DAY 2. Peer recovery Support specialist SPEAKERS

wellness, healing, and resilience

This presentation will focus on understanding Native American cultural strengths, emphasizing resilience and survival through adversity. It will explore opportunities to integrate these strengths by referencing historical ties to religion and the use of peer-led curriculums. Key topics will include the Medicine Wheel and the 12 Steps, addressing substance use issues with a cultural perspective that incorporates peer-based teachings. The concept of Circles will also be discussed as a means to build community, foster equanimity, and respond to harms through dialogue. Finally, the presentation will highlight community mobilization, starting with the individual and extending toward systemic change.

Supporting Care

• Building Resilience

• Supporting Care • Building Resilience •

Andrea Alexander

Wellbriety Curriculum Trainer

Andrea Alexander is a member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and is Muscoge (Creek), from the Sweet Potato Clan of the Nurcup Harjo Band. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with a Substance Abuse Studies option from the University of Central Oklahoma and an Associate in Applied Science in Alcohol & Substance Abuse Counseling from Oklahoma State University-OKC.

With extensive experience in tribal government administration, program design, and implementation, Andrea has also served on her Tribal council and Finance committee. Currently, she is an Oklahoma certified Peer Recovery Support Specialist and the Recovery and Resiliency Administrator for the Eastern Region of Oklahoma, working with a Managed Care Organization.

In long-term recovery, Andrea focuses on the Wellbriety model of healing and is honored to be a curriculum trainer for White Bison. She is trained and certified in multiple White Bison curriculums, including Wellbriety Celebrating Families, Medicine Wheel & 12 Steps, Mending Broken Hearts, and Warrior Down. With over 15 years of experience, she has facilitated training and consultations for tribal communities, treatment centers, prisons, governmental agencies, and the grassroots recovery community. She is skilled in leading Talking Circles, Relapse Prevention, Early Recovery Skills, and Cognitive Self Change, and has worked across various treatment settings, from inpatient to peer recovery services.