NSCSW Lunch & Learn: Decolonizing mental health services

Nova Scotia College of Social Workers

A webinar for social workers and helpers who are curious about decolonizing and Indigenizing mental health services

Truth & reconciliation

Members of the Nova Scotia College of Social Workers are required to complete annual professional development, which must include training or activities related to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's calls for action.

Please note: this event was originally scheduled for September 2, and was rescheduled for October 17.Social workers work with service users in a variety of contexts and communities and increasingly there is a call to decolonize mental health services, but what does this look like in practice?This webinar provides an opportunity for social workers and helpers to learn about decolonizing mental health services through a mix of dialogue between Brenda Gear, RSW-Clinical Specialist, and Tyler Colbourne, Professional Development Consultant at the Nova Scotia College of Social Workers (NSCSW). The session focuses on practices, strategies, and insights into decolonizing mental health services.Joining Brenda and Tyler through pre-recorded interviews are staff and leaders from the mental health department at the <a href="https://eskasonihealth.ca/" title="https://eskasonihealth.ca/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Eskasoni Health Centre</a>, including:<ul><li>Angeline Denny-Sylliboy, Director of Mental Health</li></ul><ul><li>Patricia Taylor, Mental Health Nurse</li></ul><ul><li>Heather Gouthro, Clinical Social Worker</li></ul>This session will explore questions on how mental health services in Eskasoni and across social work practice can disrupt dominant colonial norms and support healing and justice for Indigenous people and settlers.<h3>Objectives</h3><h3></h3><ul><li>Knowledge: Identify and understand strategies and approaches to decolonizing mental health services social work; identify and understand Indigenous practices in social work practice and mental health services.</li><li>Skills: Apply decolonial and Indigenous practices and strategies in mental health services and social work practices.</li><li>Values: Examine and shift beliefs, assumptions, and worldviews away from dominant settler colonial understandings of mental health, towards decolonial and Indigenous ways of being.</li></ul><h3>Facilitators</h3><h4></h4><h4>Brenda Gear, MSW, RSW-Clinical Specialist</h4>Brenda is an Inuit social worker from northern Labrador. Her education and experience in Indigenous mental health and addictions, child welfare, and domestic violence brings us to points of exploration throughout the complexities of social work while delivering services in positions of trust.The first ten years of her career led her back to Labrador where she practiced anti- oppressive, structural, feminist social work in mental health and addictions, child welfare, and domestic violence (Dalhousie School of Social Work, 2005). During this time, she and a small team of other Inuit women contributed to the policy development of streamlined domestic violence services throughout the province (THANL).Shifting from a 10-year career in community social work to delivering mental health services in a military hospital setting in 2013 was the catalyst in her decision to return to learning. In 2015, this decision also led to a cross-Canada road trip culminating in a master's degree in social work from the University of British Columbia (Okanagan).Trauma-informed care, the neurobiology of attachment, and other brain-based research added to her understanding of the complexities of individual and collective trauma, particularly as it relates to the experiences of Indigenous peoples. As a prevention services social worker, these new perspectives were shared with provincial and Innu community agencies working to regain child welfare decision-making powers. This work remains a work in progress.Today Brenda enjoys the flexibility of her private practice where she manages her hybrid clinic of trauma-informed, Indigenous-focused mental health services in Unama’ki, Nunatsiavut and Nitassinan.<h4><a href="https://nscsw.org/meet-tyler/" title="https://nscsw.org/meet-tyler/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Tyler Colbourne</a>, MSW, RSW, NSCSW Professional Development Consultant</h4>Tyler’s practice as a social worker is informed by intersectional identities as a queer, white, mostly able-bodied settler of European descent with lived experience as a mental health service user and as someone who has struggled with addiction. He cares deeply about decolonization and social justice and strives to approach his social work practice through a systems change and relational approach. To learn more about Tyler, <a href="https://nscsw.org/meet-tyler/" title="https://nscsw.org/meet-tyler/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">you can read his introduction to NSCSW here.</a><h3>Eligibility</h3><h4>NSCSW Members</h4>All active, associate, retired associate, and student members of the <a href="https://nscsw.org/" title="https://nscsw.org/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Nova Scotia College of Social Workers</a> are welcome to attend; our professional development programming is part of our member services funded by <a href="https://issuu.com/nscsw/docs/connection_spring2023_webfinal/42" title="https://issuu.com/nscsw/docs/connection_spring2023_webfinal/42" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">annual registration fees</a>.<h4>Community Partners</h4>Allied health practitioners in Nova Scotia/Mi'kma'ki and social workers outside our jurisdiction who are interested in this topic are eligible to sign up for a $5 partner ticket; just let us know your profession or affiliation when you register. We are members of the Nova Scotia Regulated Health Professions Network, the Canadian Association of Social Workers, and the Canadian Council of Social Work Regulators.<h3>Related Code of Ethics &amp; Standards of Practice</h3>NSCSW:<ul><li>Value 1: Respecting the Dignity and Worth of All People</li></ul><ul><li>Guiding Principle 1.4: Social workers respect the status, rights, diversity and needs of Mi’kmaw, First Nation, Métis, and Inuit Peoples.</li></ul><ul><li>Guiding Principle 1.6: Social workers uphold the rights of all People to receive services in a manner that considers intersecting factors of exclusion and respects all manner of diversity.</li></ul><ul><li>Value 2: Promoting Social Justice</li></ul><ul><li>Guiding Principle 2.1: Social workers uphold the principles of social justice related to the rights of individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities to receive fair and equitable access to services, resources, and opportunities and to be free of oppression, racism, and discrimination.</li></ul><ul><li>Guiding Principle 2.1: Social workers uphold the principles of social justice related to the rights of individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities to receive fair and equitable access to services, resources, and opportunities and to be free of oppression, racism, and discrimination.</li></ul><ul><li>Value 3: Pursuing Truth and Reconciliation</li></ul><ul><li>Guiding Principle 3.1: Social workers uphold the values and principles of reconciliation and decolonization.</li></ul><ul><li>Guiding Principle 3.2: Social workers acknowledge Indigenous world views in their practice.</li></ul><ul><li>Value 4: Valuing Relationships</li></ul><ul><li>Guiding Principle 4.1: Social workers place the well-being and interests of all People at the center of their relationships.</li></ul><ul><li>Guiding Principle 4.2: Social workers continually develop self-awareness and practise self-reflection to guide their practice and personal well-being.</li></ul><ul><li>Value 7: Providing Culturally Responsive Competent Professional Services</li></ul><ul><li>Guiding Principle 7.1: Social workers are committed to the ongoing development of their professional abilities and knowledge, aiming to ensure the delivery of culturally responsive professional services.</li></ul><h3>Professional development tracking</h3>For members of NSCSW, participating in this event is eligible to fulfill the annual requirement for professional development related to truth and reconciliation. Members who have already completed that requirement for the year may instead categorize this session as formal professional development.Visit <a href="http://nscsw.org/pd" title="http://nscsw.org/pd" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">nscsw.org/pd</a> for more information about the updated professional development requirements for Nova Scotia social workers.<h3>Questions?</h3>If you have questions about our professional development program content, please contact the College's Professional Development Consultant, Tyler Colbourne, at tyler.colbourne@nscsw.org.

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NSCSW Lunch & Learn: Decolonizing mental health services

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