Building bridges to the Aboriginal community

CAMH Connexions

Fall 2006

by Kirk Villamarin

When CAMH's Aboriginal Services opened its doors to clients in 2000, Manager Peter Menzies made it a priority to add an Aboriginal Elder to his team.

CAMH Elder Vern Harper

He soon hired Vern Harper, a Canadian First Nations Cree Elder, Medicine Man, Aboriginal Rights Activist and Korean War Veteran.

Vern has been performing ceremonies, prayers, and other Aboriginal traditions such as sweat lodges for over 40 years. A Sweat Lodge is a ceremonial sauna that involves saying prayers, drumming, and making offerings to the spirit world. CAMH's Medical Advisory Committee approved the Sweat Lodge Policy about two years ago. "Having Vern along with other staff members as part of the program has helped create an addictions and mental health service that truly meets the needs of the Toronto Aboriginal community," said Menzies.

The Aboriginal Services staff, which includes an Elder, a part-time psychologist, and three therapists, are seldom in the office because they're usually working offsite. "In almost all other CAMH programs, clients come to CAMH to get treatment. In Aboriginal Services, we go to the client," said Harper.

Being onsite in community agencies enables CAMH to treat those clients who are afraid of clinical settings. The program works in partnership with eight agencies that include St. Christopher's House, the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto, Parkdale Recreation Centre and the Toronto Council Fire Native Cultural Centre.

"We are all very knowledgeable about Aboriginal issues. We understand what our ancestors went through, and how some of this history has affected the Aboriginal community negatively," Harper explained. "Some of our clients deal with identity issues. They feel rejected by the community. A major focus in our job is to help them find who they are. In Aboriginal culture there is a saying: 'If you don't know who your ancestors are, you don't know who you are.'"

With the support of Health Canada, the First Nations Inuit Health Branch and the Oshki-Pimache-O-Win Education Training Centre, CAMH's Aboriginal Services will soon be able to provide concurrent disorder training to approximately eight First Nations in the Nishnawbe-Aski Nation territory.

"This hasn't been done before. It's an exciting opportunity and time for CAMH to be involved in such an important project. I have always believed and maintained that mainstream organizations and Aboriginal organizations or First Nations can work in partnership," Menzies said.

Marilyn's Story

As a young girl, Marilyn Brown was physically, sexually, and emotionally abused. At age 12, she started smoking and drinking alcohol. By the time she was 21, she had an addiction to heroin, crack cocaine, and alcohol, which led to her living on the streets. Now 36, she has a home in Scarborough, takes care of her children and has stayed drug-free for three years. "This is a big accomplishment for me. This is the longest time I've stayed clean and off drugs," she said.

Marilyn says she will never forget the day in 2004, when she met Lizz Arger, a CAMH Aboriginal Services Therapist. They drove to a nearby park, where Lizz asked her to choose a location that would make her comfortable to receive treatment and counselling.

"I chose a place near water, a lake," she recalled. Once there, Lizz conducted a 60-minute outreach session, called the Medicine Wheel, which involved having Marilyn face south, west, north, and east. According to Aboriginal culture, the four directions symbolize emotion, physical, mental and spiritual challenges, and growth. Marilyn said that each time she faced a different direction she opened up more.

Marilyn continues to seek guidance and counselling from the program because she says it provides her with cultural and moral support. She had been a client at five other addiction and mental health centres. They helped her stay drug-free for a time, but eventually she would fall back into addiction. "The other centres would just focus on the addiction part. I needed more than that," she said. "I needed cultural understanding."

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