Throughout the past year, much of society has relied on the expertise of health professionals to manage the spread of the COVID-19 virus and all of its’ variants. Mental Health professionals have likewise been relied upon to manage the growing strain of chronic stress and its’ variants on individuals, families, workplaces, and communities. Part of this stress has been due to both prolonged and intermittent quarantining.
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Increase in VTRA Cases Across the Country
“It’s Not Just You”
In earlier communications from CTIP we highlighted that due to the lingering effects of quarantine (“Impaired Closeness-Distance Cycle”), some students would be so relieved to make in-person reconnections with school staff and peers that symptom development to the pressures of the pandemic would be minimal in the 2020-2021 academic year. This period is what we refer to as a “delayed response”.
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How to Become an Indigenous Ally
The Two Row Wampum Treaty, also known as Guswenta or Kaswentha, may best
be understood as a Haudenosaunee term embodying the ongoing negotiation of their
relationship to European colonizers and their descendants. The underlying concept of
kaswentha emphasizes the distinct identity of the two peoples and a mutual engagement
to coexist in peace without interference in the affairs of the other. -
Hate Crimes and Racism: VTRA and TES Applications to the Tragedies in London and Kamloops
During the pandemic we focused attention on the effects of quarantine and how the “Impaired Closeness-Distance Cycle” would contribute to abuse dynamics within some homes because of unrelenting closeness without the reprieve of occasional distance to lower family anxiety. The opposite side of that coin was that quarantine had a temporarily and artificially positive effect on larger Canadian society: it also created distance between those who hate and their potential targets. We would say that some societal conflicts were frozen in place but with things opening up and the weather becoming warmer, distance has been replaced with proximity and possibilities to renew prior conflicts thus intensifying justification for violent acting out.
File: PDF Hate Crimes and Racism: VTRA and TES Applications to the Tragedies in London and Kamloops
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Rekindled Trauma: Former Kamloops Residential School
On Friday May 28th the truth was revealed regarding the buried bodies of over two hundred children. My colleagues and I penned a brief E-Alert on that day through our roles with the B.C. Government ERASE Initiative. It was sent to many professionals in that province who, like us, were in awe of this reality. This E-Alert is for the entire country and every Indigenous Nation and People as well as all those who wish to help. It is more personal than any other communication I have penned.
File: PDF Rekindled Trauma: Former Kamloops Residential School
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Interim Guidelines: A Whole Community Response to Post-Pandemic Mental Health
While the pandemic still weighs heavy on the shoulders of many, the growing availability of
vaccines has led to measured optimism from some that COVID-19 will come to an end.
Governments, workplaces, helping agencies and educational systems are beginning to deliberate and hopefully pose this crucial question: What will post-pandemic functioning look like? -
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Anniversary Reaction to COVID-19: What Every Professional Needs to Know
The first case of COVID-19 diagnosed in Canada was on January 25th, 2020. One year later media headlines on January 25th, 2021 emphasized it has been a whole year since that occasion as if it was a moment of awe. But the country was probably in more of a state of denial than awe in early 2020.
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Canadian VTRA Trained Professionals: Implications from Unrest in America
Tyler Merbler As the predictable escalation in Washington D.C. is currently playing out, we want to remind VTRA-trained professionals and teams that this American experience that we are observing is also an international experience, to which we are also subject.
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Second Wave: Matching Resources to Risk During Remote Learning
The first wave was new to us all and some figured out how to accommodate it but with the second wave, those we are concerned about know how difficult it was and feel they cannot survive a lengthy quarantine again. The best intervention that schools can provide is to be thoughtful and creative about how to stay connected to our students and their families while educating remotely.
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Hat parents get much needed support on issues of mental health
Medicine Hat parents got to hear from trauma expert Kevin Cameron during a virtual meeting Wednesday night.