. Throughout my career, I have also benefitted from the teachings of Indigenous people and communities.

I have completed extensive training in providing culturally appropriate services, including Level 1 & 2 of San’yas Indigenous Cultural Safety Training, 4 Seasons of Reconciliation, and the Indigenous Canada Course through the University of Alberta.  I continue to engage with knowledge keepers, Indigenous scholars,  elders, and grassroots community workers to learn and contribute to the ongoing work of dismantling the illegal and damaging impacts of colonization.

I approach counselling and psychotherapy with the concept of “Two-Eyed Seeing.”  This is an approach introduced by Mi’kmaw Elder Albert Marshall and has given name to the concept of “[l]earning to see from one eye with the strengths of Indigenous knowledges and ways of knowing, and from the other eye with the strengths of Western knowledges and ways of knowing… and learning to use both these eyes together, for the benefit of all.”

Western evidence-informed trauma and mental health interventions may not be the totality of your healing journey, but they may be able to complement the healing that you undertake within yourself, your family, your culture, and your community.  Your healing may also include spiritual practices, both traditional and/or religious, land-based practices, or other ways of healing.

I am an approved provider under Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB), and I can provide information about accessing medical transport to Thunder Bay to access in-person services.

If you would like to explore how counselling and psychotherapy may work for you, please give my office a call.