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Gezina Baehr Trauma Informed Care + Pharmacy + Mental Health
With fresh ideas and spirit, recipient of Alberta Pharmacists’ Association Future of Pharmacy APEX 2022 Award, Dr. Gezina Baehr is dismantling the boundaries of the Canadian healthcare system with trauma informed practices. A visionary, Dr. Baehr sees self-reflection, humility, and respect as integral to mending relationships in an imbalanced world. As a dedicated advocate of patient and practitioner well-being, Dr. Baehr draws from her learned and lived experiences to expand the confines of modern healthcare.
Hailing from Songhees First Nation, Dr. Gezina Baehr grew up closely connected to her maternal and paternal grandparents who instilled the importance of community, compassion and determination within her. A descendant of a residential school survivor and WWII refugees, Dr. Baehr has witnessed first-hand the impact that cross-cultural, intergenerational trauma can have on the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual being. Through nurturing these relationships, Dr. Baehr developed an early and intimate understanding of the principles of Trauma Informed Care (TIC) that informs her clinical practice today.
As the first Indigenous graduate of the University of Alberta’s Doctor of Pharmacy program, Dr. Gezina saw the disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous health care practices. This helped catalyze a greater sense of self, purpose during her studies, and commitment to her community. Through this discovery, Dr. Baehr recognized that the impact of her lived experiences required her to go on her own continuous therapeutic healing journey. This internal work deepened her understanding that trauma-informed practice is for everyone.
On an empathetic and intuitive level, Dr. Baehr believes it is crucial for health care practitioners to show compassion and understanding of the impact they have on the patients and communities they work in. Bound within this, is ensuring that health care practitioners take the time to care for themselves and recognize the depth of trauma that is a part of our collective experience. Dr. Baehr practices self-care by spending time with her family, doing beadwork and caring for herself in relation to her community.
Dr. Baehr sees hope in youth and is always looking for opportunities to outreach to Indigenous youth and encourage them to see themselves as future changemakers. Blazing her own path and walking in the path of her Ancestors, Gezina is inspiring current and future generations by speaking from her heart and doing the healing to support this. Gezina fondly recalls the words of her grandfather in her work as a trailblazer: "Speak from your heart, people will remember that forever."
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Trauma Informed Care: Building Safe and Compassionate Spaces
As trauma studies rapidly become a part of everyday contemporary discussion, healthcare professionals are beginning to recognize the impact of trauma on patients accessing healthcare services, and the crucial need to respond effectively and compassionately. Indigenous overrepresentation in almost all disease states and illnesses has prevailed for too long in institutionalized care, and shows us an urgent need to reconsider healthcare approaches and their detrimental impact on Indigenous health. With a powerful vision of intentional and compassionate care, Dr. Gezina Baehr empowers audiences from all industries with easy-to-implement trauma informed care strategies to build safer and more inclusive environments.
In this session, audiences will learn to:- Describe trauma, general and Indigenous specific, and the impacts of trauma on health outcomes throughout life
- Outline the basic principles of trauma informed care and ideas about how to implement each principle to build a safer environment
- Recognize common practice “traps” of trauma informed care and how to course correct
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Awards and Highlights
Future of Pharmacy APEX Award, Alberta Pharmacists’ Association (2022)
Building Brighter Futures Scholarship and Bursary, Indspire (2018)
New Relationship Trust Foundation Scholarship, University of Alberta (2018)
Edmonton Community Foundation Award, University of Alberta (2018)
Indigenous Career Award, University of Alberta (2015)
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Client List
University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (FoPPS)
Ontario Pharmacists’ Association (OPA)
Canadian Association of Pharmacy Students (CAPSI)
Alberta Pharmacists’ Association (RxA)
Alberta Pharmacy Students’ Association (APSA)
Speaker Categories:
Youth Champions Education Healthy Relationships Mental Health Pharmaceuticals AcademicHailing from Songhees First Nation, Dr. Gezina Baehr grew up closely connected to her maternal and paternal grandparents who instilled the importance of community, compassion and determination within her. A descendant of a residential school survivor and WWII refugees, Dr. Baehr has witnessed first-hand the impact that cross-cultural, intergenerational trauma can have on the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual being. Through nurturing these relationships, Dr. Baehr developed an early and intimate understanding of the principles of Trauma Informed Care (TIC) that informs her clinical practice today.
As the first Indigenous graduate of the University of Alberta’s Doctor of Pharmacy program, Dr. Gezina saw the disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous health care practices. This helped catalyze a greater sense of self, purpose during her studies, and commitment to her community. Through this discovery, Dr. Baehr recognized that the impact of her lived experiences required her to go on her own continuous therapeutic healing journey. This internal work deepened her understanding that trauma-informed practice is for everyone.
On an empathetic and intuitive level, Dr. Baehr believes it is crucial for health care practitioners to show compassion and understanding of the impact they have on the patients and communities they work in. Bound within this, is ensuring that health care practitioners take the time to care for themselves and recognize the depth of trauma that is a part of our collective experience. Dr. Baehr practices self-care by spending time with her family, doing beadwork and caring for herself in relation to her community.
Dr. Baehr sees hope in youth and is always looking for opportunities to outreach to Indigenous youth and encourage them to see themselves as future changemakers. Blazing her own path and walking in the path of her Ancestors, Gezina is inspiring current and future generations by speaking from her heart and doing the healing to support this. Gezina fondly recalls the words of her grandfather in her work as a trailblazer: "Speak from your heart, people will remember that forever."
Speaker Summary
Location: Canada
Language: English
Website: Click Here
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