NWT health care workers receive training on trauma
Conference aims to teach ways to assess and deal with impact of past experiences on clients
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The NWT's health and social services minister kicked off Canadian Mental Health Week by giving the opening address at the annual community counselling program conference at the Tree of Peace Friendship Centre on Tuesday.
Health and Social Services Minister Glen Abernethy gives the opening address at the annual community counselling program conference at the Tree of Peace Friendship Centre. About 50 representatives from health authorities in Yellowknife and across the NWT were learning more about how to help people deal with physical and psychological trauma. |
Glen Abernethy said that the focus of the conference this year - trauma - will give front line health care workers new tools to help clients suffering from mental health and addiction issues triggered by emotional trauma experienced earlier in their lives.
Abernethy said that delegates to the conference should come away with a better understanding of the problems that are leading to homelessness, mental health and addiction issues - and subsequent impacts on both the health and criminal justice system in the territory.
The territorial government is trying to address the issue of homelessness on several fronts, Abernethy said.
"Caroline Cochrane, the minister responsible for homelessness, held a workshop last week to try to bring different stakeholders together to address some of the homelessness challenges we are facing. Health and Social Services has to be part of that and we are part of that," Abernethy said. "We are working on a new mental health and addictions framework. We've brought in experts from across the country as well as Northerners who are helping us frame what we are doing today and how we move forward."
The trauma that can lead to a life on the streets ranges from the residential school experience, to witnessing domestic violence, physical or sexual abuse or drug and alcohol abuse in the home. Conference facilitator Lori Gill is a clinical director and founder of the Attachment and Trauma Treatment Centre for Healing in Ontario. She said that experiencing trauma can affect a person's physical health as well as their mind.
Gill said there are differences in the trauma she hears about in the North compared to the South.
"There is a large Indigenous population here and as a result of residential schools, which is a mass trauma, you have a largely traumatized population," Gill said. "They're doing the best they can to cope and survive the atrocities they experienced."
She added that a relatively effective treatment is to get people back to the land and their traditional culture.
"A lot of it is getting back to traditional aboriginal practices ... drumming, singing, nature, using our senses," Gill said. "A lot of these practices are not new to Indigenous populations but we're starting to see more and more research showing us the impact this has on regulating the nervous system, the brain and the body."
Gill said that her experience has shown that people suffering from emotional trauma often internalize blame and think there is something wrong them. She added that once it is explained how the events in their life have shaped who they are and led to some of their problems, it tends to ease the path toward healing.
About 50 health care workers representing the seven health authorities in the NWT attended the conference that wrapped up on Thursday. Topics of discussion included childhood trauma and outcomes later in life, compassion fatigue prevention among health care workers and how to deal with issues like intergenerational trauma, suicide, addictions and self-harming behaviours.
