Canada’s First Aboriginal Counselling Clinic Seeks Clients

Canada’s first counselling clinic for the urban aboriginal
community is actively seeking clients.

Launched last September, the UBC Robson Square Counselling
Clinic offers free individual, couples and family therapy
and vocational counselling to aboriginal people and other
communities.

A team of six graduate students from the Counselling Psychology
Program in UBC’s Faculty of Education – including three aboriginal
students – are supervised by Assoc. Prof. Rod McCormick, widely
recognized as one of Canada’s leading counselling psychologists
specializing in aboriginal issues.

"Half of Canada’s aboriginal population is now urban-based,"
says McCormick, who belongs to the Mohawk Nation. "A
great number of aboriginal people have suffered trauma in
their lives and have experienced an inordinate amount of loss.
There’s an urgent need for counselling services."

"The role of spirituality and nature is extremely relevant
to the aboriginal healing tradition, so it’s important for
us to offer help by aboriginal counsellors and non-aboriginal
therapists who are knowledgeable about aboriginal culture
and ways of healing," McCormick adds.

Student counsellor Linda Epps, a traditional healer from
the N’lakapmx Nation in Merritt, incorporates a medicine wheel
that lists the "seven grandfather teachings" – love,
respect, bravery, honesty, humility, truth and wisdom – when
working with clients.

Student counsellor Brenda Andrews from Southern Alberta’s
Blood (Kainai) Tribe says her residential school experience
has helped her become more empathetic as a counselor and better
able to understand her clients’ pain. "The experiences
with residential schools vary greatly, but we are all affected
in similar ways."

The clinic is open on Thursdays from 3-8 pm. For more information
or to make an appointment, call 604.822.9338.

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