White – using the Medicine Wheel

The Medicine Wheel is super important because it does provide us with a different type of approach into viewing children, youth, their families. So it’s more holistic in that we’re considering those four aspects of that person or that family unit and not just focusing on potentially an issue that’s come up or a problem. It’s really understanding that what’s happening in one of those parts of the Medicine Wheel really does impact those other three aspects. And really just pausing to consider there’s a bigger picture here to be looking at, not just the one that we might see presenting in front of us.   

So an example would be, for example, if you didn’t get enough sleep. So we look at the physical aspect because sleep involves your physical body. So you didn’t get enough sleep last night. When we think of the mental aspect, so maybe we’re looking at focus and concentration. Maybe you’re just not able to focus and concentrate like you normally would if you got a good night’s rest. In the spiritual aspect, we could view this from how are you connecting with people that day? So maybe you’re isolating yourself. Maybe you’re a bit standoffish. And then if we look into the emotional aspect, perhaps you’re feeling a little more irritable. Perhaps you’re a little more snappy or snarly with people. So one single thing impacts the other three aspects and can be quite impactful to your day, to your behaviour.