here - Education Management Corporation

Seattle
Raising Suicide Awareness
for a Community in Need
Students in the Advanced Intercultural Theories and Therapy seminar at Argosy University, Seattle took their
education into the community at the 2010 Yakama Nation Treaty Days. In this psycho-educational project, students
had the opportunity to collaborate with Yakama Nation community members and pull together relevant research to
create materials focused on suicide prevention.
The 14 Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation are a federally recognized sovereign Indian nation
under the Yakama Treaty of 1855. The annual Yakama Nation Treaty Days Pow Wow celebrates the history and
culture of this 1,377,034-acre reservation, located in south central Washington along the eastern slopes of the
Cascade Mountain Range.
“As a result of intergenerational trauma, loss and cultural destruction, American Indian communities often struggle with
high rates of poverty, substance abuse and youth suicide,” said Dr. David Walker, associate professor for the Clinical
Psychology Program in the American School of Professional Psychology at Argosy University, Seattle. “Mental health
resources are frequently overwhelmed or have limited cultural relevance.”
“Participation in the Yakama Nation Treaty Days gave students the
opportunity to learn, collaborate and participate with a community
in need,” said Walker. Six students, who interviewed several Yakama
Nation Community Coalition members prior to the event, developed
and distributed suicide prevention brochures, and encouraged family
members to become involved in the Coalition themselves.
Brochure-related Niix Ttawaxt (“Good Growth to Maturity”)
buttons, stickers and bookmarks the students made were handed out,
drawing children and their families to activities at the booth. “Half
of the nearly 10,000 members of the Yakama Nation are under the
age of 18, so it was critical that we create materials which appealed
to them, were relevant to their culture and provided them with
needed information about issues they face in their community and, in
some cases, their family,” said Kelsey Kennedy, an Argosy University,
Seattle Doctorate of Clinical Psychology program student and
participant in the project.
“The project became an exceptionally rich learning experience
for students and provided an important community service to a
population deserving much more help with this tragic challenge,”
said Walker.