Bridie Johnson

Bridie Johnson, LMSW, LCSW, LAC, ICADC, is a Canadian Chippewa of the Garden River, First Nations, also known as Ketegaunseebee. This is an Ojibwa band located at Garden River #14 near Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. Her traditional Spirit name is “the Drum Maker” which is symbolic of the “De” or the heartbeat, hence their ability to heal the heart. She is a mother, a wife, and a mentor to the community and those in the field of social work. She currently works at Abode Services in San Francisco, as the Director of the Full Circle Program. She was previously the Senior Director of Behavioral Health Services at Colorado Coalition of the Homeless. Before that, she was the Clinical Supervisor of the American Indian Health and Family Services behavioral health program, an urban Indigenous center in Detroit. Bridie was the former Director of Programs at Ruth Ellis Center and served on the Board of Directors there for over ten years. Bridie has an associate degree in Business Law from Delta, a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Saginaw Valley State University, and a master’s degree in social work from Wayne State University. She has been fully licensed and received a postmaster’s certificate in Marital and Family Studies at Wayne State University in 2002. Bridie has a private practice that combines a two-eyed seeing approach; where she melds traditional Indigenous knowledge with her western formal education to create a space for others' healing. It is called Natural Change Impressions “Where change happens Naturally through Impression”. Bridie has taught undergraduate studies in the social work department at Saginaw Valley State University and was a field instructor for over 20 years at the University of Michigan in the MSW program. Bridie is an Indigenous breast/chest-feeding counselor and full-spectrum doula. She was a co-chair for the 2024 BAAIT’s Two-Spirit Pow Wow and is currently an active member of the state of Michigan’s Human Trafficking Task Force. She currently sits on the Board of Ethics for the National Association for Social Workers as well as on the National Clinical Advisory Board for National Healthcare for the Homeless.