Systemic and Community Approaches to Nurturing Resilience:

This workshop focuses on helping mental health professionals who work with children, youth, and families facing complex challenges. It introduces a strengths-based, ecological model that enhances resilience by addressing both individual and environmental factors. Participants will learn 20 practical skills for fostering resilience, such as promoting adult relationships, personal control, agency, social justice, and cultural connectedness. The workshop also covers how to work with diverse and hard-to-reach populations and discusses tools like the Child and Youth Resilience Measure to assess hidden strengths. It emphasizes creating culturally meaningful therapeutic goals and developing strategies to support lasting change. Through case studies and research, participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of how to help children and families transition successes into real-life environments, combining clinical practice with case management and advocacy to improve outcomes in various community settings. It introduces a social ecological approach to service delivery, emphasizing strengths, culturally relevant interventions, and the importance of supportive relationships. Participants will learn strategies to enhance resilience factors and design effective, client-centered services.

Resilience Through Cultural Identity and Engagement:

Indigenous peoples in Canada and other colonial countries experience higher levels of stress, trauma, and systemic racism compared to non-Indigenous populations. This workshop explores how the collective trauma from past government policies, such as the residential school system and the Sixties Scoop, continues to impact health and social outcomes for Indigenous communities today. Studies show that those with relatives who attended residential schools are at a higher risk of stress and trauma, contributing to negative health outcomes.

This workshop will explore how positive experiences, healthy coping strategies, and cultural engagement can enhance resilience and counteract the negative effects of stress and trauma. Focusing on the importance of social support and a connection to nature, we will discuss how these sources of resilience align with Indigenous views linking well-being to the land and environment. Participants will make connections on how cultural identity and engagement can buffer against these adversities and promote well-being, fostering resilience for individuals, families, and communities. We will also discuss how Indigenous knowledge supports health advocacy and how research on resilience helps strengthen community ties and advocate for culturally relevant health, education, and social initiatives.