At a training event geared towards helping residential school survivors and their families who are affected by trauma, an important topic was discussed: combining psychologists and social workers with community-based counselors to help patients. This combination of knowledge can be beneficial to the patient by providing a holistic treatment. Community-based counselors have cultural knowledge, and clinical professionals can diagnose and treat patients with mental illnesses. In order to be more successful, clinical professionals should familiarize themselves with the culture and language. One of the issues with this model is the power dynamic between clinical and community-based workers. Clinical workers have university degrees, secure jobs, pensions and salaries, which can cause issues if community-based counselors do not have the same credentials and benefits/resources.
Source: Aislinn May. “Residential school survivors need clinical and cultural care, advocates urge.” March 14, 2018. CBC News. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/residential-school-counsellors-psychologists-1.4574642
