Purple background with text reading IBPOC MENTAL HEALTH

Student Health and Wellness acknowledges the racial disparities in mental health care. 

Student Health and Wellness provides the following services for IBPOC students:

  • SHW staff provide culturally sensitive counselling, medical services and programming
  • Ongoing collaboration with Racialized Student Groups and International Students to promote IBPOC mental wellbeing through mental health awareness initiatives, advocacy and more.

Resources

On Campus Supports and Resources

Lakehead Supports

Thunder Bay Campus

Orillia Campus

  • The Office of Indigenous Initiatives offers a variety of services, connections to resources and referrals for all students. 
  • Indigenous Cultural Wellness Facilitator - offers drop-in activities to provide Indigenous ways of knowing on health and wellness to all students. Visit the Student Health and Wellness Events Calendar for upcoming activities.
 LUSU Centres and Student Groups

Off-Campus Supports and Resources

Off-Campus Supports

Thunder Bay

Orillia

  • Mamaway Wiidokdaadwin- Provides Indigenous, interdisciplinary wellness and primary care
  • Orillia Native Women's Group- Offers a wide range of programs and services to foster a sense of community and support the wellbeing of Indigenous women, children, and families in the Orillia Area
  • Barrie Native Friendship Center-  Provides a gathering place which promotes unity and wholistic healing within the community at large
Virtual Resources and Hotlines
  • Noojimo Health. Virtual counselling for Indigenous people by Indigenous providers, the Noojimo circle works together to create a safe space for Indigenous people to receive better wholistic mental wellness support. Fee for service, direct billing available. 
  • Black Youth Helpline. Canada-wide helpline for young black individuals who need help accessing mental health and educational resources. Available daily from 9 am-10 pm EST.  1-833-294-8650.

  • Healing in Colour. Offers a directory of care providers, primarily therapists, who have committed to supporting IBPOC individuals. Also offers many external resources including articles, meditation practices, podcasts, videos and many other forms of additional resources for patrons to explore.

  • Support Network for Indigenous Women & Women of Colour (SNIWWOC) Confronts the barriers to healthcare and reproductive freedom for Canadian IBPOC women, two-spirit, and non-binary individuals. Using a holistic and integrated service model addressing the political, social, and cultural challenges faced by their communities. 

  • Native Youth Crisis Helpline- This 24/7 crisis line is for Indigenous youth and is available for residents of Canada and the United States. Call 1-877-209-1266.
  • Talk4Healing -Culturally grounded, confidential helpline for Indigenous women. available in 14 languages and available 24/7. Call or Text 1-855-554-HEAL. The website also offers a live chat option.

  • Hope for Wellness- Hope for Wellness is a 24/7 phone or online chat service that offers crisis and counselling services to Indigenous peoples across Canada.

  • Hong Fook Mental Health Association. Dedicated to improving the health of Asian communities within Canada. Offered in a variety of languages to improve accessibility.

  • Naseeha. With our confidential helpline, our youth receives immediate, anonymous, and confidential support over the phone available 24/7. Call or text 1 (866) 627-3342.

  • Multicultural Mental Health Resource Centre. Offers multilingual resources for individuals on the topics of mental health, resources, and avenues of treatment.

  • Pathways to Care- a community-driven and youth-led systems change project committed to transforming the mental healthcare system for Black children, youth and their families.

  • Asian Mental Health Collective- aspires to make mental health easily available, approachable, and accessible to Asian communities worldwide.

  • Asian Mental Health Project-  aims to educate and empower Asian communities in seeking mental healthcare

  • SOCH Mental Health- aims to empower South Asian community members to recognize and accept mental health as an essential part of their wellness through education, prevention, and building resilience.

