Products and Resources Catalog

Slides from the July 14, 2021 session, "Trauma Informed Therapy Part 6 - Colonialism, Indigenous Trauma and Healing". This webinar featured Avis Garcia, PhD, LAT, LPC, NCC, Northern Arapaho.

 About the Session: In this third 90-minute session of the Culturally Responsive Evidence-Based and Community-Defined Practices for Mental Health Series, we will: Discuss how Project Venture (PV) is being implemented with various cultural groups across the Network/in different regions. Highlight additional culturally responsive “PV practices” being utilized across the Network/in different regions. Share lessons learned during the implementation of PV (i.e. Balancing PV and the cultural needs of the people served). Session Materials: Access the recording of this session by clicking the blue "View Resource" button above. Access presentation slides here. Access our FAQ and Resources document (that includes responses to questions asked by participants during the live event) here. MHTTC Project Venture Fact Sheet is available here. Access the audio transcript for this session here. To access other sessions in this series, please click here. Session Facilitators and Panelists: Holly Echo-Hawk is a former tribal and mainstream behavioral health director with 30 years of experience in the administration and development of licensed and accredited mental health and substance abuse treatment services. Ms. Echo-Hawk is a behavioral health subject matter expert with the national Opioid Response Network, the New England Mental Health Technology Transfer Network, and C4 Innovations. Holly Echo-Hawk is an enrolled member of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma. Sean A. Bear earned his B.A. from Buena Vista University in 2002, majoring in psychology/human services. He also studied mental health counseling at Drake University for 2 years. He is a member of the Meskwaki Tribe, in Tama, Iowa. He is an Army Veteran of 9 years, honorary discharged after serving with the 82nd Airborne. His passion is to assist people in overcoming their substance use issues as well as other issues, and to return to the spiritual ways of their ancestors. It is his hope that one day, people of all nations will co-exist and live in peace and harmony, not just with each other, but within themselves, as well as to come to the realization of what our ancestor of long ago already knew, “that we are all brothers and sisters under one Creator.” Heather Yazzie Campbell (Apache/Navajo) is an outdoor leadership program director for the National Indian Youth Leadership Project (NIYLP). She leads experiential and adventure-based education programs at several Indigenous schools across New Mexico. As a Project Venture trainer, she leads workshops for a plethora of Indigenous communities throughout the United States and Canada and teaches them how to construct and implement their own community-based programs. Ray Daw is a Native American behavioral health consultant and has worked in in the behavioral health field for about 35 years. His career has been largely within and around the Navajo Nation, Native non-profits and most recently in rural Alaska, in both inpatient and outpatient settings.  His work in behavioral health has been heavily towards developing Native trauma-appropriate approaches that are healing and effective in tribal behavioral health prevention, Intervention, and treatment services. His work includes extensive experience as a consultant with SAMHSA in program evaluation, culturally-based prevention and intervention services, grant reviewing, and American Indian/Alaskan Native modalities. He is also a trainer in motivational interviewing and historical trauma. McClellan Hall is of Cherokee descent.  Member of the SAMHSA Expert Panel on Prevention (10 yrs) and  a member of SAMHSA’s Action Alliance on Suicide Prevention (5 yrs) .  Mr. Hall was the Co-lead of the American Indian/Alaska Native Task Force for SAMHSA’s national suicide prevention effort for 5 years.  Mac is the recipient of the Kurt Hahn Award, the Spirit of Crazy Horse Award, the Alec Dickson Servant Leadership Award and the Indian Health Service Director’s Behavioral Health Achievement Award.  He is the developer of Project Venture, the only Native American-developed program to attain the level of Model Program with SAMHSA and NREPP.  Mac is the founder and CEO of the National Indian Youth Leadership Project.

  Hard copies of the toolkit are also available. If you'd prefer a hard copy, please reach out to us at [email protected]. Toolkit Description Healing Our Protectors: Building Resilience Among Tribal Law Enforcement Officers Through Cultural Interventions is a Mountain Plains MHTTC resource that serves behavioral health treatment providers in gaining a deeper understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of their work as a law enforcement officer. Co-authored by Leo Belgarde, Sr., it provides a first person account of his experiences as a tribal officer, Bureau of Indian Affairs officer, city officer, and county police officer. It describes events that precipitated him seeking treatment for PTSD and the consequences he faced due to accessing treatment. Healing Our Protectors is a resource that has been developed to provide strength-based, positive, culturally responsive strategies for Indigenous law enforcement officers. If the officer does not connect with this aspect of their culture, this resource still supports a cultural representation of where they are policing and can be modified to meet their needs.   Authors LaVonne Fox, PhD Leo Belgarde, Sr. Thomasine Heitkamp, LCSW   Editor Shawnda Schroeder, PhD, MA

