Community Program DirectorSouth Dakota Urban Indian Health
Serene Thin Elk, MA, LPC-MH, LAC, QMHP is a L/Dakota clinical addiction and mental health therapist and mother to four beautiful children. She is a member of the Ihanktonwan (Yankton Sioux Tribe) and Sicangu (Rosebud Sioux Tribe) Oyate in South Dakota and currently works for SD Urban Indian Health as the Community Programs Director. In her current role as a director, she is a part of tiospaye (kinship within an extended family) who are her colleagues and together they seek to integrate both culture and spirituality into community healing models. Her professional and personal passions focus on intergenerational healing along with educating others about historical traumas and how this translates to the present day experiences of Native people.