  • Nalgona Positivity Pride- an unconventional eating disorder awareness organization that shines a light on the often-overlooked societal factors that perpetuate unrealistic and oppressive beauty and health standards. NPP offers a vital space for BIPOC individuals to celebrate and embrace their bodies and identities.
  • Well For Culture- An Indigenous wellness initiative
  • The YBMen Project- an educational and social support program for young Black men. This culturally-sensitive, age-appropriate, and gender-specific program uses a private social media group (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, etc.) to provide mental health education and social support to young Black men by using information and prompts from social media and popular culture (e.g., YouTube videos, photos, lyrics, and current headlines).
  • The Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective- BEAM is a national training, movement building, and grant making institution that is dedicated to the healing, wellness, and liberation of Black and marginalized communities. *American resource
  • You Are Made of Medicine- A Mental Health Peer Support Manual for Indigiqueer, Two-Spirit, LGBTQ+, and Gender Non-Conforming Indigenous youth, from the Native Youth Sexual Health Network
  • Pathways to Wellness- an Online Wellness Resource for Indigenous  Students
Apps, Podcasts and Accounts to Follow

 Podcasts

  • The Homecoming Podcast with Dr. Thema- With weekly episodes, Thema Bryant-Davis frames her approach to mental well-being as the spiritual and psychological journey of coming home to oneself. A minister, psychologist and artist, Bryant-Davis normalizes the work of mental health for both professionals like herself as well as those who seek treatment. 
  • All My Relations- On this podcast, a duo of Indigenous hosts delve into their relationships with the land, and each other, which regularly intersect with mental health. Matika Wilbur, a visual storyteller, belongs to the Swinomish and Tulalip people, and Adrienne Keene, a university professor, is a member of the Cherokee Nation. Together, they engage in conversation with a variety of guests to shed light on Indigenous perspectives to promote well-being when colonialist harm continues. 
  • The Melanated Social Work Podcast- As an ongoing conversation about the impact of white supremacy on mental health, this podcast provides valuable psychoeducation from four practicing BIPOC social workers, Josh McNeil, Marvin Toliver, Michael Grinnell and Jesse Wiltey. This podcast ended in the fall of 2022 but the episodes are still worth listening to.
  • Between Sessions Podcast- Described as “two brown chicks changing the face of therapy on both sides of the couch,” this podcast is hosted by Eliza Boqiun and Eboni Harris, co-founders of Melanin and Mental Health, to support the unique needs of communities of colour for culturally appropriate treatment options. Listeners have a selection of more than 100 shows from these therapists, who regularly interview other BIPOC professionals to deconstruct how to address barriers to treatment and better advocate for underserved individuals. 
  • Therapy for Black Girls-Atlanta-based clinical psychologist Joy Harden Bradford founded “Therapy for Black Girls,” a weekly podcast offering mental health resources and advice for both personal and professional development for Black women and beyond.
  • Latinx Therapy- discusses mental health topics related to Latinas, Latinos and Latinx individuals in efforts to demystify myths and diagnoses that truly exist. Cultural and commonly stigmatized themes will be discussed with Latinx mental health professionals, psychiatrists, doctors, bloggers, tv personalities, social media influencers, entrepreneurs and many more. 

  • Stories of Stigma: South Asian Mental Health- MannMukti.org is a one-stop resource for South Asians to learn about and address mental health concerns with each other. MannMukti translates to “mental liberation" in Hindi. Our mission is to encourage healthy, open dialogue of mental health issues in an effort to remove stigma, improve awareness and promote self-care.

  • The Mindful Muslim- a discussion on mental health, psychology, Islam and spirituality featuring mental health professionals. 

  • Asians Do Therapy- Normalizing therapy with conversations with Asians and Asian Americans on both sides of the couch.

Apps

  • The Safe Place-  "The Safe Place" Is a Minority Mental Health App geared towards the Black Community. The Purpose of the "Safe Place" is to bring more awareness, education, and hope to this serious issue. Not only can the black community benefit from this app, but also mental health professionals, friends, and family, of ALL colours can be better educated on this issue and do a service by directing their black friends, co-workers, etc. to the app.
  • Thunderbird Wellness App- promotes a strengths-based, trauma-informed approach to supporting Indigenous wellness.

Webinars

This is by no means an exhaustive list of resources- if you have a resource you think should be added please email activities.shcc@lakeheadu.ca