The following workshops are available to be delivered in your community or to your organization. For more
information on the following workshops, or for availability, please contact IRSSS Reception by email
(reception@irsss.ca) or by phone: (604) 925-4464; toll-free: 1-800-721-0066.
Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement (IRSSA)
IRSSA Analysis
Assistance accessing compensation processes
Options for Eligible Survivors
Preventing Survivor Abuse (especially Elder Abuse)
Intergenerational Issues
IRSSA Response
Community Impacts
Financial Planning
Strategic Planning
Preparing for the Independent Assessment Process (IAP)
Preparing for Truth & Reconciliation Commission (TRC) events
Preparing for Commemoration activities
Regional Activity. This workshop can be tailored to meet the specific needs of the community. We can
cover one or all aspects of the Settlement Agreement.
History of Indian Residential Schools
National and provincial backgrounder
Timeline of important events
Implications for B.C. Aboriginal nations
Aboriginal vs. non-Aboriginal worldviews. This workshop examines the reasons for creating the Indian
Residential School System in Canada.
Effects of Indian Residential Schools
On individuals, families, communities and nations
Mechanisms of colonization and genocide
Internalization oppression and post-colonial theory (Duran, Chrisjohn)
Victim/victimizer theory. This workshop shows that contemporary conditions in Aboriginal communities
can be traced back to the Indian residential school system. It also explores how Aboriginal people
reacted in that system.
Childhood Development
Pre-contact history
Attachment theory
Consistency theory
Resiliency theory
Self-care. This workshop looks at children’s needs for their development into healthy adults and how
Indian residential schools interfered in fully functioning aboriginal cultures to interrupt that cycle of
growth.
Stress and Trauma
Everyday stress
Physiological responses
Psychological responses
Chronic stress and trauma
Addictive responses
Effective self-care on the Medicine Wheel
Responding to an Angry Client
What is anger?
Physical responses to anger
Responding in the face of anger
Crisis Theory
Understanding crisis
A community model
A self-esteem model
Self-esteem in ourselves
Self-esteem and crisis
Crisis and the community
Loss
Crisis and the individual
Responding to an individual
Crisis Counseling Model
The Acceptance Stage
1. Reflection technique
2. Active listening
3. Paraphrasing
4. Summarizing
The Clarification Stage
1. Probe technique
2. Encouragement stage
3. Validation technique
4. Action planning
Suicide Response
Understanding Suicide
1. Attitudes to suicide
2. Suicide facts
3. Suicide statistics
4. Suicide and clinical depression
5. Trigger events and suicide
6. Signals of suicide
7. Suicide intervention
8. Ask directly
9. Risk assessment on the Medicine Wheel
10. No harm agreements
11. Resources
Healing
What is healing?
Resources for healing
You know you’re healed when...
Self-Care
Self-Talk and burn-out
Self-esteem model
Self-care on the Medicine Wheel
Roles and Responsibility of Caregiver
Boundaries and the role of a counselor
Body Language and Non-verbal communication
Responsibility
Consultation and Confidentiality
Preparing Survivors to Begin Healing
What each survivor should know
Relaxation and grounding techniques
Self-care
“Postvention”
Creating a community response team
Critical Incident Stress Debriefing
Training for Trainers
Learning styles
Facilitation styles
Curriculum development
Victim Services
Provincial curriculum
Legal options for Indian residential school survivors
Court orientation