Spacious Mind Counselling
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Cultivating Cultural Humility

As a group, the clinicians at Spacious Mind Counselling are committed to embracing a stance of “cultural humility” in our practice and orientation to client experiences. The concept of cultural humility includes cultivating awareness of how privilege affects our work, our responsibility to learn from clients’ lived experience, and to continue learning independently to enhance cultural competence and knowledge. It also includes the responsibility to provide services that are culturally appropriate, sensitive, and responsive.

What Are We Doing to Cultivate Cultural Humility?

  • We humbly embrace the fact that we will always have more to learn, and we are committed to building these learning opportunities into our development as a group and as individuals.
  • We recognize that there are opportunities for growth for us, particularly around Indigenous culture and understanding the strengths and challenges specific to Indigenous historical and cultural location and contemporary experiences.
  • A goal for the Spacious Mind Counselling group is to intentionally focus on deepening our knowledge related to First Nations, Metis, and Inuit individuals and how we can best serve these communities.
  • We engage in regular monthly consultation with an anti-oppression consultant to ensure that the services we provide honour the diversity that exists in our community.
  • Members of our team have completed training with San’yas on Indigenous Cultural Safety and helped develop a program that assists Indigenous folks from a Two Eyed Seeing approach to care, utilizing both Western and traditional Indigenous philosophies.
  • A member on our team has supported Indigenous clients in a case management capacity. As part of her training, she met regularly with the healers and Elders at the Indigenous Network, participated in sweat lodges, sharing circles, and other traditional ceremonies and workshops; she has a lot of important information and experiences to share with the team.
  • Accessing the Indigenous Network who offer free virtual sessions with healers and workshops. If interested, folks can book appointments with the healers here: www.flexbooker.com/reserve/tin or sign up for workshops here: www.wasacrc.weebly.com
  • Sharing information about programs that can support Indigenous members of our community to access mental health care (please see below)

Financial Support Available for Indigenous Mental Health Care

During these difficult times, access to appropriate mental health care for all our community members is of utmost importance to Spacious Mind Counselling. As part of our commitment to providing services to diverse individuals and populations, we want to ensure that information about financial support for Indigenous clients is widely available.

The Non-Insured Health Benefits Program (NIHP) is a federal program that can be accessed by eligible First Nations and Inuit clients for a range of health benefits, which are not already covered through existing social programs, private insurance plans, or provincial or territorial health insurance.

In addition to mental health counselling, the NIHP provides coverage for medically necessary goods and services, including vision care, dental care, medical supplies/equipment, prescriptions, and over-the-counter medications, as well as medical transportation to access medically required health services that are not available on reserve, or in the person’s community of residence.

Arrangements for eligible individuals can be made for direct billing to the NIHP or reimbursement when the person pays out-of-pocket.

Spacious Mind Counselling has experience supporting clients who are accessing the NIHP for mental health services, and welcome any inquiries you might have, to get the support you need.

For more information about the NIHP program eligibility, please visit https://www.sac-isc.gc.ca/eng/1576790320164/157679036455