ROSEBUD – Four professional counselors from Tokata Etuŋwaŋ Wakaŋyeža Owičakiyapi, a newly formed Wellness program serving Rosebud shared information at an RST tribal council meeting last week.
The TEWO team includes: Charisse Bordeaux, Dr. Kristin Iyotte, Blaise Leneaugh and Lila Rose Leader Charge. They recently launched Tokata Etuŋwaŋ Wakaŋyeža Owičakiyapi (Looking to the Future, Healing the Children), a Sicangu Lakota winyan owned and operated business. They are deeply grateful for Rick Two Dog’s guidance and gifting a name that carries such meaning and vision — looking to the future and healing our children.
About TEWO: We are four Siċaŋġu Lakota women dedicated to strengthening the mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical well-being of our relatives and communities. Guided by the Medicine Wheel model, we ground evidence-based practices with Lakota values for comprehensive holistic care. Our work centers balance, kinship, and healing through counseling, consultation, supervision, and community partnerships. We envision a Lakota-led wellness center rooted in Lakota teachings and holistic care, where healing is guided by culture and carried forward by community. Through clinical services, training, and collaboration, we aim to create a sustainable model for Lakota mental health, education, and intergenerational wellness for the Siċaŋġu Lakota Oyate.
TEWO’s mission is to provide accessible, trauma-informed and culturally grounded mental health services that honor the strengths, resilience, and healing traditions of Lakota people. We strive to restore Wicozani — balance and well-being —through counseling, education, and community connection that reflect Lakota values of compassion, respect, and collective healing.
The program offers Lakota-informed counseling, consulting, and education services, focusing on holistic wellness and community healing. The program is now accepting contracts and open for consulting, training, and program support in the areas highlighted in their brochure.
In October, the team joined a Holistic Roundtable hosted by RST Child Care, sharing ideas about how families and children can be supported here on the Rosebud. The team is now open for contracting and consulting focused on culturally grounded, trauma-informed care and community wellness. The in their digital brochure lists more information and their CVs/resumes.
In November, Charisse Bordeaux and Dr. Kristin Iyotte provided 2 3-hour trainings sessions for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Early Head Start/Head Start program. The presentation: Practical Skills for Challenging Behaviors of Lakota Children: Building Wicozani in Classrooms through Lakota-Informed Practice, centered on integrating trauma-informed care, Lakota ways of knowing, the Pyramid Model, and developmentally appropriate de-escalation strategies.
If your program or organization is interested in bringing this training, or a version tailored to your setting, to your staff, please reach out. For inquiries or contracting opportunities, please contact them directly through their Facebook page https://tinyurl.com/25ckpb6a.
TEWO is not designed for emergency or crisis response or care. If you are experiencing a mental health or life-threatening emergency, call 911. If you are in self-harm, suicide, substance use, or mental health crisis or need immediate emotional support, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline for free 24/7 confidential assistance.
The TEWO Team includes: Charisse Bordeaux, (she/her, Soldier Creek) is a Clinical Mental Health Counselor and Counselor Educator, providing trauma-informed counseling across the lifespan (3y+ to elders & end of life) using sand tray, play, art therapy, CBT and DBT. She has provided individual and group counseling to outpatient, inpatient, residential, and incarcerated youth and adults. A doctoral candidate of Counselor Education and Supervision at Adams State University, she teaches courses on counseling theories, ethics, and practicum and group labs. She is a 2024 NBCC Minority Doctoral Fellow and June 2025 Fellow of the Month, and has presented her research at ACA, ACES, and RMACES. She is pursuing EMDR certification and writing her dissertation.
Blaise Leneaugh (she/her, Antelope) is a Licensed Professional Mental Counselor dually licensed in South Dakota and North Dakota. She is a School Counselor at Todd County High School and maintains an independent counseling practice, specializing in adolescents, adults, and Veterans. She focuses on trauma-informed care and integrates traditional ways of healing with evidence-based modalities, including EMDR, EFT, CBT, TF-CBT, CPT, and sensory work. An enrolled member of the Sicangu Lakota Oyate, she brings cultural understanding and sensitivity to her work.
Dr. Kristin Iyotte (she/her, Rosebud) is a Doctor of Human Services, with a specialization in Leadership and Organizational Management. She is a Certified School Counselor, her doctoral project, “Challenging Behaviors and Other Social, Emotional, and Mental Health Concerns in Early Childhood Education: An Applied Improvement Project,” reflects her commitment to addressing behavioral and mental health challenges in educational settings. She is SGU adjunct faculty with the Human Services Graduate Program.
Lila Rose Leader Charge (she/her, Parmelee) holds a Master’s degree Social Work and is a Licensed Certified Social Worker, providing community mental health counseling for relatives pre-K to adulthood. She is currently expanding her knowledge in evidence-based practices such as DBT, CBT, ART, play therapy, and solution-focused approaches. She is also receiving supervision in pursuit of her LCSW-PIP.
TEWO’s services are not designed for emergency or crisis response or care. If you are experiencing a mental health or life-threatening emergency, call 911. If you are in self-harm, suicide, substance use, or mental health crisis or need immediate emotional support, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline for free 24/7 confidential assistance. You can contact them through Facebook:
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