Indigenous Youth Suicide Prevention, Life Promotion, and Decolonizing Practices for Mental Health

Description

* This session will include live captioning from English into French

This session will provide an overview of Indigenous suicide in Canada and explore the various ways that suicide is addressed within clinical settings. It will introduce Indigenous understandings of distress, including socio-structural drivers of risk, land-based relationships, holistic views of well-being, and the theories of colonization that influence Indigenous conceptualizations of suicidality. Additionally, the presentation will introduce a youth-led research project that aimed to understand life-promoting practices in urban community mental wellness programming, specifically within the Yuusnewas initiative. It will highlight mental health supports from a decolonizing perspective, emphasizing the leadership of Indigenous young people.

To access this session live, go to DIVERT Mental Health’s Learning Management Platform. Login credentials are required. To obtain login credentials, register with DIVERT Mental Health as an Associate Fellow. If you have credentials but have forgotten your password, click here to reset your password. If you require further assistance to access this event, please email divert@yorku.ca

• 
  Shanna Peltier (she/her) is an Anishinaabe kwe from Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory, situated on the beautiful island of Manitoulin, Ontario. She is a Ph.D. candidate in School and Clinical Child Psychology at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. Shanna’s research focuses on understanding Indigenous philosophies of health and mental wellness, with the aim of addressing youth suicide and promoting life through community-based responses rooted in Indigenous knowledge, youth leadership, and wise practices. Currently, Shanna is a doctoral resident at the Wikwemikong Health Centre, where she provides psychological intervention and assessment services to children, youth, and their families.