The Basics
Founded in 1968, Toiyabe Indian Health Project is based in the desert city of Bishop, California. Toiyabe was formed by the Eastern Sierra’s Native American tribal leadership in a bid to provide necessary services for Native Americans. Today, in addition to offering medical and dental services, it also specializes in providing an outpatient recovery program to Native American communities from Death Valley all the way to Coleville.
Treatment and Staff
Toiyabe’s outpatient facility is next to its main clinic, in Bishop, where clients have access to medical staff and services. Upon registering for substance abuse services, clients have an initial screening, assessment and a physical in order to develop a treatment plan. While there is no full service detox, Toiyabe does facilitate a three to five day outpatient detox, which includes medication options like methadone.
Toiyabe’s spiritually based intensive outpatient program (IOP) is called Papfabia, which translates to “working very hard at something.” Clients remain at the IOP level for four to eight months, depending on their assessment. At Toiyabe, clients work a Native American version of the 12 steps, coupled with the Matrix Model and Don Coyhis’s book, The Red Road to Wellbriety, which conveys how trauma-based behavior is passed down through familial generations. The goal is to help clients better understand themselves and to identify patterns in their behavior. Toiyabe infuses this learning with CBT, DBT, dual diagnosis support and EMDR. Clients are also encouraged to be active, to go the gym and to get outside.
In terms of counseling, clients receive one individual therapy session per week—two if they are dealing with co-occurring disorders. They also attend group therapy four times a week, at noon on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Relapse prevention groups and early recovery groups both use the 12 steps, while a women’s wellness group incorporates art therapy into its curriculum. Women also meet on Tuesday for a gender specific 12-step group. If additional support is needed, clients are referred to local NA/AA meetings.
Toiyabe employs two LADCs, two CADCs, three MFTs, one psychologist, one LCSW and one MSW—more women than men. Since groups can be as large as 12 to 15 participants, sessions are sometimes led by two staffers to keep the client-to-staff ratio low.
Extras
As part of treatment, Toiyabe offers acupuncture and the use of a counselor-owned sweat lodge—at no extra cost and upon request.
In the second half of treatment (typically the fifth month), clients are offered a family program, which uses Positive Indian Parenting—a holistic approach to family issues. For divorced families, there’s a co-parenting group. Led by a therapist and similar to Alanon, these gatherings educate families on how to live with their afflicted loved ones. A group of male alums runs a group called Fatherhood is Sacred which has multiple chapters and operates out of the clinic.
For clients without transportation, Toiyabe employs CHRs (community-health representatives) who pick people up and take them in for treatment (medication is delivered as well). There are CHRs are at all of Toiyabe’s service areas—Bishop, Lone Pine and Coleville.
Though there is no specific program for adolescent addiction, the clinic provides individual sessions to adolescents, using clay therapy and a sand tray as part of the curriculum. Toiyabe also offers a youth-prevention program and on Wednesdays and Thursdays, staffers visit elementary schools to educate youngsters on issues like bullying and the dangers of illegal substances. During the summer, the youth-prevention workers also take kids on outings, like fishing.
Toiyabe works to find residential services for people in need. If the client is male, this clinic refers him to one of the Native residential programs. An additional LA-based funding agency enables both men and women to receive inpatient treatment where appropriate.
In Summary
Toiyabe Indian Health Project offers a wide array of services to all people, including medical, dental, certain behavioral health services and more. For Native Americans seeking an outpatient program that prioritizes preserving the spiritual traditions and cultural foundations of its people, Toiyabe Indian Health Project is a solid choice.
Toiyabe Indian Health Project
52 Tu Su Lane
Bishop, CA 93514
Toiyabe Indian Health Project Cost: Free to Native Americans. Reach Toiyabe Indian Health Project by phone at (760) 873-8464. Find Toiyabe Indian Health Project at Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn
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