Mamowichihtowin Program

If you are currently experiencing the impacts of trauma and feel overwhelmed in your life, please feel free to contact us. The Mamowichitowin Program provides therapy to individuals, couples, and families suffering from the effects of current and historical trauma. A description of our program is provided below.

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Clinical Leads:
Shauna Eriksen  Email: shauna@yfcm.ca Cell: 780-817-4772
Corinne Gayton  Email: corinne@yfcm.ca Cell: 780-712-595
Referrals to the program: can be self-referral or agency referral to email: referrals@yfcm.ca
Mamowichihtowin Program
 
Mamowichihtowin is a Cree word meaning “all working together,” a name that embodies the program's ideals of working in a collaborative and systemic way to facilitate a process of healing.

A holistic healing program grounded in an Aboriginal cultural framework of healing.

Mission Statement.

To enhance community healing by providing quality, evidence-based, culturally relevant treatment to Indigenous and Non-Indigenous families affected by sexual abuse and inter-generational trauma.
 

Mamowichihtowin Program provides clinical therapy services to families and individuals experiencing the effects of sexual violence and other forms of violence resulting from multi-generational trauma. 

Sexual abuse has no boundaries; it affects all social, economic, religious, racial, and cultural backgrounds.  It affects all realms of the medicine wheel, the physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual.  It is traumatic for the victim and the entire immediate and extended family system, community and society. Familial sexual abuse is one of the most damaging forms of domestic violence. Yet, with specialized long-term services, sexual abuse and other forms of trauma can be transformed and healed. The Mamowichihtowin Treatment Model supports and assists family members to relate and live together in a healthy and non-violent way.

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Duration of treatment is long-term, one to three years, depending on the needs of the family or individuals. It is an intensive community-based treatment process involving individual, family and group therapy.

Mamowichihtowin Treatment Model combines both “traditional” Aboriginal values and “western” therapeutic methods.  We use the Medicine Wheel teaching that all aspects of self (Mental, Emotional, Physical and Spiritual) are impacted by trauma. This holistic approach guides all aspects of our clinical work, including assessment and intervention. As mentioned above, evidence-based psychological practices are integrated into this holistic treatment perspective. 

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Services offered: The program offers individual services consisting of a combination of treatment modalities (I.e., Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), Narrative Therapy, Solution Focused Therapy, Play therapy, Medicine Wheel teachings) and trauma-focused therapy (I.e., Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), somatic work and HTT Historical Trauma Transmission. We also provide treatment for inappropriate sexual behaviour in children and therapy for children, adolescents, and adult survivors of familial sexual trauma. 

Family therapy is also provided in the program, including couples/marriage and parenting therapy, sibling violence, family systems work, and victim unification with family members. The program also provides groups for First Nation men who have experienced severe trauma, such as Residential School and other experiences stemming from cultural genocide. We provide a group for Women who have experienced sexual abuse directly or have family members affected by sexual abuse. Also, we provide groups for adolescence and children directly impacted by sexual violence. We also provide cultural support assisting First Nations people in connecting with local culture and specialized services for Indian Residential School Survivors.

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The therapeutic process often begins with individual therapy for assessment purposes and at the same time, clients may engage in group therapy. Once a client has completed the majority of their individual work, they may proceed to couples or family work to strengthen their healthy/non-violent ways of living. The progression of therapy is described in more detail below in the stages of treatment.