Mental Health Resources for First Nations Communities
Aurora Psychology Group shares practical, culturally grounded mental health and addiction resources developed alongside First Nations communities across Alberta and the Northwest Territories. Every tool, framework, and support listed here is shaped by a Two-Eyed Seeing approach that honours Indigenous knowledge alongside Western clinical practice.
Resource Categories
Explore the supports we offer to First Nations communities, Health Directors, and community-based organizations.
Counselling & Therapy Supports
Direct clinical counselling services funded through Jordan's Principle and the Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) program. Our registered therapists provide individual, family, and group counselling that honours cultural identity while addressing anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, and substance use. Sessions are delivered in-community, virtually, or through hybrid models that keep families at the centre of care.
Crisis & Critical Incident Response
Rapid-response mental health support for communities experiencing loss, suicide, or other critical incidents. Our team works alongside community health staff and leadership to coordinate safe, culturally grounded response plans, debriefing circles, and follow-up care that strengthens collective resilience rather than pathologizing community pain.
Strategic Planning Frameworks
Custom mental health and addiction strategic plans developed in partnership with Chiefs and Councils, Health Directors, and Tribal Councils. Each framework reflects the Nation's own vision of wellness, includes measurable community-defined outcomes, and aligns with federal funding cycles to ensure long-term, sustainable service delivery.
Training & Capacity Building
Workshops and ongoing mentorship for community wellness workers, education staff, and leadership. Topics include trauma-informed practice, Two-Eyed Seeing in clinical work, suicide intervention, and self-care for helpers. Training is designed to build local expertise so communities retain knowledge and reduce reliance on outside providers.
Collaborative Care Models
Integrated care pathways that connect counselling, primary care, Elders, cultural healers, and school-based supports into a single coordinated system. These models reduce silos, prevent people from falling through gaps, and ensure that every community member has a clear, trusted route to the help they need.
Wellness Framework Development
Comprehensive wellness frameworks that blend Indigenous knowledge systems with Western clinical psychology. Each framework is owned by the community, grounded in local language and ceremony, and designed to be living documents that evolve as the Nation's needs and strengths grow over time.
Immediate Crisis Support
If you or someone you care about is in immediate danger, please contact your local emergency services or the Hope for Wellness Help Line at 1-855-242-3310. This helpline offers culturally grounded crisis intervention support for Indigenous peoples across Canada, available 24 hours a day in several languages including Cree, Ojibway, and Inuktitut.
Culturally Grounded Mental Health Support in Alberta and NWT
Aurora Psychology Group is committed to walking alongside First Nations communities in Alberta and the Northwest Territories as they strengthen their mental health and addiction systems. We believe that the most effective mental health resources are those designed, owned, and led by the communities themselves. Our role is to bring clinical expertise, strategic planning capacity, and a deep respect for Indigenous knowledge systems so that Nations can build wellness frameworks that reflect their own values, languages, and ceremonial traditions.
Through Jordan's Principle and NIHB funding, we deliver counselling services to children, youth, and adults who would otherwise face barriers to culturally safe care. Our therapists are trained in trauma-informed practice and work within a Two-Eyed Seeing framework that blends the strengths of Indigenous healing with evidence-based clinical psychology. This means that a young person connecting with one of our counsellors is met not only with professional skill, but with an understanding of land-based wellness, intergenerational resilience, and the importance of family and community in the healing journey.
Beyond direct counselling, we partner with Health Directors, Chiefs and Councils, Education Authorities, and Tribal Councils to develop strategic mental health plans, capacity-building programs, and collaborative care models. These resources are designed to reduce dependency on fly-in, fly-out providers by building local expertise, strengthening community-based service organizations, and creating clear pathways between counselling, primary care, cultural healers, and school-based supports. The result is a more connected, sustainable, and community-owned mental health system.
If your community is seeking resources, training, or a long-term partner in mental health system development, we invite you to reach out. Aurora Psychology Group is honoured to support First Nations communities across Alberta and NWT in building wellness systems that honour the past, strengthen the present, and protect future generations.