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
