kîwêtinohk maskwa opened it’s doors last month and is a first of it’s kind wellness centre in Regina which offers Indigenous focused healing and wellness services. Counselling services are provided through a unique blend of Indigenous ways and western counselling practices.
kîwêtinohk maskwa is one of the only wellness organizations in Regina to offer culturally based services. They focus on wellness over mental health because many Indigenous people are taught balance wellbeing via a focus on physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental wellness.
“I often have people come in and say that they want a First Nations counsellor and that they want somebody who understands their traditions and cultures,” said founder Noela Crowe-Salazar. “We recognize that we are not all the same and come from different First Nations, but we are grounded in our own communities’ traditions, practices, and ceremonies and have had experience with that. So, we are culturally-based in that way so when we’re working, we can blend in cultural approaches, as well as western counselling approaches.”
The organization has filled a big gap in mental health services in Regina and seeks to offer a place for hope and healing for generations to come. Crowe-Salazar has been counsellor for multiple years and said that she saw the divide between on and off-reserve counselling and the need for culture-based counselling in Regina.
“I know there’s a need in the city and in the city there’s many western counselling services but none where the counsellors themselves are all Indigenous and looking at culturally based approaches, and I know I get a call at least once a week from somebody begging me to see them because they really want somebody who will work with them in that way,” explained Crowe-Salazar.
kîwêtinohk maskwa is hosting its first annual campaign “Spring into Indigenous Wellness” March 21 at 1:00 PM at 402 Broad Street in Regina. This event will mark the grand opening and open house as well as the beginning of the Vernal Equinox, which traditional is a time of renewal.
kîwêtinohk maskwa | Culturally Based Counselling (kiwetinohkmaskwa.ca)
(Photo courtesy of kîwêtinohk maskwa website.)