A Clinician Rooted in Culture & Ceremony
Identity & Ceremony:
- Champion Jingle Dress Dancer
- Ceremonial Practitioner
- Plant Medicine Knowledge
- Founder, Haskell Indian Nations University Indigenous Empowerment Summit (est. in 2008)
A cultural insider and licensed clinical professional, Willow blends clinical expertise, cultural excellence, and ancestral wisdom to advance Indigenous mental wellness and cultural resurgence.
Therapeutic Approach:
- Trauma-informed clinical practice.
- Traditional ecological knowledge & tribal language preservation.
- Somatic healing rooted in ceremony & land-based wisdom.
Impact & Advocacy:
- National consultant, trainer, & mentor.
- Transforms behavioral health services for Indigenous populations.
- Advocates for systemic change, strengthening cultural identity and fostering intergenerational wellness.
Licenses & Certifications
- Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW),
- Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP)
- Certified Mental Health & Nutrition Clinical Specialist (CMNCS) : Integrates evidence-based nutrition & mental health knowledge into clinical practice
- Certified Addictions-Informed Mental Health Professional (CAIMHP)
- QPR Gatekeeper Instructor : Suicide Prevention
- Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) Certified: Rapid trauma reprocessing and resolution therapy
- TERO-Certified: Shoshone Bannock Tribes Business License
Education:
- MSW, Administrative & Advocacy Practice, University of Kansas
- BS American Indian Studies, Haskell Indian Nations University (Honors)
- Certificate in Medicinal Plants, Cornell University
Systems-Level Impact:
- 18+ years of combined cultural education, advocacy, and clinical & systems-level practice
- Led State–Tribal Coordination Initiatives at the National Level
- Advocated for & secured passage of federal legislation including Tribes
- USDHHS STAC · National Head Start Directors Board · FACES Workgroup · Mathematica Survey Reviewer OPRE
Indigenous Culture, Wisdom, & Sacred Movement for 7th generational wellness
Willow integrates time-honored Indigenous healing modalities into culturally-grounded therapy, offering holistic care that addresses mind, body, and spirit.
Plant Medicines & Traditional Knowledge
With a Cornell University Certificate in Medicinal Plants and as a Certified Mental Health & Nutrition Clinical Specialist (CMNCS), Willow reclaims ancestral plant knowledge, bridging traditional botanical wisdom with modern science.
Carrying plant medicine healer bloodlines, she carefully studies and ethically applies this knowledge for spiritual uses and modern wellness.
As a Longhouse relative, Canoe family relative, ceremonial participant, and active member of Indigenous community, her practice emphasizes:
- Restoring ancestral plant knowledge for contemporary healing.
- Ethical use of plant medicines for spiritual well-being.
- Supporting physical wellness through reconnection with nature and traditional ecological knowledge.
Indigenous Dance and Movement
Drawing on the power of traditional dance and sacred movement, Willow facilitates profound healing experiences. These practices are integral to Indigenous cultures, offering pathways for emotional release, spiritual connection, and community building.
Her approach leverages movement for therapeutic benefit, including:
- Facilitating emotional processing and trauma release through embodied practices.
- Fostering spiritual connection and cultural identity through traditional dances.
- Promoting physical wellness and self-expression in a culturally safe space.
Truly holistic care, addressing and supporting spiritual wellness.
Clinical Integration & Indigenous based Therapy
Grounding Clinical Intervention in Indigenous epistemic integrity to foster culturally safe spaces for healing and empowerment.
Indigenous Centered Healing
Her approach offers immersive experiences grounded in traditional knowledge, movement, and somatic healing. She cultivates a deep connection to land, ancestors, and community, fostering an environment where Indigenous clients can heal within their own cultural framework.
Integrated Clinical & Traditional Interventions
Willow integrates traditional wisdom into targeted therapeutic programs, providing pathways for deep healing.
Signature Interventions:
- "When You Walk with Plants, You Never Walk Alone": TEK-based healing & connection, Zaande Dama Buhii-viit Mai.
- "Muuhee-goi: Return from War": Indigenous trauma therapy focused on healing historical trauma.
- "Indigenous Tea/ Buhii Bah": Collective resilience through talking circles and plant knowledge.
- "Ne Suakande Maviizhiagande: Taking Care of My Wellness": Holistic personal & community wellness using culturally adapted evidence based therapies.
Advocate for Decolonial Practice
Dedicated to decolonizing therapy, Willow's practice is exclusively rooted in Indigenous epistemologies and frameworks. This commitment ensures safe spaces for healing, promoting cultural resurgence and championing Indigenous approaches across all care systems for youth, elders, individuals, and communities.
