Social Paediatrics in Saskatoon in Association with St. Mary's

Benefits:
While no formal outcome data has been gathered, the benefits of having access to
school-based clinical psychology services have been voiced repeatedly by teachers,
school mental health workers (social workers and counselors), parents, and the children
themselves. One adolescent, who had difficulty accepting help in the past for numerous
losses, traumas, and self-medicating addictions, reported: “It was hard to trust you at first,
but this helps. I don’t have anyone else I can talk to about this stuff.” This was after one
year of regular outreach sessions that had progressed from being simple relationship
building visits to genuine psychotherapy, including grief counseling and
psychotherapeutic interventions and strategies. Young people such as this would not be
seen by a psychologist if it meant traveling to a downtown office; not necessarily because
of physical accessibility, but because of difficulty trusting any professional who requires
them to be seen outside of their community. For youth of aboriginal decent, this lack of
trust is clearly a result of our history of institutional racism and colonialism.
School social workers have spoken of the difficulty they have had helping some
disadvantaged families to feel comfortable with accessing external psychotherapy
services because of past negative experiences with “institutional” or hospital-based
agencies. Families of similar situations have since indicated their satisfaction with the
flexibility and accessibility of a school-based model and the team-approach that is made
possible through the partnerships between the school systems and the Paediatric Clinic.
© Greater Saskatoon Catholic School Division 2011 31