PATTY STEWART McCORD, BGS has 25 years of experience providing psychological support to individuals and groups in crisis. In 1999 she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in General Studies, majoring in Social Work and Psychology, in a curriculum that was specifically designed for her work in crisis management services. She has been a consultant and team leader with a variety of federal and provincial government agencies in Canada, but her passion has always been working with Indigenous People throughout Canada and the United States. An International Critical Incident Stress Foundation Instructor since 1998, she has facilitated training for more than 75 Indigenous Communities throughout North America. It was those experiences that brought about a desire to revise standard ICISF curriculums so they were more culturally focused and would honor the unique traditional cultural history of Indigenous People. Stewart McCord’s crisis intervention experiences in northern communities have enhanced her knowledge and skills in this field of practice. She has responded to northern reserves and worked with families after homicides, post-suicide interventions that involved youth, missing persons, house fires with fatalities, and a mass shooting in a northern school. She has presented at the World Congress on Trauma Stress and Coping several times to enhance the work that others do in Indigenous Communities. She is a respected Instructor and Faculty Member with the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, teaching 7 different certified courses and is currently on staff with the Ministry of Environment Wild Fire Management CISM Team as a Consultant and Team Leader for wildland firefighters. In 2017 she was honored with the Premier’s Award for Excellence in the Public Service for her work with the Inter-Ministry Response Team providing CISM support after the school shootings in the northern Indigenous community of La Loche, Saskatchewan. Patty Stewart McCord follows a path of her own in this work. It has been a lifetime of learning from Indigenous People that made it possible for the Healing Ways manual to be written. She travels throughout Canada and the United States as an ICISF Instructor and consultant to facilitate training and enhance skills for organizations and communities, who build their own crisis intervention teams.