When You Walk with Plants, You Never Walk Alone © 2025 by Willow Abrahamson, LCSW, CCTP is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. Muuhee-goi: Return from War © 2024 by Willow Abrahamson, LCSW, CCTP is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. Indigenous Tea/ Buhii Bah © 2025 by Willow Abrahamson, LCSW, CCTP is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. Ne Suakande Maviizhiagande: Taking Care of My Wellness © 2023 by Willow Abrahamson, LCSW, CCTP is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International.
Indigenous Resilience: Presentations and Workshops
Transformative healing rooted in Indigenous experience: land, culture, and community.
Cultural Knowledge Integration
Willow integrates Indigenous traditions from her Lemhi Shoshone, Bannock, Colville, Coeur d'Alene, and Interior Salish lineage into therapy.
Focusing on Indigenous Epistemology and Pedagogy, ecological knowledge, language, ceremonial ways, and land-based healing, she ensures culturally meaningful healing that strengthens Indigenous identity.
Reclaim spiritual connections via storytelling, and intergenerational teachings, fostering resilience and pride.
Somatic Healing
These workshops blend Indigenous dance (e.g., Jingle Dress Dance) with contemporary somatic therapy, raising awareness of their origins in medicine and healing. Participants gain practical tools for emotional regulation, trauma processing, and community connection.
Understand the cultural, spiritual, and therapeutic meaning of Indigenous movement, supporting personal and collective healing.
Willow utilizes Accelerated Resolution Therapy for blending Indigenous knowledge with modern trauma and reprocessing therapy.
Plant Medicine & Holistic Wellness
Willow combines Cornell training (Medicinal Plants Certificate) and knowledge as a Certified Mental Health & Nutrition Clinical Specialist (CMNCS), with ancestral botanical knowledge.
Workshops cover traditional plant medicines, ethical harvesting, and their integration for trauma and mental wellness.
Helping individuals and communities reconnect with plant relatives, teaching safe ways to incorporate traditional medicines into modern wellness practices.
Visit the websites below for more information on consultation and training.
Grounded in 7th generational teachings.
Paving the way and building strong foundations for all our Future Generations. | Willow Abrahamson LCSW
Indigenous Healing and Liberation: centering Indigenous knowledge, and the four sacred winds of knowledge, sent to all directions in Creation. Building a pathway for our next seven generations, using #CriticalConsciousness , #IntellectualSovereignty, and #PoliticalIntelligence, imperative skills towards our liberation. Sending prayers in all 4 directions. Through the intent in spirit- prayers sent up, through my center- prayers sent for love and protection, and through mother earth below, and a
Reclaiming our ceremonies and our values is how we heal from intergenerational trauma| Willow Abrahamson LCSW
Colonization tried to sever our connections. Resurgence is our act of reweaving them. By reconnecting to our lands and laws, we are rebuilding the family and community systems that are the foundation of our identity. This is not a metaphor; it is our spiritual practice. It is our therapy. Reclaiming our ceremonies and our values is how we heal from intergenerational trauma because it restores what was taken: our sense of belonging, purpose, and inherent worth. Our ways of knowing are not alterna
Historical Trauma & Healing our Youth
Boots to the ground working on intergenerational/ transgenerational/ trauma and decolonial interventions. Indigenous Clinician. Trauma informed, harm reduction, patient centered, liberation, restorative justice, EVIDENCE BASED practice informed, Reservation-based, Ceremonially-grounded Indigenous Clinician. Not a student, not theorizing around, not just talking bout it, but being about it. Indigenous clinical excellence and traditionally based interventions, grass-roots TEK integration practice
https://holisticindigenouswellness.online/
Community Suicide Prevention 2025 Conference: presentation Willow Abrahamson LCSW
Community Suicide Prevention is an organization based out of Idaho Falls to serve Southeastern Idaho. We are devoted to rallying around those in the community affected by suicide and lifting them to feel renewed direction in a world forever changed by the loss of their loved one. We educate people on risks, prevention skills to stop a crisis, and postvention skills to help those affected by one. Southeast Idaho Community Suicide, Willow is part of the Shoshone-Bannock Zero Suicide Task Force
ICT Indian Country Today
ICT News: From tragedy, a new purpose Willow Jack , Willow Abrahamson
At this year’s Denver March pow wow, a young lady crossed the arena to accept the top award for the adult Jingle Dress contest. It was an amazing feat for Willow Abramson Jack, 28. Walking was something her doctors doubted she would ever do; dancing was thought impossible. But the Lemhi Shoshone-Bannock woman from […]
Political Economy - Veblen- Accounting Systems. By Willow Abrahamson March 2026
PEOPLE EATERS- TRADITIONAL INDIGENOUS STORIES, NEWA DIKKAS NEWA DIKKAS. The Lemhi Shoshone carry stories of beings who appear in many forms—physical, supernatural, spiritual, emotional—but always with the same purpose: to consume. I use the placeholder Newa Dikkas because the names of these beings have come into different forms across millineas. Newa Dikka stories teach how to recognize the people-eaters no matter what face/ being they wear. Sometimes supernatural, a spirit, an actual being, a hungry vessel in whatever form it re-enters our worlds. Ancient stories from beginning of time to now. The Newa Dikkas do not just take life. They steal its essence and manipulate it's meaning. They capture the sacred and desecrate. They turn the living divine into living for destruction, ignoring that life exists now, for heaven can be experienced now, in these times, at the feet our mother, our mother earth and all the beings and elements that give life to everyone on earth. People-eaters claim for themselves what is the most sacred. insatiable for bloodlust, desecration of children, vulnerable, to eat and consume the spirit. To destroy the life that belongs to all living things, not just anthropocentrically. And they always return in whatever timeline, with nefarious hunger. Modern people-eaters, new timeline, new mask, and continued hunger for our very soul, our spirit.
