Philosophy & Methods

     SIWASH owner and director, Jeff Painter, started the company as a private counseling practice for adolescents, adults, and their families in 1986. Within the first few months of starting his practice, Elders and Native community members began calling him to get help for their relatives and friends as Jeff had an excellent reputation as a ceremonial singer and apprentice to a healer. In order to meet their needs, Jeff would bring in Traditional Elders & Healers to perform ceremony for the clients and he would meet with them between sessions to support their recovery process. All services were (and continue to be) provided without question at no charge, as this is what his Elders had requested him to do.

     In 1994 we began receiving invitations from county and state agencies, the National Association of Social Workers (NASW-Oregon chapter), the Addictions Counselor Certification Board of Oregon (ACCBO), the Oregon Dept. of Human Services - Office of Mental Health & Addiction Services, the Mental Health Resource & Education Network (MHREN) , the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Providers Director's Association of Oregon (ADAPDAO), the Family Addictions Community Team (FACT), the Southern Oregon Training Consortium (SOTC), the Southern Oregon Drug Awareness (SODA), Parole & Probation offices, jails & prisons, regional conferences, and treatment providers to train their staff in our philosophy and methods.

     Requests from these and many other organizations for current and effective resources/instruction led to us developing this venue.