Counsellors add feathers to caps
Training program offers mix of traditional and modern approaches
Myles Dolphin
Northern News Services
Published Monday, March 10, 2014
KANGIQTUGAAPIK/CLYDE RIVER
A popular training program in Clyde River is helping Nunavummiut become better counsellors in their communities.
The one-year program, called Our Life's Journey: The Inuit Counsellor's Training and Peer Support Program, is being offered in four phases at the Ilisaqsivik Society.
Nineteen students from communities around the territory - Clyde River, Pond Inlet, Qikiqtarjuaq, Cape Dorset, Iglulik, Arctic Bay and Iqaluit - are currently taking part in Phase 2 of the program, which focuses on addictions counselling skills, the impacts of alcoholism on families, and assessment and intervention.
Louis Jr. Tapardjuk of Iglulik said he's already noticing the benefits of the program.
"When I was doing training sessions as a work-ready program last year in Iglulik, I felt like I wasn't ready for it," he said. "So I told the Ilisaqsivik Society that if they were offering this training I wanted to take part in it.
"I've learned that I had to face some of the things I experienced in the past. But once I got it out, I felt a lot better. My plan is to go back to Iglulik and help people who have been sexually abused, and anyone else who needs counselling."
Tapardjuk said the counsellor training has been so successful, he's even quit smoking and has stopped using drugs.
"It's been very beneficial to me because when I used to think about what I went through long ago, I used to get really angry, but now I identify the problems and deal with them more appropriately," he added.
Each phase is made up of 80 to 120 hours of course work, followed by several hours of practical work assignments and a mentorship program.
The phases aren't held on a regular basis because funding needs to be found before the next one can be offered.
The program, which was originally spread over two years, has been available in Clyde River since 2008.
It was designed by Life Works, a Canadian company providing counselling and training services, in partnership with the elders committee from Clyde River.
"One major reason we brought (Life Works) in was because they have a masters in social work, and they're able to supervise the counsellors and their training," said the centre's executive director, Jakob Gearheard.
"We want to be able to train our counsellors in a counselling language so they can communicate better with visiting counsellors from the south."
After running Phase 1 in March last year, Phase 2 was offered in November. It was so popular that organizers decided to run it again this month, in order to let more people take part and complete it.
Meeka Paniloo, a co-facilitator of the counsellor program who works as a resolution health support worker in Clyde River, completed the training a few years ago.
She said she's enjoyed interacting with both teenagers and elders on the topic of counselling young couples.
"I've enjoyed being a co-facilitator for this because there are always new things coming up that we as counsellors should learn," Paniloo said.
"It's nice to have elders and younger people come here because I'm in between them. You can see a big difference between how things were and how they are now. The elders aren't as connected as the young people are, so they learn from each other."
Gearheard said the program was initially set up as a way to offer a comprehensive, systematic counsellors' training program that was taught entirely in Inuktitut.
"We had counsellors in Clyde River with a lot of experience, who had attended shorter, one-week long workshops, but we couldn't find them a program like this," he said.
"We wanted to develop a program that was not only comprised of southern techniques, and not only Inuit techniques, but one that combined elements from both. The counsellors can choose for themselves what works best for their clientele."
One of the priorities is also to create a support network for counsellors so they can rely on each other's advice when they need it.
"If I'm working in a community and I have an issue that I need to speak to someone about, there might not be anyone else I can speak to," Gearheard said.
"With this training we can also move counselors around from one community to another. There is a high demand for well-trained, community-based counsellors."
