mental health AIDS

Fall 2004 Newsletter / Volume 6, Issue 1

From the Block

Native Circle, a component of San Francisco 's Native American Health Center (NAHC) Family and Child Guidance Clinic, is funded by CMHS/SAMHSA to provide mental health services to Native Americans with HIV/AIDS residing in the San Francisco Bay Area. The program integrates individual, group, and family therapy into a larger, holistic system of care that includes community outreach, HIV/AIDS risk reduction, case management, substance abuse treatment, dental care, and medical services (including alternative and Native American practices). Mental health treatment will often address the stigma associated with being gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender and/or HIV-positive, as well as multigenerational family dysfunction associated with "cultural genocide," the outcome of forced relocation and forced assimilation of Native peoples into mainstream society.

Native Circle incorporates the beliefs, traditions, and rituals of various tribal groups into its psychotherapy model, centered on the premise that "disease" represents a need for re-balancing, which can be achieved through participation in ritual (e.g., the use of "talking circles" as a form of group therapy; the burning of ceremonial herbs to assist in the healing process; traditional "sweats," used to teach relaxation techniques and stress reduction). While this perspective is not imposed on clients, the invitation to take part in such activities remains open.

The Principal Investigator is Ethan Nebelkopf, PhD; the Clinical Director is Nelson Jim, MA. For more information, please call 415/621-4371 x 533 or go to: http://www.nativehealth.org/.

- Compiled by the MHHSC Program Coordinating Center

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