A program designed to train Indigenous counsellors to work in the North is getting a second run and those behind the program say it's helping to fill a gap in service for Indigenous people seeking counselling.
Fifteen people from across the territory graduated from the Northern Indigenous Counselling Program in Yellowknife on Saturday. "It's like it's what I'm supposed to be doing," said one graduate.
Three years ago, Yellowknife counsellors Jeanne and Roy Erasmus saw an opportunity to adapt the program they graduated from in Vancouver to a northern cohort. This spring, 16 of the 19 students who enrolled will be eligible for certification exams.
Posted: Feb 25, 2021 6:00 AM CT | Last Updated: February 26 Sufficient aftercare services are not available to people returning from southern addictions treatment, says MLA Frieda Martselos.(Mario De Ciccio/Radio-Canada)
N.W.T. MLAs seek a slew of mechanisms to improve addictions treatment in the territory including aftercare and permanent funding for harm reduction measures like managed alcohol.
Thebacha MLA Frieda Martselos said there are no adequate aftercare programs to support people in their recovery. She wants three facilities staffed with mental health workers built in the South Slave, central N.W.T. and the Beaufort Delta to provide those programs. With the structure and routine suddenly gone, when they return home, people can easily slip back into their addictions, she said.