The COVID-19 pandemic, economic crisis, and widespread racially-focused protests highlight the glaring inequities that exist for racial and ethnic minority communities. These crises have had significant implications for mental health and exacerbate already poor access to behavioral health services in communities of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). What to expect? More information on our learning community Breakout sessions to share what you and your communities are doing around racial equity and advancing cultural humility Opportunities to network with, listen to, and learn from colleagues throughout the New England region.  

ABOUT THIS RESOURCE Staff from the Lummi Tribal Health Center describe and discuss the unique challenges to providing psychiatric care in a coordinated and collaborative way to a tribal community during the coronavirus pandemic. Learning Objectives briefly describe intergenerational trauma experienced by Native Americans understand complex components to behavioral health and medical services as a part of some tribal health systems review how Lummi Psychiatry adapted to the pandemic and how this has provided challenges and opportunities Find out more about our integrated care webinar series here. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Our facilitators always make reference to great resources during sessions.  Presentation slides   FACILITATORS George "Bud" Vana, MD George "Bud" Vana, MD, is a Triple Boarder – having taken three board exams as a general pediatrician, adult psychiatrist and child psychiatrist – practicing at the Lummi Tribal Health Center in Bellingham, Washington.  He and his psychiatric team are integrated and collocated (before coronavirus) in the medical clinic, substance abuse program, pediatrics department, school based health clinic and behavioral health department. He finished his BA and MA at Harvard University in Near Eastern Languages and Civilization. He completed medical school at the University of Vermont and completed residency training at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. He completed his outpatient psychiatry training at the Providence Rhode Island Veterans Administration.  He has worked to develop a telehealth infrastructure at the Lummi Tribal Health Center as well as a child psychiatry consultation service for other tribal health clinics. His other professional interests include family-based psychiatry, acceptance and commitment therapy, treatment of co-occurring disorders, treatment of developmental disabilities and integrated medical and behavioral healthcare. Outside of work he enjoys canoeing, hiking and curling (as in the Olympic ice sport) with his family in Bellingham. Jessica McLendon, CMA Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Jessica first received her Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Global Studies at Pacific Lutheran University. After moving to Bellingham, she started working in the non-profit field for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Washington and later, at Northwest Youth Services, a housing provider for homeless youth. In 2017 she completed her certification in Medical Assisting and started working at Lummi Tribal Health Clinic in 2018. Jessica is passionate about witnessing peoples’ stories and connecting individuals to the appropriate resources to help them achieve their goals. Cedric Robertston Cedric Robertson serves as a Peer Recovery Coach at the Lummi Tribal Health Center.

Dr. Phillip Hawley from the Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic outlines the foundations of the primary care behavioral health (PCBH) model of integration in this webinar, the second in our integrated care webinar series. Dr. Hawley also discusses a variety of clinical applications to why meeting patients where they are at and working within the primary care system provides holistic and quality to patient care. The presentation includes statistics and case examples highlighting how this approach covers gaps in our healthcare system and works towards true population health strategies. Find out more about our integrated care webinar series here. Learning objectives: Understand what PCBH is and how this is defined See examples of how this model address social determinants of health to reduce healthcare disparity Learn clinical applications about how holistic primary care that encompasses behavioral health allows for improved outcomes in behavioral health and physical health metrics.   Resources Presentation slides Presenter Dr. Phillip Hawley is the Primary Care Behavioral Health Director for the Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic (YVFWC). Phillip is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and has worked in primary care for the past 6 years. Phillip manages the Primary Care Behavioral Health program, consisting of 17 BHCs across Washington and Oregon who provide behavioral health service within the PCBH model of integration. Phillip’s role as director includes: Site visits and ongoing support of BHC within the organization, reporting for internal and external stakeholders, supervision for the BHC post-doctoral residents, hiring/ onboarding and training of newly hired BHCs, coordination with regional healthcare and behavioral health organizations through sub-committees and workgroups, direct patient care through same day consultation, and providing in-service trainings to assess mental health concerns to staff and the community. Phillip is focused on assisting in complete health care for patients. Phillip and his wife reside in Naches, WA. Want more information? Visit the Northwest MHTTC's Resource Library and Websites by Topic  and sign up for our monthly newsletter for regular updates about events, trainings, and resources available to the Northwest region.

