{"id":38375,"date":"2025-01-25T04:27:09","date_gmt":"2025-01-25T09:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/lakota-988-mental-health-counselor-has-native-focus\/"},"modified":"2025-01-25T04:27:15","modified_gmt":"2025-01-25T09:27:15","slug":"lakota-988-mental-health-counselor-has-native-focus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/lakota-988-mental-health-counselor-has-native-focus\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakota 988 mental health counselor has Native focus"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/span><\/div>
\"Tori<\/a><\/p>\n

Tori Standing Cloud<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

SIOUX FALLS, SD \u2013 Tori Standing Cloud (Rosebud Lakota) is a full-time mental health counselor at the 988 Helpline Center in Sioux Falls, SD since February, 2024. She is also a full-time graduate student at the University of South Dakota on track to receive her Master\u2019s in Social Work (MSW) degree in May, 2025, having earned her Bachelor\u2019s degree in Human Services\/Mental Health at Sinte Gleska University in August, 2017. Not incidentally, she is the single mother of a 15-month-old daughter.<\/p>\n

The 32-year-old seems to take it all in stride. Her professional resume notes that she is skilled in crisis prevention, suicide risk assessments, conflict resolution, mediation, and cognitive behavioral therapy as well as dialectical behavior therapy.<\/p>\n

To anyone who considers calling 988 for support but hesitates, Standing Cloud recommends they do a \u201ctest call\u201d BEFORE a crisis. She suggests, \u201cCall or text the 988 number and just see how it works.<\/p>\n

\u201cBe prepared for the person who answers your call to first ask you about your safety. The counselor will ask, \u2018Are you thinking about hurting yourself? Do you have a plan to hurt yourself?\u2019 If the answer is \u2018no,\u2019 then they will listen to anything you want to talk about and do their best to provide you with help in your local area.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, if the answer is \u201cyes,\u201d there are crisis intervention steps the counselor will follow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Standing Cloud emphasized that 988 Support is there not only for those who are at immediate risk self-harm, but the support is available to those who may be struggling with stressors of any degree. She encourages everyone to call\/text\/ chat BEFORE the situation escalates and becomes life-threatening.<\/p>\n

Standing Cloud is the designated Native American Culture Focus counselor at the Helpline Center. This means that, in addition to responding to 988 crisis calls\/texts\/ chats, Standing Cloud\u2019s responsibilities include providing training to the other 988 counselors in the Sioux Falls office about Native American culture, reservation life, and rural life in South Dakota. She describes her work as \u201cvery rewarding\u201d and \u201ca huge learning experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are about 15 counselors in the Sioux Falls office responding to 988 calls, texts, and chats from all over South Dakota \u2013 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Standing Cloud has found her co-workers to be very receptive and not at all defensive when learning about Native culture. She says they are genuinely interested and eager to learn.<\/p>\n

Standing Cloud commented, \u201cWhen I am presenting a training about Native culture, I encourage the counselors to ask me any question they might have, questions they might be hesitant to voice if they were in a large group of trainees.\u201d<\/p>\n

The intent is to have all of the counselors equipped and confident in their ability to interact effectively with Lakota callers. If a person contacting 988 for support specifically asks to speak to a Native counselor, there are protocols in place to accommodate that request and transfer the person to Standing Cloud if she is immediately available. If she is not on duty at the time or if she is engaged with another person requesting support, the counselor speaking to the person will assess the situation and, if appropriate, have Standing Cloud return the contact on her next scheduled shift.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish I had this kind of guidance and support (that 988 provides) when I was growing up,\u201d said Standing Cloud. \u201cI understand that life can be tough for young people growing up.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything is confidential and our counselors really care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Standing Cloud\u2019s position at the 988 Helpline Center is funded by a grant from the Great Plains Tribal Leaders\u2019 Health Board (GPTLHB) (www.greatplainstribalhealth.org\/<\/a>), an organization representing 18 tribal communities in the four-state region of South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa.<\/p>\n

Through public health practices and the formation of tribal partnerships, the GPTLHB works to improve the health of the American Indian peoples in the four-state region by providing public health support and health care advocacy.<\/p>\n

GPTLHB serves as a liaison between the Great Plains Tribes and the various Health and Human Services divisions, including the Great Plains Area Indian Health Service. The Board works to reduce public health disparities and improve the health and wellness of the Native American peoples who are members of the 18 Great Plains tribal nations and communities.<\/p>\n

According to the GPTLHB website, \u201cOur vision is that all tribal nations, communities, and citizens achieve optimal wellness through the embrace of traditional cultural values, innovative and holistic healing practices, strengthened by tribal sovereignty.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe honor the relatives we serve, by upholding cultural values, through the practice of:<\/p>\n

\u2013 Prayer: We seek the guidance and wisdom of the Creator in our service to others.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Respect: We honor the people we serve by treating them with dignity.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Generosity: We seek to serve with selflessness and a giving heart.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Truth: We seek to act with honesty and integrity, earning the trust of those we work with and serve.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Fortitude: We build upon the strength and courage of our ancestors to improve healthcare for future generations.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Compassion: We seek to bring kindness, understanding, and love to those we serve.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Humility: We humbly commit to a path of learning and growth.<\/p>\n

Standing Cloud\u2019s career goals include completing her MSW degree, getting licensed as a social worker (requiring years of supervised experience and passing a comprehensive licensing examination), and then continuing as a professional helper in one setting or another. She may pursue a private clinical practice.<\/p>\n

Standing Cloud says that if she could speak to all Native American youth, her message would be, \u201cLife gets better (as you get older). There are people who will help you. Education is huge; knowledge is power. Hard work and focus on your education will lead you to success.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Contact Grace Terry at graceterrywilliams@gmail.com<\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\n

The post Lakota 988 mental health counselor has Native focus<\/a> first appeared on Native Sun News Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>

Visit Original Source<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/span><\/div>

Tori Standing Cloud SIOUX FALLS, SD \u2013 Tori Standing Cloud (Rosebud Lakota) is a full-time mental health counselor at the 988 Helpline Center in Sioux Falls, SD since February, 2024. She is also a full-time graduate student at the University of South Dakota on track to receive her Master\u2019s in <\/p>\n

Read More<\/a>
Shared by Native Sun News Today<\/a> January 25, 2025<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>","protected":false},"author":1541,"featured_media":38377,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5627],"tags":[6658],"class_list":["post-38375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-resource-directory-blog","tag-more-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1541"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}