Michelle DaCruz
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Mar 25/02) - During National Social Workers' Week News/North talked to a 10-year veteran of the field.

Rita Chretien came to the North to take the perfect job and embrace her father's culture.

Rita Chretien thinks National Social Worker's Week is a necessary step on the road to changing society's negative perception of social workers. -- Michelle DaCruz/NNSL

News/North: Why did you go into the field of social work?

Rita Chretien: I wanted to feel at the end of the day that I made a difference in this world. And I do.

NN: Who do you assist and how do you find your clients?

RC: I work with women from the women and children's healing and recovery programs, like the spirit to change and trauma programs. I also have my own cases of women who have been referred or have found out about us and ask to see a social worker.

We help women not just from Yellowknife, but from all over NWT and Nunavut. Unfortunately it is complicated to gain access to programs unless they rent a place in Yellowknife.

All the women that have wanted to work with us have. So we have not had to turn anyone away.

NN: How do you deal with the emotional and psychological stress involved in your job?

RC: We are trying to teach women to be healthy and stay healthy so as professionals we need to monitor these things ourselves. We set up debriefing sessions so all of us who work in the program have a place to go to talk about what is going on. Its a support system between colleagues.

We also have a team day once a month when get together and concentrate on self-care.

Personally it's a way of life for me. From prayer to meditation to exercise, I get enough sleep, have fun, laugh, and try not to take life too seriously.

NN: What has been your hardest case so far?

RC: I was working closely with a family and the mother was murdered by her spouse. That was my first experience as a brand new social worker. I was faced with the reality of how difficult some people's lives are. I was really impacted, but I did heal.

Another women's story in particular also affected me. I had to get some help from my colleagues about that one. I might have reacted that way to her because it was cumulative. I had heard about so many women being abused by their spouses. This case was particularly horrific.

When you are no longer affected by the stories you probably won't be effective in the field because you would have lost your ability to feel.

NN: What motivates you?

RC: Change. Feeling like I'm getting results. I'm passionate about our program because I feel like we have something special that a lot of communities don't have and that keeps me going.

NN: What challenges are specific to Northern women?

RC: I think the extent of their abuse can be longer. Another thing is women in Yellowknife usually come from other places across Canada so that makes their situations very different. They tend to leave their families behind, sometimes they leave their culture, their way of life, access to living on the land. Usually women come here because they need to get away from something or someone.

NN: Since living in Alberta, what do you feel are the major differences between people in the North versus the south?

RC: In the North people are closer to their culture, language and tradition than in the south. There is a richness in the North that the south is really trying to recapture.

NN: What do you like least about your job?

RC: I don't like the social policies that are in place. They don't always work in peoples' best interest. That is frustrating. For example, I'm constantly working with women in poverty who don't have enough food for their children, or basic needs, like shampoo, toilet paper or feminine products.

I'm also frustrated by the housing situation in Yellowknife. I see homeless women with their children that have access to money for rent, but they can't find a place to live.

NN: Do you think social workers are valued by society?

RC: We are undervalued by society. We have a bad reputation. Social workers willingly accept the responsibility for some of the most difficult aspects of life, but they repeatedly get a bad reputation.

It's a noble profession.

NN: Explain what social workers do.

RC: First of all social workers do a lot of different things. There is a public misconception that for the most part social workers give out income support cheques, or they are solely involved in child welfare cases. We do lots of other things.

In my case, if you were a women that had been traumatized -- unfortunately most of us fit into that category -- and you needed to change your life, you would come to me. You may be hurting inside and want to go to someone with ideas on how you can change that. I would help you achieve your goals.

For example, if you were abused as an adult or child, and relationships were not working for you or you had an alcohol problem, I would help you find a plan to change that.

There are a lot of places where people just treat addictions. The program gets the client to stop drinking and then after a few years they start again. Our programs looks at addiction as a symptom of what happened before and give the client a chance to heal from that.

NN: What do you find special about Yellowknife?

RC: It is extraordinary. This city is rich culturally, and beautiful. There is lots of light in the summer and long days. People are down to earth, they don't mind wearing big boots and parkas no matter what their activity.

NN: What is your most memorable moment in Yellowknife?

RC: The first time I really saw the Northern Lights. I had seen them just outside of Edmonton and they were beautiful. Then one day I looked out my own window here in the city and it was unbelievable. There were intense bright green lights dancing all over the sky. Back home they were little and dim. Here they were intense and bright.

NN: Why did you come to the North?

RC: I came to the North for the perfect job but more importantly I came because my dad used to live in Yellowknife. His name was Tapwe Chretien. He was in the North before he passed away about 20 years ago. He was very political, involved in the Metis nation, and everybody knew him. He was also a photographer for the Dene nation and a fiddler.

I always felt like this was my home since he would tell me about all the issues of the North and the politics.

It's interesting because I didn't know at that time in my life that some how I would find my way up here.

I find people who know my dad all the time that can tell me stories about him.