The Western Canadian Mental Health & Education Summit: Integrating Indigenous Perspectives and Navigating AI, Digital Literacy & Resilience in a Connected World [Calgary, AB]

AI in Action: Transforming Education and Therapy for Every Learner

Presented by Lisa Porter, DCP, CCC, CCS

Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing how educators, therapists, and mental health professionals support learning, wellbeing, communication, and intervention. This practical and thought-provoking workshop brings together professionals from education, counselling, psychology, occupational therapy, speech-language pathology, physical therapy, and related fields to explore how AI can be used responsibly, effectively, and ethically in professional practice.

Moving beyond headlines and hype, participants will examine real-world applications of AI that can be implemented immediately to enhance learning, improve accessibility, support individualized interventions, streamline administrative tasks, and foster creativity and engagement. Through demonstrations, case examples, and hands-on discussion, attendees will gain practical strategies for integrating AI into their work while maintaining professional standards and human-centred care.

Key areas of focus:

• Practical applications of AI in education, therapy, and mental health
• Improving accessibility and supporting individualized interventions
• AI companionship and emerging societal considerations
• Privacy, data security, and environmental implications
• Integrating AI into teaching, learning, and assessment
• Ethical AI-assisted case conceptualization and treatment planning

The workshop will also engage participants in some of the most pressing ethical and societal debates surrounding AI. Topics may include the growing use of AI as a source of companionship for young people, the environmental implications of large-scale AI technologies, concerns about privacy and data security, and the evolving role of AI in educational settings. Rather than focusing solely on detecting AI use by students, participants will explore approaches that acknowledge AI as an emerging reality and learn strategies for incorporating it into teaching, learning, and assessment in meaningful and constructive ways.

For mental health professionals, the workshop will include demonstrations of ethical AI-assisted case conceptualization and treatment planning, highlighting both the potential benefits and the important limitations of these tools. Throughout the day, participants will critically examine how AI can support professional judgment without replacing the relational, ethical, and human dimensions that remain central to education and therapy.

Walking the Medicine Wheel to Holistic Wellness, Personal Growth & Healing

Presented by Cynthia Wesley-Esquimaux, Ph.D.

The Medicine Wheel offers a holistic framework for understanding wellness, healing, and our connection to ourselves, our communities, and the world around us. Rooted in Indigenous teachings, the Medicine Wheel reminds us that healing is not simply the absence of illness but the ongoing process of nurturing balance among the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of our lives.

This interactive six-hour workshop invites participants to explore the Medicine Wheel as a guide for personal reflection, healing, and growth. Through discussion, storytelling, experiential activities, and self-reflection, participants will examine the impact of life experiences, relationships, and intergenerational influences on well-being. The workshop emphasizes practical ways to reconnect with traditional teachings, strengthen resilience, and cultivate a deeper understanding of holistic wellness.

Reclaiming Childhood and Adolescence in a Technology-Saturated World: Indigenous Perspectives on Development, Connection, Community, and Resilience

Presented by Cynthia Wesley-Esquimaux, Ph.D.

Children today are growing up in a rapidly changing world where technology, artificial intelligence, social media, and digital entertainment have become central parts of daily life. While these advancements offer many opportunities, they have also raised important questions about their impact on child development, social connection, emotional well-being, and overall health.

Many children now spend significantly less time outdoors, have fewer opportunities for face-to-face social interaction, and are increasingly exposed to online influences, violence, and digital content that may shape their perceptions of themselves and the world around them. Families, educators, and communities are witnessing growing concerns related to social isolation, emotional dysregulation, attention difficulties, anxiety, and challenges in developing empathy, compassion, and meaningful relationships.

This workshop will explore the influence of technology, artificial intelligence, social media, and violence on the healthy development of children and youth. Participants will examine whether modern technology contributes to impaired neurodevelopment and how increasing screen use may affect emotional, cognitive, social, and relational development.

Key areas of focus:

• Technology, artificial intelligence, social media, and child development
• The impact of increasing screen use on emotional, cognitive, social, and relational development
• Connection, compassion, empathy, community, culture, and relationships
• Indigenous perspectives on healthy development
• Land-based learning and experiences in nature
• Restoring balance through relationships, community, culture, and meaningful human interaction

Drawing upon Indigenous perspectives, participants will explore the importance of connection, compassion, empathy, community, culture, and relationships in supporting healthy development. The workshop will highlight the value of land-based learning and experiences in nature as important protective factors that promote resilience, belonging, identity, emotional well-being, and healthy growth.

