First Nations physicians increase access to mental health care for Indigenous patients
Posted on October 2, 2025
Dr Ellie Parton will be the first to say that culture and community are vital aspects of wellness. That’s why she, Dr Darcy Good, and Mind Space—who developed the Shared Care-funded CBT Skills program—collaborated to create the Weaving Wellbeing Together (WWT) curriculum.
Rooted in respect for Traditional knowledge and culture, the MSP-funded group gatherings enable Indigenous patients to access cognitive behavioural therapy skills training in a more culturally safe setting.
“It’s a Two-Eyed Seeing lens, incorporating both Indigenous culture and the variety of therapy-based skills offered through Mind Space,” explains Dr Parton, a WWT facilitator and Victoria-based family physician from the Wei Wai Kum band of the Kwakwaka'wakw Nation.
To date, the program has run four groups, with two more planned before year’s end. Its virtual format attracted participants from all of BC's health regions, and over 80% reported feeling safe and welcomed. They would also recommend the session to others who identify as Indigenous.
“I don’t have to explain my experience; they can understand and validate me. It’s extremely valuable,” one participant shared.
That validation is at the heart of the initiative, says Dr Darcy Good, a psychiatrist and member of Snuneymuxw First Nation, who practices on the traditional and unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. His patients appreciate the Indigenous-focused groups and value therapy-based learning with a group that can relate to the ongoing impacts of colonization and intergenerational trauma.
“This program is helping to increase access to safe spaces for our communities,” Dr Good says. “I hope that it will also encourage participants to access other mental health services in the future—whether that be Traditional Healing Circles and Elders, or other Western models of care.”
This work was funded by the Shared Care Committee, one of four joint collaborative committees of Doctors of BC and the Ministry of Health.
Partners in this work included Mind Space Skills for Wellbeing, Aunty Collective, UBC CPD, and the First Nations Health Authority.
Learn more about the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) Skills program, or refer a patient.