Coming Together for Newcomer Mental Health
In collaboration with a number of community partners, CLIP hosted a two-day event. The goal of this gathering was to bring together mainstream mental health and wellness providers with newcomer mental health and wellness providers to share ideas, practices and to explore new ways of supporting newcomers. Together, we will imagine a new model of care for newcomer mental health and wellness.
On the first day of the event, Wednesday, May 4, we introduced the unique mental health challenges that newcomers experience and learn about the barriers to accessing mental health supports when they need them. Workshops on day one were delivered online.
The second day of the event, Thursday, May 5, we met in person, and you had an opportunity to hear from Dr. Branka Agic, a leader in newcomer mental health and wellness. There were also workshops and a panel of experts who shared their reflections on the event. We hope you had the opportunity to visit the resource fair and meet others working in this area as we dive deeper into the issue of newcomer mental health.
We encourage you all to share your own experiences working with newcomer populations and welcome your suggestions on how, together, we develop a new, and more effective model of care for supporting newcomers with mental health needs.
Presentations
Click on the name of the workshop to access the presentation slides. Please note, that not all slides will be available. For more information about the presentations and the speakers, please access the event guide.
Keynote speaker
Newcomer Mental Health
Dr. Branka Agic - The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)
May 4 Workshops
Heavy Burdens: Impacts of Racism and Mental Health
Katie Israel, Cesar Suva, Ronni Abraham - The Immigrant Education Society (TIES)
Dominika Kubica-Owoc, Faraz Khan - Centre for Newcomers (CFN)
Exploring cultural norms and mental health
Examining Newcomer Youth Experiences and Mental Health
Dr. Olivia Aiello - University of Toronto
May 5 Workshops
Understanding the Intersection of Domestic Violence on Newcomer Mental Health
Harman Batth and Arunie Saldhi - Punjabi Community Health Centre
Examining Loss and Grief as Part of the Newcomer Experience
Patricia Canales - Carya
Strengthening the Role of Communities and Natural Supports
Aurelio Naraval, Linh Bui, Humaira Falak - ActionDignity
Solomon Worku - Immigrant Outreach Society
Ronni Abraham - TIES
Understanding the Trauma Experiences and Responses of Newcomers and Refugees
Kathleen Bragas and Bethel Abraham - The Centre for Refugee Resilience, Calgary Catholic Immigration Society (CCIS)