Social workers see and hear things others don’t and for three counsellors employed by the South East Cornerstone Public School Division, their two trips into northern Saskatchewan’s First Nation’s community of La Loche, it was particularly educational and enriching.
Dan Graf, Arcola School region; Kate Dammann, Midale and area; and Marge Phenix Maryfield/ Redvers; were involved in two trips to the northern community following a tragic multiple-death shooting that led to the closure of the community school for a few weeks. The need for counselling became clear as the band and residents struggled to emerge from the devastating effects of the incident that took the lives of four young people.
A team of seven Cornerstone counsellors made their way to the community in February, shortly after the shooting and a follow up team of six were dispatched a month later. Graf, Dammann and Phenix were included in both.
The trio said the first visit was filled with trepidation since they were uncertain how their intervention would be met within a tight-knit community. “How would we be received was the big question,” said Graf.
It turned out the community was open and willing to accept the support they were offering and willing to share stories in an open and sharing manner.
“A lot of the fear melted away,” Graf said.
The second visit, however, saw a bit of a pull back by some people in the town, Dammann said, but not to the extent that the counsellors felt un-welcomed or rejected, but rather it just became part of the healing process.
The Clear Water First Nations leaders treated them like family and “we had to understand their family members, their co-workers had died,” said Graf.
Phenix and Dammann, in speaking with Cornerstone’s board of trustees on Sept. 15, said they had to make it clear that “we are not teachers, we have a different job to do when it comes to counselling.”
Nevertheless, Dammann described the experience as life-changing for her and that included a social work career that has spanned 37 years. “It was a privilege and I know it cost our division a lot in terms of money and time lost on the jobs and I found it physically and emotionally exhausting with 16-hour days, but when you know there was more to do, you have to do it.”
The second trip was different, she said.
“By that time they had seen so many counsellors they were traumatically closed again, but fortunately, because we had taken some data during assessments on the first visit, we were able to go to those who were in higher risk situations and administration in the band could refer to it for future needs,” said Dammann. “We see people emotionally, not academically.”
The three counsellors said they were proud of the fact that Cornerstone stepped up and stepped beyond what would be normally expected to help another community overcome a disaster.
Phenix said as stressful as it was, “you can say our training kicked in and I felt honoured to go as a bereavement counsellor. We were walked through the event and learned that what we were hearing was not the news story, but another one, a very real story. I don’t find myself complaining as much anymore. We were there to listen and frankly, I couldn’t wait to go back and the second time was completely different. The feel was different, we knew many of these residents would need help later as the true trauma set in and I don’t know if they have received all the grief counselling they would need,” Phenix added.
But, the Cornerstone team said they felt they had been able to do some good and helped the La Loche citizens get back to some sense of normalcy as they waded through the emotional abyss that many would have been in following the tragic events.
The Cornerstone trustees said they certainly appreciated the report that included what details the counsellors could share with them.
Chairwoman Audrey Trombley added she felt Cornerstone had made the right decision in sending teams of counsellors to the northern community in their time of stress and need, even if it had taken a toll on the division’s financial and human resources.
