Program Areas
All of our services are free and you are welcome here. Click on the boxes below to learn more about the services offered in each program area. If you don’t know where to start or where you are on your journey, that’s okay, our Engagement Coordinator is here to help you find your path.
Awareness & Coping
Learn about the impacts of trauma and build internal resources and skills…
Awareness & Coping
Long-Term Therapy
Explore and process your trauma to repair the harms and find meaning…
Long-Term Therapy
Moving Forward
Form meaningful connections with others and the community to continue and enhance…
Moving Forward
Parenting After Trauma
Support for parents and caregivers who have experienced childhood sexual abuse.
Parenting After Trauma
Cultural Program
Heartwood Healing Centre is in process of developing a cultural program that…
Cultural Program
Building a Foundation Program
Learn about the impacts of trauma and build internal resources and skills to deal with life challenges.
Short-Term Counselling
- Up to 12 individual counselling sessions
- For those who would like to focus on present day experiences and challenges
- Learn about how trauma has impacted your life and build coping skills to support you in dealing with present day challenges.
Understanding & Coping with Trauma
- 6-week psychoeducational group
- For those who want to build connections and practice new skills with others in a group setting
- Learn about the impacts of trauma, self-care, and healthy coping strategies
- Groups available for all people, all women, for all men, and for 2SLGBTQIA+ folks – choose the space that is most comfortable for you
Young Adult Capacity Building Group (ages 16-24)
- 6-week psychoeducational group
- Learn about the impacts of trauma and explore self-care and healthy coping in a space that centers the experience of young adults aged 16-29
- All genders welcome
Foundation Building Webinars
- Monthly virtual webinars on a variety of topics
- All genders welcome
- Visit our events page to learn about upcoming webinars.
For more information
“[What I found most helpful about long term therapy was] the new sense of self, the start of the journey towards the person I was meant to be. I cannot possibly put into words the degree to which [Heartwood Healing Centre] has helped me and shaped my life. The changes in my life are immeasurable.”
Reflect & Reclaim Program
Explore and process your trauma to repair the harms and find meaning in your journey.
Long-Term Therapy
- Up to 2 years (or up to 60 sessions) of trauma-focused therapy
- For those who want to explore and process their trauma more deeply
Young Adult Therapy
- Up to 2 years (or up to 60 sessions) of trauma-focused therapy for young adults aged 16-29
- We have a Therapist that focuses on working specifically with young adults
Therapy Groups
- 8-week processing group
- For people engaged in therapy at Heartwood Healing Centre, or elsewhere.
- Groups available for all people, all women, for all men, and for 2SLGBTQIA+ folks – choose the space that is most comfortable for you
For more information
“[What I found most helpful about long term therapy was] the new sense of self, the start of the journey towards the person I was meant to be. I cannot possibly put into words the degree to which [Heartwood Healing Centre] has helped me and shaped my life. The changes in my life are immeasurable.”
Connect & Thrive Program
Form meaningful connections with others and the community to continue and enhance your healing.
Beyond Therapy
- 8-week processing group
- For people who have recently completed or will be completing long-term therapy at Heartwood Healing Centre.
- Focuses on taking learning from individual therapy and applying within relationship and community
- Groups available for all people, all women, for all men, and for 2SLGBTQIA+ folks – choose the space that is most comfortable for you
Stronger Voices
- Monthly open support groups
- Focus is on supporting and learning from each other
- Groups available for all people, all women, for all men, and for 2SLGBTQIA+ folks – choose the space that is most comfortable for you
Rising Together
- 10 session peer support training
- Volunteer opportunities for those who have taken the peer support training
- In 2022, the training is open to those who have accessed services at Heartwood Healing Centre.
- All genders welcome.
Moving Forward Workshops
- In-person, forward-facing workshops
- Focus is on engaging in creative, fun, and hands-on activities.
- All genders welcome.
- Visit our events page to learn about upcoming workshops.
Friends & Family Workshop
- 6-week psychoeducational group
- For people who are in relationship with someone who has experienced childhood sexual abuse
- Focus is on the impacts of childhood sexual abuse and how to be a support to your loved one
- All genders welcome
For more information
“[What I found most helpful about long term therapy was] the new sense of self, the start of the journey towards the person I was meant to be. I cannot possibly put into words the degree to which [Heartwood Healing Centre] has helped me and shaped my life. The changes in my life are immeasurable.”
Support for parents and caregivers who have experienced childhood sexual abuse.
Trauma-Focused Parenting Sessions
- Up to 12 individual parenting sessions
- For people who are expecting a child or caring for children
- Focus is on exploring the impact of childhood trauma on parenting
Parenting After Trauma Group
- 6-week psychoeducational group
- For people who are expecting a child or caring for children
- Focus is on how your trauma experience has impacted you as a parent/caregiver
- Learn strategies for mindfulness, grounding and staying present in a group setting
- All genders welcome.
For more information
“[What I found most helpful about long term therapy was] the new sense of self, the start of the journey towards the person I was meant to be. I cannot possibly put into words the degree to which [Heartwood Healing Centre] has helped me and shaped my life. The changes in my life are immeasurable.”
Wichihin Niwahkomakanak (wee-chii-hin ni-wah-koma- kanak): Calling Our Ancestors
Heartwood Healing Centre is in process of developing a cultural program that will include activities and supports that center Indigenous ways of knowing, feeling, being, and doing.
Naming Ceremony 2022
At a Naming Ceremony in November 2022, Elder Charlotte Nolin shared a name for our cultural program that came to her in a dream. It is “Calling Our Ancestors” or as her relative shared in Cree, Wichihin Niwahkomakanak (wee-chii-hin ni-wah-koma- kanak).
Charlotte also shared with us the teachings and responsibilities that come with the name. She said the work we are doing to heal generations of trauma is hard work. We will need the help of our ancestors along the way to support participants of our program and us as helpers. Inviting ancestors into the space will give people the strength and courage they need to move forward. We need to call on our ancestors to support participants to express themselves.
Our responsibility at Heartwood is to live and bring life to this name, Wichihin Niwahkomakanak. To do this, she recommended hanging cedar and the four colours (red, white, yellow, and black) in the four corners of the space where the name was given and where the program would be facilitated. We are also encouraged to feast the name every year.
During the Naming Ceremony, Heartwood’s Cultural Advisor, Ivanna Yellowback was offered tobacco and asked to give us our colors. She shared that when we call in our ancestors, they come in the form of the northern lights, and that’s what was shown. Our colours, then, are green, blue, yellow, and white.
For more information
“[What I found most helpful about long term therapy was] the new sense of self, the start of the journey towards the person I was meant to be. I cannot possibly put into words the degree to which [Heartwood Healing Centre] has helped me and shaped my life. The changes in my life are immeasurable.”