Participants will be encouraged to critically examine the role technology plays in children’s lives while exploring practical ways to restore balance through relationships, community engagement, cultural connection, outdoor experiences, and opportunities for meaningful human interaction.

Integrating Indigenous and Western Healing Strategies and Perspectives

Presented by Samaria Nancy Cardinal, MSW, RSW

This one-day, in-person workshop supports helpers and clinicians to integrate Indigenous-informed healing perspectives with selected Western approaches through a respectful, non-appropriative “both/and” lens. Participants will explore how Indigenous wellness is often heart-centred, relational, and grounded in story, land, and community, rather than primarily head-based or individually focused.

We will introduce the Medicine Wheel as a non-diagnostic balance check-in (Physical, Emotional, Mental, Spiritual) to help participants notice “signals” instead of pathologizing “symptoms,” and to guide collaborative, consent-based goal setting.

Key areas of focus:

• Indigenous-informed and Western healing perspectives through a “both/and” lens
• Using the Medicine Wheel as a non-diagnostic balance check-in
• Relational accountability and “All My Relations”
• Language and consent practices that increase cultural safety
• Non-ceremonial land-informed grounding
• Seasonal awareness, relational referral pathways, and community connection

A core emphasis is relational accountability (“All My Relations”): understanding the person within a web of relationships: family, chosen kin, community, ancestors, and land. Participants will practise language and consent scripts that increase cultural safety, and learn how to hold a witnessing stance rather than an expert-fixer role. We will also build a practical stabilization toolkit that includes non-ceremonial land-informed grounding (natural elements as co-regulators) and seasonal awareness to normalize shifts in energy and capacity.

Participants will leave with practical tools, worksheets, and an integration plan they can apply immediately, while staying accountable to humility, consent, and community connection.

Navigating the Digital Ecosystem: Fostering Child & Youth Resilience in the Age of Screens, Social Media, and AI

Presented by Caroline Buzanko, Ph.D., R. Psych

The digital landscape has fundamentally changed child and adolescent development, shifting the clinical and educational focus from merely tracking screen time to understanding complex, immersive digital ecosystems. Engagement-based designs, such as infinite scroll, autoplay, and algorithms, compete for youth attention, often crowding out essential developmental activities like sleep, physical play, and face-to-face connection. Furthermore, the rapid integration of conversational AI chatbots as social companions introduces unique vulnerabilities, including emotional dependency, exposure to misinformation, and the displacement of real-world critical thinking.

Key areas of focus:

• Understanding complex digital ecosystems beyond screen time
• How engagement-based design competes for youth attention
• Conversational AI chatbots and social companionship
• Emotional dependency, misinformation, and critical thinking
• Evidence-based frameworks for screen dependency
• Building Digital Well-Being Literacy and healthy technology habits

Supporting Children and Youth Through an Indigenous Trauma-Informed Framework

Presented by Varleisha D. Lyons, Ph.D, OTD, OTR/L

Join internationally respected occupational therapist and researcher Dr. Varleisha (Gibbs) Lyons for a transformative one-day workshop exploring how trauma-informed, culturally responsive, spiritually grounded, and strengths-based approaches can better support children, youth, families, and communities.

Drawing upon Indigenous knowledge, contemporary trauma research, neuroscience, and occupational therapy practice, Dr. Lyons will help participants move beyond deficit-based and pathologizing approaches toward a deeper understanding of how trauma influences behaviour, emotional regulation, relationships, learning, and well-being. Participants will examine the impact of experiences such as racism, poverty, sexism, discrimination, violence, and colonialism while recognizing the resilience and strengths children and youth bring to their healing journeys.

Key areas of focus:

• Trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and strengths-based approaches
• Understanding how trauma influences behaviour, regulation, relationships, and learning
• Recognizing the effects of racism, poverty, discrimination, violence, and colonialism
• Supporting coping skills, emotional regulation, connection, and resilience
• Indigenous perspectives on wellness, spirituality, relationships, and community
• Creating supportive environments that foster belonging and well-being

Participants will explore practical approaches that help children, youth, families, and communities better understand and respond to daily stressors and triggers while strengthening coping skills, emotional regulation, connection, healing, and resilience. Attendees will also learn how Indigenous perspectives on wellness, spirituality, relationships, and community can enhance trauma-informed practice across educational, clinical, and community settings.