A premier mental health treatment centre offering multiple levels of care for all populations: Nomina Wellness

Mental Health is a very sensitive subject that includes our psychological, social, and emotional well-being. It significantly affects the way we feel, think, and act as we cope with life. This also plays a major role in determining how we make choices and handle stress. Mental health is relevant in every stage of life, from childhood through adulthood and old age. There is a strong connection between mental health and addiction, and many people who suffer from substance abuse have mental health conditions. In other cases, mental illness tends to push people towards addiction. Irrespective of the origins of mental illness, an individual receiving the treatment for the same must have both the conditions addressed to achieve full recovery.

Globally there are various companies delivering excellent treatment for mental illness and addiction, but Nomina Wellness stands out from the rest. Nomina Wellness is a premier mental health treatment centre. The company focuses on complex mental health disorders, including substance use, post-traumatic stress disorders, anxiety, personality disorders, depression, and many others. Nomina Wellness is Canada’s only facility offering customized levels, making its services highly effective and unique in terms of in-patient treatment.

In conversation with Lisa Klco, CEO of Nomina Wellness 

Q. There is so much choice when it comes to wellness retreats. What makes your retreat unique?

We have a few features that help us stand out. Our facility’s small, intimate nature allows us to individualize our services to our client’s needs. Integrating this with leading-edge approaches to treatment, such as our adventure therapy and Direct Neurofeedback (DNF), our highly skilled clinicians are able to integrate many pathways to wellness. All our clinicians have at least a master’s level education. This gives them access to advanced level training, ultimately supporting our clients with evidence-based modalities like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT), Eye Movement Desensitization, and Repressing (EMDR). We are proud to say that we are the only facility in North America that utilizes Intensive Short Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP). These advanced modalities allow us to address treatment-resistant issues, including BPD, chronic pain, medically unexplained symptoms, in addition to everything else we do treat.

Q. Wellness retreats offer courses to suit all fitness levels and physical capabilities. How do you personalize courses?

We know that people’s mental health and physical health are inexorably linked, and often, a decline in one leads to a decline in the other. We strongly believe in the importance of movement as part of healing. As such, we have a whole team of professionals with expert training to support integrating fitness into the individualized wellness program. We strive to work with all levels of abilities to ensure everyone gets the benefit of this deeply spiritual, emotional, and meditative practice.

Q. Generally retreats are expensive. How affordable is your services?

We acknowledge that to offer services of this caliber and with this level of specialization is costly and in dire need. Part of our core values as a program and as a facility is operating from Healing Centered Engagement (HCE). This means we strive to make the highest of quality programs accessible to others through our robust scholarship program. This allows us, at times, to subsidize treatment in part or in full.

Q. Wellness retreats often emphasize relaxation, introspection, and personal care. What are the opportunities provided by you to unplug, unwind and rest?

We know the work we ask our clients to do is exceptionally hard. This is why we have created our program to ensure that this hard work isn’t done alone. Our highly trained staff provides 24/7 care and support. We have completely integrated nutrition with an exceptional culinary team, relaxing spa amenities, all set in a beautiful picturesque mountain location, with spectacular views of the serene landscapes of Vancouver Island.

Q. Do you have an integrated approach that focuses on goal-setting and realistic expectations, with an eye toward long-lasting results? Explain.

Human beings are complex, so we know there is no single approach to wellness. Therefore, our entire program is based on an integrated approach utilizing the amazing body of evidence-based work that exists. At the outset of treatment, we work with each individual to explore what is their own goal for treatment so that we can set realistic goals. From there, we partner with many other medical and community professionals to ensure we are addressing as many components of the individual’s need, promote healing, growth, and self-development. We believe our job is best done when you don’t need us. A final core piece to our integrated approach is our comprehensive family program. Integrating treatment within a family system has been proven to provide the most lasting change and is integral to the HCE approach.

Q. How do you market your services?

Our marketing has been very organic so far. We have really tried to focus on the quality of services during this unprecedented time, which means that many people have come in through referrals from community partners who have had success with us.

Q. Do you have any new services ready to be launched?

Like many companies, we had to work really hard to navigate during Covid 19. However, it highlighted what we already knew, which is the importance of mental health support. As such, we are excited to announce that we have two new programs debuting this fall: our sleep recovery program and our skills development program.

Our sleep program works with a highly specialized medical team to reset the patterns, which may have contributed to poor sleep, leading to other mental health struggles. We know that majority of adults in North America suffer from disturbed sleep, including continuous waking, difficulty falling asleep, nightmares, night terrors, restless leg syndrome, or anxiety. Our program is a cutting-edge combination of jaw manipulation, nutrition, exercise combined with sleep science, and psychotherapy to help reset a person’s cycle and promote optimizing collaborative health. Ensuring those who struggle with sleep have access to programs specifically designed for them is an exciting addition to our list of programs.

Our skills program integrates many benefits from our core program and focuses on helping those who may need more comprehensive help with life skills development. We know that when it comes to brain development, some adults differ from older adults in terms of prefrontal cortex solidification. This program is ideal for young adults or those who need more support integrating various life skills. This program has functional-based services such as cooking classes, help with educational needs, job workshops and resume writing skills. It is more physically active and dynamic, making it ideal for those with cognitive or other neuro-diversities. This also requires a different approach in terms of language, activity level, and social support. We are constantly striving to observe the gaps in the market and how we can help so that those who need it most can access support.

“We want to be a part of a collective change when it comes to mental health support. After all, HCE is not just about changing the individual, it is about individual changes that affect a community, a society helping healing be sustainable. We hope to continue to embody the same.”