Iskwew Healing Lodge is a natural extension of the work currently conducted at our main facility: Poundmaker’s Lodge Treatment Centre. It is an addictions aftercare facility for women between the ages of 18 and 65. Iskwew Healing Lodge creates a space for women working on their sobriety to achieve increased health outcomes that are culturally appropriate, addictions specific, recovery based, and built in an Aboriginal Therapeutic Community Model. This residential facility will provide an opportunity for women who have completed treatment programs to build on their addiction programming in a safe environment using their unique strengths to further develop their skills and readiness to return to their communities. The program at Iskwew Healing Lodge will focus on Aboriginal culture and healing, but women from all cultures are welcome.

Poundmakers Lodge Treatment Centre prides itself on its 40 year history of providing exceptional addiction treatment services to Aboriginal populations and is extending these services through Iskwew Healing Lodge. Our respected Elders share teachings from the Medicine Wheel: in order to live a healthy life we must have balance in four dimensions of ourselves: the mental, the physical, the emotional and the spiritual. It is our belief that addiction destroys these dimensions and the only effective method of recovery is the wholistic approach provided by Aboriginal cultural perspectives. Therefore, our program highlights traditional teachings and values. All activities at Iskwew Healing Lodge are conducted with an emphasis on the deep respect for Aboriginal natural laws, spiritual laws, traditions and values.

Iskwew Healing Lodge aftercare programming, The Iskwew Transition Program, allows residents to build stability in their addiction recovery through the guidance of our Elders, Cultural Advisor and trained staff. Each client who enters Iskwew Healing Lodge is expected to meet with the Elder/Cultural Advisor and staff to develop a realistic Wellness Plan addressing major life areas which have propelled addiction issues. Clients are then assisted and supported in working toward and achieving goals established in their Wellness Plan thereby maintaining abstinence. The programming will allow the residents of Iskwew Healing Lodge a transition process towards the goal of stable sober living outside of structured treatment programs.  The fundamental needs of women will be met by The Iskwew Transition Program by providing essential support, tools, education, awareness and duration in a safe environment needed for sustainable sobriety.

Workshops founded in the the Iskwew Transition Program are focused on the cultural role of women, ongoing treatment of addictions, skills development, and a community living environment. Iskwew Healing Lodge, through The Iskwew Transition Program, will focus on women’s health determinants and guide clients through continued recovery, healing and independence. At Iskwew Healing Lodge addiction recovery, healing and independence take place through spiritual, emotional, physical, and mental development; leading the women towards a fulfilled life and maintained sobriety. The Iskwew Transition Program will provide woman in recovery learning opportunities for positive self-growth which will increase resiliency and develop strengths to deal with challenges in the future.  Iskwew Healing Lodge reduces the number of women repeating in-house treatment programs because it provides aftercare programming that builds upon women’s strengths in addiction recovery.

The main objective of The Iskwew Transition Program founded at Iskwew Healing Lodge is to provide the residents with a safe environment that is composed of:

1) Addiction specific services,

2) Culturally-based programming,

3) Residing within an Aboriginal Therapeutic Community Model, and

4) A focus on best and promising health outcomes for women in recovery, as well as best practices in Aboriginal health.

Residents will work through an 8 week transitional program where they will learn to integrate culture into their daily lives, create relapse prevention strategies and safety plans, aftercare recovery tools, tools to improve their self-esteem and self-awareness, build their skills, such as time management, critical and rational thinking, and conflict resolution.  The residents will also build their knowledge in healthy relationships, healthy boundaries, understanding co-dependency, traditional parenting, and life skills.  Towards the end of the program, residents learn more about healthy living, which includes meal planning and incorporating physical activities that can be done at home, and financial planning and literacy.  The residents will have worked to create a strong support system to help them moving forward on their journey of sobriety.

When the clients have completed the program, they will work to implement the tools and strategies they have learned at the lodge as they work to find stable permanent housing and financial stability which may include career opportunities or educational opportunities.

Iskwew Healing Lodge has demonstrated that it meets international standards for quality and is committed to pursuing excellence.

All programs are CARF-accredited

Phone: (780) 458-1884 Toll Free: 1-866-458-1884 Fax: (780) 459-1876

Intake : admissions@poundmaker.org   Medical Detox : detox@poundmaker.org       General : info@poundmaker.org