https://holisticindigenouswellness.online/
NEWA-DIKKAS (People-Eaters): Political Economy & Indigenous Knowledge. By Willow Abrahamson April 2026.pdf
People Eaters The Oldest Knowledge carried through timelines The Lemhi Shoshone carry stories of beings who appear in many forms — physical, supernatural, spiritual, emotional — but always with the same purpose: to consume. I use the placeholder Newa Dikkas because the names of these beings have come into different forms across millennia. Newa Dikka stories teach how to recognize the people-eaters no matter what face or being they wear. Sometimes supernatural, a spirit, an actual being, a hungry vessel, and comes into our world in whatever form it re-enters our worlds. Ancient stories from the beginning of time to now. "The Newa Dikkas do not just take life. They steal its essence and manipulate its meaning. They capture the sacred and desecrate. They turn the living divine into living for destruction, while ignoring that life exists now, for heaven can be experienced now, in these times, at the feet of our mother, our mother earth, and all the beings and elements that give life to everyone on earth." People-eaters claim for themselves what is most sacred, with insatiable in their bloodlust, in the desecration of children and the vulnerable, consuming the spirit. They destroy the life that belongs to all living things, not just anthropocentrically. And they always return, in whatever timeline, wearing a new mask, carrying the same nefarious hunger. Newa Dikkas People Eaters: From Colonial Predatory Systems to the Seventh-Generation Healing © 2026 by Willow Abrahamson is licensed under CC BY 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
https://holisticindigenouswellness.online/
Belonging_ Calling Our Spirits Back_ Willow Abrahamson LCSW
Belonging: Calling Our Spirits Back to Land, Story, and Each Other Indigenizing Social-Emotional Learning through land, story, sovereignty, healing, and the journey from classroom to graduate study and beyond. By Willow Abrahamson, LCSW, CCTP · Suhuuvii Donzia. 2026 Idaho State Indian Education Summit. ISU Pocatello, Idaho· June 11, 2026. This presentation addresses the interruption and the return. The interruption includes languages suppressed and taken, children removed from families and land, ceremony restricted and criminalized, and knowledge described as "primitive." The return includes SEL grounded in land, language, and ceremony; neuro-decolonization in classrooms and counseling; sovereignty embedded in school culture; and belonging centered as shared responsibility. The session is offered as a five-pillar framework grounded in clinical and public health evidence showing cultural identity as a protective factor against suicide, ACEs, and historical trauma — from kindergarten through graduate school. It draws from federal behavioral health policy, peer-reviewed clinical research, and Indigenous scholarship.
Holistic Indigenous Wellness © 2026 by Willow Abrahamson, LCSW, CCTP, CMNCS, CAIMHP is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Willow Jack Famous Jingle Dancers: powwows.com
Gathering of Nations: Willow Jack
His Holiness the Dalai Lama requested special audience September 12, 2005, Willow and Nakeezaka Jack
Willow Abrahamson, Haskell Indian Nations University
Contact Information & Links
Multiprofessional Consultation NeweStyle
newe-style-workshops-2ajo3dk.gamma.site
Multi-Professional & Cultural Consultation: Newe Style
Events & Cultural Workshops, Cultural education with Nationally recognized subject matter experts, Holistic Wellness and enhancing growth through creativity. Led by enrolled tribal members who carry ancestral wisdom forward through authentic Indigenous knowledge and interactive cultural experiences. https://newestyle.org/ Phone: 509-631-0344 Email: laceybacon77@gmail.com
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Willow Abrahamson