Pascale Kaniasta Annoual, M.A.; Ethnocultural Art Therapist
Haïtian-born, Pascale C. Annoual, art therapist/ethnopsychiatry practitioner understands life as complex world of class, power inequities, and spiritualities. She uses identity and narratives to help practitioners comprehend how the interpersonal-cultural-disciplinary knowledge informs practice, having studied the impact of oppressions on identity and on mental health.
Prior to teaching Social Sciences courses at the Kiuna College she:
- provided training to the mental health support workers at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission events in Canada (2012-13, Quebec regional sections): through the making of a collective quilt, she co-facilitated the training of the interdisciplinary mental health workers to support the process of looking at the impact of residential schools and transgenerational trauma.
- Worked directly with the families of murdered and missing Aboriginal women (2015): facilitated a quilt with beaded prayers (for Native Women of Quebec)
- provided mental health support and training for support workers and doctors in Haiti following the devastating 2010 earthquake: WHO article available
- developed the concept of Capacity Bridging: how to attain cultural competence when working across cultures, disciplines and various levels of governance
- Published in the textbook: “Tapestry of Cultural Issues in Art Therapy”, Chapter 1
She founded Arts, Racines & Therapies, a holistic therapy center that integrates traditional cultures, spirituality and creativity into a holistic clinical practice. She is readily using French, English, Creole and Spanish and is learning to speak Medu.
Carrie Martin, Ph.D. Fellow
Carrie Martin is a Mi’gmaq woman from Listuguj, who has spent the past 20 years working in the field of Indigenous women’s health, with a particular focus on HIV. She completed a B.A. in Applied Human Relations and a Graduate Diploma in Community Economic Development at Concordia University, and her B.S.W. at McGill University.
Carrie’s leadership is well established; she was the Harm Reduction Coordinator at the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal for 12 years (until March 2018), and a tireless advocate for Indigenous women living with HIV. She was also a civil society member of the Government of Canada’s Delegation (CANDEL) at the 2016 United Nations General Assembly High Level Meeting on Ending AIDS (HLM) and is an active member of the CIHR Canadian HIV Trials Network’s Community Advisory Committee for a number of years.
In 2012 she became a founding member of the Indigenous Health Centre of Tiohtià:ke and was the first President of their Board of Directors. In March 2018, she transitioned to the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network as the Indigenous Women’s Research Coordinator. She has at Concordia University to formalize her role as an Indigenous academic researcher and is the recipient of Concordia’s Indigenous Graduate Scholarship and Arts and Science Graduate Fellowship, as well as the National CHIWOS Scholar Award. Engaging with many other Indigenous and allied researchers, she capacity in the Indigenous community for grant and research development.
Dr. Sean Yaphe, MD, MPH
Dr. Sean Yaphe is born and raised in Montreal. He completed a BSc in Biochemistry from McGill University, a Master of Public Health from Université de Montréal, and medical degree from St. George’s University School of Medicine. He completed residency in Family Medicine at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan with a certificate as an HIV Specialist from the American Academy of HIV Medicine. You’ll see him Wednesday mornings as the walk-in doctor at the IHCT. The rest of the time, you’ll find him at Clinique L’Actuel, focusing his practice on LGBTQ+ health, HIV management, and gender affirming care. He also works at the McGill University Health Centre Chronic Viral Illness Service.
Sean’s research interests focus on prevention of HIV and STIs, an area where Indigenous communities are disproportionately affected. He met Carrie Martin and Kaniasta Annoual while learning more about mental health services for Indigenous People living in Montreal. It was then that his interest developed in improving access to health services for the Indigenous community in Montreal. He began as the coordinator for the health working group of the Montreal Indigenous Community NETWORK in 2012 and has remained a strong ally and advocate for the development of a holistic, cultural safe health centre. From there, he was a co-founder of the IHCT and is now a general practitioner at the Centre.