Substance abuse treatment for Tribal members should be very specialized to include a foundation of respect, tradition, and values. The essence of Native American culture is the concept that everything is spiritual. We work side-by-side with our tribal guests to reconnect their spirit to all things around them. At Seaglass, we believe that spiritual healing is as important to the recovery process as mental or physical healing.
What is Tribal Healing?
Tribal Healing focuses on the holistic recovery of our tribal guests through the fusion of traditional, research-based treatment practices with traditional Native American philosophies and customs. Within the Medicine Wheel & 12 Steps, our staff of tribal specialists educate our guests on prevention, preparation, and harm reduction tactics regarding alcohol and drug addiction within the scope of Native practices. Additionally, our staff reviews the historical trauma inflicted on native peoples following the introduction to European settlers, offering practical and positive coping skills to aid in their healing from intergenerational trauma.
Royal Life Centers is proud to be one of eleven Wellbriety certified treatment centers and the opportunity to honor the centuries-old traditions within our Tribal Healing Program for tribal members in need of SUD treatment.
Within Tribal Healing, our staff of Tribal Addiction Specialists perform substance abuse assessments, dual diagnosis evaluations, and create individualized treatment plans with each guest. At Royal Life Centers, we aim to develop and promote a reassuring atmosphere in a culturally based environment to encourage beneficial behavioral changes so that our guests may regain fulfilling relationships within themselves, their families, and their communities.
White Bison, Wellbriety, and Culturally-Based Addiction Treatment
The Wellbriety Movement was formed as a way to fill the gap in Native American healthcare, providing culturally-based healing for current and future generations of Indigenous people.
Wellbriety aims to revitalize the traditional tribal principles, values, and teachings to restore the strong foundation of health and interconnectedness amongst Native American communities. In doing so, the movement aspires to promote holistic tribal healing of alcohol abuse, substance use disorders, co-occurring disorders, and the aftereffects of intergenerational trauma.
White Bison and Native-Based Treatment
As a center of excellence, White Bison offers tribal healing training in addition to necessary tools and resources that promote sustainable and beneficial growth within Native American Communities.
White Bison is the Wellbriety Movement’s globally recognized training institute that offers substance abuse treatment programs training and certifications in Wellbriety’s culturally-based healing curriculum.
Our Tribal Healing Program at Seaglass follows the teachings of White Bison’s Wellbriety-certified cultural education curriculum. Through Wellbriety, our program illustrates the origins and influencing factors of Native American substance use as a means of drug and alcohol addiction recovery. As tribal members are guided through our Tribal Program for addiction treatment, reconnects our guests to their culture through the integration of traditional Native practices and customs. In doing so, guest involvement and collaboration, participation in tribal ceremonies and events, and educational courses promote healing and growth from within.
A meticulously crafted embodiment of Wellbriety, White Bison works to pass on native-based education to improve indigenous people’s connection to the traditions and customs that allowed their ancestors to flourish and coexist in nature, their communities, and as individuals.
The Medicine Wheel and 12-Step Program
The Medicine Wheel and 12-Step program is certification that focuses on healing the pain in communities (hurt, violence, suicide, the impact of addiction, etc.) and provides culturally-based treatment services within the 12-step approach. This adjusted 12-step program is based on teachings of the medicine wheel, the cycle of life, the Four Laws of Change, and ceremonial practice. Including culture, tradition, and values into this 12-step approach proves to be the missing piece for many tribal members who need more of a tailored approach to a traditional 12-step program of recovery.
Healing with The Medicine Wheel
The Medicine Wheel is a sacred Native American symbol that represents healing and health. Often, the Medicine Wheel is regarded as a representation of all knowledge of the universe, a true symbol of hope and healing— for those who seek it. The Medicine Wheel’s symbolism can vary from tribe to tribe, as it is up to their interpretation. The Medicine Wheel has four directions: north, east, south and west. Each of these directions is a marker for many other attributes of that section of the Medicine Wheel.
Elements of The Four Directions:
- Stages of Life: Birth, Youth, Adult, Death
- Holistic Health Aspects: Mental, Emotional, Physical, Spiritual
- Natural Elements: Water, Air, Earth, Fire
- Seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter
- Ceremonial Plants: Sage, Sweetgrass, Cedar, Tobacco
The Medicine Wheel, also called the Sacred Hoop, is a physical representation of the Native American ideology of universal interconnectedness. For generations, tribes have adopted the wheel’s mentality for physical, emotional, and spiritual healing.
Mending Broken Hearts
Mending Broken Hearts is a course through Wellbriety’s White Bison training course. Mending Broken Hearts focuses on an approach to addressing intergenerational trauma for the purpose of healing. Mending Broken Hearts teaches about the trauma from stripping away the culture, interconnectedness, elders’ teachings, spirituality, language, values and ceremonies from Native Americans. Historically, this trauma occurred generations ago, as a consequence of mission and boarding schools that the Native American youth were forced into. This shift resulted in trauma— the taking away of an identity, values, having native languages silenced, even sexual and physical abuse.
The pain from this trauma is still felt, seven generations later. We are committed to breaking this cycle. Some of the biggest roadblocks to addiction treatment for Native Americans are addressing this intergenerational trauma, the generations of substance abuse and addiction, generations of shame and generations of abuse. We use the knowledge from this training to address the very real and ever-present root emotions of anger, guilt, shame, and fear— so that we can make room for healing.
Warrior Down
Warrior Down is White Bison’s relapse prevention program that provides structure through relapse prevention techniques and recovery support for tribal members that have graduated our treatment program and are returning home to their tribal communities. Warrior Down offers a continuum of care for our Native American guests, smoothing the transition from treatment at Seaglass at Royal Life Centers to their tribal communities through our collaboration and preparation with their tribe’s sober support systems.
Our Tribal Healing program recognizes the importance of Warrior Down as it provides accountability measures and a built-in sober support system— this program ensures that each tribal member is supported as they navigate early sobriety. As our guests reintegrate into their communities, they are guided through a sustained support network that doubles as a response team.
The Red Road To Wellbriety
The Native American wellness and recovery book, The Red Road To Wellbriety: In the Native American Way, is Wellbriety’s literary resource written by tribal members and for tribal members. This book a culturally-based wisdom provides a Native American perspective on the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Borrowing from AA’s “Big Book,” The Red Road To Recovery utilizes the 12-step format to jumpstart the recovery of tribal members.
During a guest’s time in Seaglass’ Tribal Healing program, they are provided a copy of The Red Road To Wellbriety as a recovery resource to guide them on their journey to long-lasting recovery. Wellbriety’s recovery literature can also be purchased through Wellbriety’s website for all those who would like to review its wisdom alongside their loved one as they begin their recovery journey.
Learn More About Our Native American Program
Reach Out To Join Our Tribal Healing Program
Royal Life Centers is in-network with Shasta Insurance and the Healthcare Management Administration (HMA). We also have a collaborative relationship with IHS (Indian Health Services) and are fully willing to work with other insurance providers in order to get you into our Tribal Healing program for treatment. Should our admissions team find that your insurance plan is out of network we will work relentlessly on your behalf to come to an agreement with your provider.
Joining Royal Life Centers’ Tribal Program
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