"Using the gifts of the Trickster: Balancing "Self" in the helping field"

Abstract

As helpers in an Aboriginal mental health program, we are faced with a number of challenges that constantly reinforce the need for balance in our professional and personal lives. These challenges occur within the helping relationships, within the larger agency and between the other services and service providers that we encounter in our daily work. In order to demonstrate this ongoing struggle for balance, we will share some of the history of B'saanibamaadsiwin and the context in which we work.