The National American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Technology Transfer Center would like to share with you Volume 2, Issue 3 of our newsletter, Mental Health in our Native American Communities for Spring 2021: Protecting Our Youth: Rethinking the Risks of Cannabis. Please take some time to explore this issue.

This document provides information on upcoming trainings and resources regarding self-help and self-care resources for Native Americans and Alaska Natives. 

Resource list developed for our Supporting the Mental Health of BIPOC Community College Students Convening that took place on February 11, 2021. 

Strengthening Resilience: Promoting Positive School Mental Health Among Indigenous Youth January 13, 2021 This free training, hosted by LaVonne Fox, PhD, OTR/L, Sarah Nielsen, PhD, OTR/L, and Thomasine Heitkamp, LCSW, provided participants with context and information related to the new publication developed by the Mountain Plains MHTTC entitled: Strengthening Resilience: Promoting Positive School Mental Health Among Indigenous Youth. This training provided participants with a chance to learn more about how to adapt the recommendations of this toolkit in their schools. Slide Deck Access the Toolkit Recording   Learning Outcomes Understand how to use resilience and culturally responsive practices to support the unmet needs of Indigenous youth.  Develop a deeper understanding of how trauma impacts Indigenous youth, including historical trauma.  Advance participants' understanding of the cultural context of Indigenous youth and how this relates to a school setting.  Learn strategies for incorporating traditional practices such as the Seven Teachings and Circle of Courage into a K-12 setting.    Trainers LaVonne Fox, PhD, OTR/L Sarah Nielsen, PhD, OTR/L Thomasine Heitkamp, LCSW

Building Capacity  A Presentation Given at the National Center for School Mental Health 25th Annual Conference   Schools serving American Indian Youth face unique challenges when addressing the mental health of students. This presentation described a Communities of Practice (CoP) Model pilot project targeting implementation of a multi-tiered approach in three schools serving American Indian youth, across three states.    Presenters discussed:  A CoP approach. Adaptations to ensure the program is culturally responsive. Strengths and weaknesses of the CoP process.  View Presentation Presenters Sarah Nielsen, PhD LaVonne Fox, PhD OTRL Thomasine Heitkamp, MSSW, LCSW Additional Resource Strengthening Resilience: Promoting Positive School Mental Health Among Indigenous Youth Toolkit

Strengthening Resilience: Promoting Positive School Mental Health Among Indigenous Youth Presentation for University of North Dakota College of Nursing and Professional Disciplines The Mountain Plains MHTTC, in collaboration with the University of North Dakota College of Nursing and Professional Disciplines, hosted a training session on the new toolkit Strengthening Reslience: Promoting Positive School Mental Health Among Indigenous Youth. Lavonne Fox, PhD, OTR/L, and Thomasine Heitkamp, LCSW, provided an overview of the toolkit and discussed strategies for supporting access and implementation of this product in school settings. This toolkit provides effective strategies for K-12 educators, administrators, and mental health treatment providers to use when working to increase cultural awareness of tribal history, language, and culture within the full continuum of education and behavioral health response.    Slide Deck Access the Toolkit Session Recording Trainers Lavonne Fox, PhD, OTR/L Thomasine Heitkamp, LCSW  

Anitra Warrior, PhD, of Morningstar Counseling in Lincoln, Nebraska, draws from years of experience serving Native populations in urban, rural and reservation settings to share strategies for ensuring integrated behavioral health and primary care clinics are prepared to provide culturally appropriate care. This presentation supplements our Oct. 30 webinar from our webinar series Coming Home to Primary Care: Pediatric Integrated Health.

For our October 2020 newsletter we're excited to share a wealth of new events and resources in this month's newsletter. In particular, we want to highlight resources we've shared in honor of Indigenous Peoples' Day. We welcome you to take a look and learn more about how to support the mental health and wellness of Native students, staff, and families. Sign up for our School Mental Health Newsletter!  Want more information and school mental health resources? Visit the Northwest MHTTC's School Mental Health page and sign up for our newsletter for regular updates about events, trainings, and resources available to the Northwest region.

