Photo by Wali Rana/KNOM.
In Nome, Liitfik Behavioral Health Services is redefining wellness by blending Alaska Native traditions with modern behavioral health care. The outpatient clinic offers more than counseling; it provides a space for community, creativity, and healing rooted in culture.
Clinic director Bridie Trainor says addiction often stems from disconnection, and that traditional practices help restore belonging. At Liitfik, workshops in sewing, carving, and time outdoors give participants tools for recovery that honor Indigenous ways of knowing. Cultural Arts Instructor Benjamin Jack sees the clinic’s carving room as especially powerful, where the focus on shaping ivory, bone, wood, or baleen helps people stay present and grounded.
Over the years, the clinic has made more than a thousand community drums, carrying forward traditions that have supported wellness for generations. “These are things that people naturally do and have done to be well here for thousands of years,” Trainor says. For Liitfik,
the goal is simple: to offer a welcoming space where anyone can find connection, creativity, or simply a place to belong.
