Toolbox: Urban Native Youth Association
My group is working with UNYA to help provide mental health care to youth who are on a waitlist for individual counseling. UNYA has unfortunately been consistently underfunded and one of the results of this is that there is a waitlist of approximately forty youth. These individuals may be waiting months before they have their first counseling appointment at UNYA. Our groups aim is to provide useful and appropriate resources that can promote mental wellness in the youth while strengthening their ties to the community.
Timeline
We put together this timeline of the relevant events and policies surrounding Indigenous youth in British Columbia in the past two or so decades.
The residential schools had an extremely significant impact on the mental health of Indigenous groups collectively. When the widespread abuse and tragedies that took place at these schools came into the public view, it became evident that steps needed to be taken to ensure safe and humane treatment for Indigneous youth. Another more recent occurrence affecting Indigenous youth is the opioid crisis and substance use disorders in general. UNYA takes a harm reduction approach to substance use disorders.
Community Mental Health Stigma
The residential schools have created trauma that runs not only through those who directly experienced the affect by attending, but also trickles into the lives of their children, grandchildren, and other community members. As a result, mental illness is extremely prevalent in this group, shown most evidently in the rates of suicide and substance abuse. The videos linked below have provided very helpful insight into the stigma and way mental health is treated in this community. One thing we are looking to do in our project that is reflected as helpful in these videos is to prioritize using Indigenous-specific knowledge and culture to help promote mental wellness.
In the panel today, RaeAnne LeBrun from UNYA spoke about the difference between mental health in Western societies versus how the Indigenous communities. What really stood out to me that she shared, is that some aspects of Indigenous culture, like feeling a connection to spirits or the earth, do a lot more to de-stigmatize mental illness in some cases than the West, and by utilizing the “two-eyed seeing” approach we can strip away some of the shame that comes with certain experiences these youth may be having. By looking at certain experiences as “blessings” that just need to be managed, the feelings surrounding them may have an easier transition from fear/shame to understanding and acceptance.
Interventions
There have been many mental health interventions for Indigenous people over the years, including culturally significant practices such as ayahuasca ceremonies for addiction or having regularly scheduled meetings with elders.
There are numerous mental health interventions located close to UNYA in Vancouver. From our understanding it is important to us to try and stay with the sense of Indigenous community for this project and so while there are other interventions that are not specific to Indigenous youth, we feel it would be best to refer to these nearby organizations first.
Interviews with Community Members
In regards to interviewing community members, our group has run into a bit of a complication that will be resolved likely by the end of this week, but not in time for this blog post. We learned this week that our initial contact at UNYA no longer works there. When we did inquire about the opportunity to interview those at UNYA, it did not appear it would be possible. We will be hopefully meeting tomorrow with someone else from UNYA who can give us guidance on this matter. Our goal with interviewing those in the community would be to talk to either alumni of UNYA or other Indigenous adults who can clarify for us what types of mental health interventions have and have not worked in their experience. Speaking with people who have been in a similar position to the youth we are trying to help will give us an idea of the cultural and communal context and will provide feedback on our current proposals so we can alter/remove/add ideas so they are more appropriate.
What has been helpful so far in lieu of actual interviews are some of the Ted Talks and presentations done by Indigenous speakers that were linked above.
References