The National American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Technology Transfer Center would like to share with you Volume 2, Issue 2 of our newsletter, Mental Health in our Native American Communities for Fall 2020: Pandemic Mental Health: What Can We Expect? Please take a few moments to explore this issue.

      Hard copies of the toolkit are also available. If you'd prefer a hard copy, please reach out to us at [email protected]. Strengthening Resilience: Promoting Positive School Mental Health Among Indigenous Youth   The purpose of this document is to provide tools for K-12 educators, administrators, and mental health treatment providers to better address the learning and behavioral health needs of Indigenous youth in a holistic manner. It is also a resource for faculty working in higher education to prepare future professionals, particularly those planning to work in tribal communities with children and youth. The focus of this document is on resilience and well-being of Indigenous youth in a historical context. The historical review provides a greater understanding of the role of boarding schools, forced colonization, and assimilation resulting in cultural genocide and their impact on education.   Strengthening Resilience: Promoting Positive School Mental Health Among Indigenous Youth identifies how unmet needs can be addressed through a fictitious case scenario, focusing on resilience and culturally responsive practices. The document also addresses the role of trauma to assist educators and providers to advance a greater understanding of the cultural context of Indigenous youth. Strategies and resources are provided to include the Seven Teachings and the Circle of Courage that can be incorporated into traditional teachings in the k-12 curriculums and adapted in any school. This results in opportunities to teach all youth about traditional practices of our Indigenous populations. Finally, a host of resources are provided that are easily accessible to the reader who wishes to learn more about school-based responses that can be effective in working with Indigenous youth. The resources are based on best-practices to include increasing cultural awareness of tribal history, language, and culture within the full continuum of educational and behavioral health response. This document serves as a supplement to the technical assistance efforts provided by Mountain Plain Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (MHTTC) entitled Building Capacity of School Personnel to Promote Mental Health in Native American Children and Youth. The focus of the training was to build capacity of school teams to promote positive mental health throughout the school day through embedded strategies in response to mental health needs of children and youth. Authors LaVonne Fox Sarah Nielsen Thomasine Heitkamp Shawnda Schroeder  

Indian Health Care Providers Series This recorded webinar, held on September 17, 2020, features an open engagement/discussion among participants focused on addressing barriers and highlighting innovations in telebehavioral health, e.g., identify barriers with the delivery of telehealth such as access to technology, privacy, issues with physical location and comfort for providers and clients; highlight innovations being explored and discuss the positive outcomes rising to the surface during this rapid onset of telehealth. Presentation from this webinar is available for download here Organizing Partners include the Behavioral Health Training, Workforce and Policy Innovation Center of the University of Washington's Behavioral Health Institute in partnership with the WA State Health Care Authority (HCA).  Key Tribal Partners include the Indian Health Service's Telebehavioral Health Center of Excellence (TBHCE), the American Indian Health Commission (AIHC) of Washington State and others. Partners & Presenters Chris Fore, Ph.D, Director, IHS TeleBehavioral Health Center of Excellence at Indian Health Service Melody McKee, MS, SUDP, Program Director for the Behavioral Health Training, Workforce and Policy Innovation Center through Harborview Medical Center’s Behavioral Health Institute Cara Towle, MSN, RN, MA, Associate Director for Telepsychiatry at the University of Washington Kathryn Akeah and Jen Olsen, American Indian Health Commission Mike Longnecker, Tribal Operations and Compliance Manager, WA HCA Kristi Woodard, LICSW, Behavioral Health Consultant, Portland Area Indian Health Service (IHS) Lucilla Mendoza, MSW, CPP Tribal Behavioral Health Administrator, Office of Tribal Affairs, WA HCA Want more information? Visit the Northwest MHTTC's Resource Library and Websites by Topic  and sign up for our monthly newsletter for regular updates about events, trainings, and resources available to the Northwest region.

