Staff members at Sanford Behavioral Health in Bemidji, Minnesota, are on the front lines of some of the most difficult problems in healthcare today, and one of those problems is substance abuse.
The issue is compounded in Bemidji, where addiction recovery can be even more difficult for Native Americans who live there and just beyond the borders in one of the surrounding reservations.
Sanford Health’s substance use disorder program in Bemidji is certified as one of fewer than two dozen Wellbriety Certified Treatment Centers in the nation.
What is Wellbriety?
To become a Wellbriety Certified Treatment Center, a substance use program must meet specific criteria upheld by the White Bison organization. This includes ensuring all counselors are trained in and incorporate culturally based curriculum, providing access to a Native American elder who conducts ceremonies and provides teachings, and incorporating traditional Native American healing practices such as smudging, pipe ceremony, and sweat lodge into the program.
Joseph Beaudreau, a former Native American health advocate at Sanford Bemidji, works in behavioral health and is Anishinaabe and an enrolled member of the White Earth Nation. He sees Sanford’s commitment to Wellbriety as a positive step for the surrounding communities.
“It’s a little bit different than AA in that it’s more culturally specific in the spirituality,” said Beaudreau, now a peer support specialist with Sanford. “The very term ‘Wellbriety’ is speaking about holistic well-being: mind, body and soul. If you’re not taking care of the spirit, then all the things that are going on deep inside are going to affect what’s out here, in our body, in our emotions and in our mind.”
Beaudreau himself is a recovering alcoholic. Those deeply personal experiences inform the way he treats patients, and they help explain why adding Wellbriety at Sanford was so important.
What makes Sanford Bemidji clinic special
Sanford Bemidji’s substance use disorder program offers culturally aligned services and resources to support individuals seeking long-term recovery from substance use.
The program aims for counselors to work as a team to provide individual, group-licensed alcohol and drug counseling services; individual, group and community-based treatment coordination services; and individual and community outreach-based peer recovery services.
Photo by Jason Anschutz, Sanford Health
The Wellbriety group begins in circle with a sacred smudging ceremony in which sage and other traditional medicines are burned. The Native American ceremony involves keeping the medicines smoldering while covering participants with smoke from head to toe, and the smoke is a way to cleanse and purify the individual or the space.
Afterwards there are teachings from elders, and a group meeting that can work like a traditional 12-step program.
Long-term, Beaudreau sees this program as being beneficial beyond Bemidji.
“My hope is to build a very healthy and robust peer support community,” said Beaudreau. “To bring about healing, building those relationships, building those bridges. We’re on this big boat called the earth together.”
What advocacy means to Native American patients
Beyond substance use treatment, Sanford Health is working to address all types of health disparities for Native American people.
People like Rebekah Fineday are helping make that happen. Fineday is a citizen of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and serves as Sanford Health’s Native American community advocate in Bemidji. In that role, Fineday is helping Sanford continue to develop and deliver culturally appropriate services to Native American patients.
“Sanford has made it a documented priority to improve meaningful delivery of services for the Native American population,” Fineday said. “I’m happy to be able to go out to our communities and share the things that Sanford is doing.”
Fineday seeks out community resources for Native Americans in Bemidji and within the White Earth Nation, Red Lake Nation and her own Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe.
Photo by Sanford Health
Navigating the different health systems in the Bemidji area can be challenging, Fineday said. Indian Health Services are government-run entities located on reservations and have been established as part of treaties between the U.S. government and the Tribes. There also are healthcare facilities owned and operated by the Tribes themselves.
“I meet with Tribal leadership throughout the three reservations and let them know the role Sanford has in the area,” Fineday said. “I try to build on these relationships and in some cases try to repair some of these relationships by letting people know the kinds of things that Sanford can help with. Because I’m a Native American, sometimes I can open a few more doors and present more opportunities on the reservations and in the communities themselves.”
Fineday is an Air Force veteran who went on to become a registered nurse and has since served in multiple capacities for both Cass Lake and Red Lake Indian Health Services.
Her roles within the military and healthcare have always gravitated toward leadership. She will often help at the facilities she visits by working in a case management role or in a patient advocate role, all the while using her background in nursing to provide expertise. In those capacities she gets a close-up view of the contributions being made by colleagues to the overall delivery of healthcare.
“The case management team is absolutely phenomenal here in Bemidji in what they can accomplish,” Fineday said. “They do so much in such a short time. They work tirelessly and go above and beyond for all our patients.”
How to reach Wellbriety
If you or someone you know would like to reach out about Wellbriety, call the Sanford Bemidji Behavioral Health clinic at (218) 333-2006.
Learn more
- Sanford works to provide culturally competent care for all
- From addiction to advocacy
- Addiction recovery digs into causes, healthier responses
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Posted In Behavioral Health, Bemidji, Chemical Dependency, Community Impact, Thought Leadership
