Mental health champion received recognition

Dr. Peter Menzies, Clinic Head of Aboriginal Services at the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto, received an Award of Excellence from the Kaiser Foundation for his contributions to the treatment of mental health and addictions in the Aboriginal community.

Menzies is a member of Sagamok Anishnawbek First Nation, and has spent the past 10 years building culturally congruent mental health and addictions programs in partnership with both urban, rural and First Nations communities.

The National Mental Health and Addictions Awards for Excellence were handed out by the Kaiser Foundation at a ceremony held in Regina.

“One of the main reasons we established this Awards Program was to acknowledge and celebrate the extraordinary work being done in this field by individuals, community groups and the media,” said Foundation Founder and Chairman Edgar Kaiser Jr. “These people often get little or no recognition for their efforts and we hope that shining a light on their work will help raise awareness of mental health and addictions locally and nationally.”

Menzies is CAMH’s first Aboriginal Clinic Head and is responsible for creating CAMH’s Aboriginal Services Program, providing support to communities across Ontario and nationally. †Experienced in social services, adult education and psychological counselling, Menzies’ doctoral thesis was based on research he conducted on intergenerational trauma among Aboriginal men. He has a unique understanding of the challenges that Aboriginal Canadians face.

He grew up in an institution run by the Sisters of St. Joseph’s and at 13 transferred to the Children’s Aid Society. As a youth Menzies was not only unaware that he was a member of a First Nations community, but also held many misconceptions about his people.

“I had no idea why people were calling me racial names until one day a social worker told me that I was an Indian. It was then the pieces started to fall in place for me,” he said.

The Kaiser Mental Health and Addictions Awareness Foundation is a national organization which carries out programs and initiatives across Canada in the fields of mental health and addictions. The vision of the Foundation is to connect community, corporate, and government sectors in a unified understanding of mental health and substance abuse as complex public health issues that must be effectively addressed through a comprehensive approach involving a full continuum of care.