Indian Health Care Providers Series This recorded webinar, held on September 24, 2020, features Dr. Chris Fore, Director, IHS TeleBehavioral Health Center of Excellence at Indian Health Service. Dr. Fore will present “Introduction to Telebehavioral Health for IHCPs”, covering topics such as defining telehealth, workflow considerations, configuring the space and privacy issues, billing and reimbursement and special considerations and more. The focus will be informed by the previous session’s discussion. Lucilla Mendoza, tribal behavioral health administrator with the Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA), will attend as the HCA billing/IHCP expert to attend and help field questions. Presentation from this webinar is available for download here Organizing Partners include the Behavioral Health Training, Workforce and Policy Innovation Center of the University of Washington's Behavioral Health Institute in partnership with the WA State Health Care Authority (HCA).  Key Tribal Partners include the Indian Health Service's Telebehavioral Health Center of Excellence (TBHCE), the American Indian Health Commission (AIHC) of Washington State and others. Partners & Presenters Chris Fore, Ph.D, Director, IHS TeleBehavioral Health Center of Excellence at Indian Health Service Melody McKee, MS, SUDP, Program Director for the Behavioral Health Training, Workforce and Policy Innovation Center through Harborview Medical Center’s Behavioral Health Institute Cara Towle, MSN, RN, MA, Associate Director for Telepsychiatry at the University of Washington Kathryn Akeah and Jen Olsen, American Indian Health Commission Mike Longnecker, Tribal Operations and Compliance Manager, WA HCA Kristi Woodard, LICSW, Behavioral Health Consultant, Portland Area Indian Health Service (IHS) Lucilla Mendoza, MSW, CPP Tribal Behavioral Health Administrator, Office of Tribal Affairs, WA HCA                 Want more information? Visit the Northwest MHTTC's Resource Library and Websites by Topic  and sign up for our monthly newsletter for regular updates about events, trainings, and resources available to the Northwest region.

This poster, created with Native students in mind, can be used in schools to help promote best practices for reducing the spread of COVID-19. It can be printed on 11x17 paper or smaller.

  Pine Ridge Girls' School: Trauma Responsive Practices This free series consisted of two, 75-minute training sessions that provided technical assistance to the Pine Ridge Girls' School in South Dakota, in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) Region 8. With a focus on trauma and healing within a cultural context, trainers discussed stigma, resilience, trauma informed teaching approaches, and supporting families to support their students. Part One September 13, 2020 This session explored the effects of trauma on behavior and learning, trauma informed techniques in the classroom, modifications for virtual learning environments, and teacher self care to avoid burnout. Slide deck Part Two September 20, 2020 This session discussed partnering with families to support learning and parent and family education to support students' mental wellness. Slide deck Trainers Stefanie Winfield MSW Stefanie Winfield is a Research and Technical Assistance Associate with the Behavioral Health Program. Her work at WICHE focuses on the Mental Health Technical Transfers Center’s work providing intensive technical assistance and training to elementary schools. Stefanie comes to WICHE with extensive experience working in schools promoting youth sexual health, conflict and angry management, behavioral health education, and school-based health care. With over 17 years of experience working with nonprofits and community organizations, Stefanie has done everything from grant management and implementation, to program and outcome evaluation, training and facilitation. Stefanie received her BSW from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY and her MSW from the University of Denver. She has also completed certificates in the Advanced Study of Program Evaluation, Accelerated Learning, E-learning Design and Organization Development.   Liza Tupa, PhD Dr. Liza Tupa is the Director of Education and Research for the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, Behavioral Health Program (WICHE BHP) and a technical trainer for the Mountain Plains MHTTC. A licensed clinical psychologist, her work at the WICHE BHP has included expanding rural psychology internship development to seven western states, behavioral healthcare workforce training, service delivery system and clinical consultation, statewide behavioral health needs assessments, and developing toolkits for Suicide Prevention in Primary Care and School Behavioral Health Advocacy.

Click here to download the handouts of the presentation on 9/10/2020 for the session for Tribal Schools as they Reopen Amidst COVID-19 #4: Native Youth Telehealth Initiative.

Click here to view the recording for the session for Tribal Schools as they Reopen Amidst COVID-19 #4 on 9/10/2020.

This is a list of resources that has been compiled (and continues to be updated) during the National American Indian and Alaska Native MHTTC's ongoing series: Special Weekly Series for Tribal Schools as they Reopen Amidst COVID-19. This guide is tailored for providers and school personnel who are Native and/or are working with American Indian and Alaska Native students. Topics include: general resources, telehealth, COVID-19, health, and other. To download this resource guide, please use the "DOWNLOAD" button located above.

During January and February 2020, New England MHTTC staff gathered information to determine mental health and other related training needs of New England tribal populations. On March 4, 2020, we concluded this process with an in-person meeting sponsored by the Native American Indian Center of Boston. Due to COVID-19, however, further information gathering was impossible after this time as tribal health authorities and MHTTC program leaders responded to the pandemic.