Tag Archives: Counselling

Centre for Conflict Resolution Justice Institute of British Columbia School of Health, Community & Social Justice

Be the one building relationships

October 17, 2017 – 10:44 am
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There was a time when Anna Richards had a tendency to avoid conflict. Thanks to JIBC’s Conflict Resolution training, she now faces it head on and incorporates those lessons into her work as a counsellor. (Story by Wanda Chow /  Photo by Jimmy Jeong)

 

Anna Richards was working as a wildland firefighter when she got promoted to leader of a fire crew. But while she knew how to dig a fire line and use a chainsaw, negotiating interpersonal matters was all new to her.

“My strategy was to be ‘easy going.’ I thought that if I treated everyone like they already knew what to do, that they would feel comfortable and motivated and would just ask questions along the way,” she recalls. “When conflict arose, I just hoped it would take care of itself.”  

Ultimately, she learned that in that kind of leadership vacuum, people get confused about their roles and responsibilities. That experience helped her recognize that conflict intimidated her and that by avoiding it, she had not been as effective a leader as she wanted to be.

Anna left her firefighting career and went on to earn her master’s degree in counselling.

“When I decided to become a counsellor, I promised myself that I’d do whatever it took to gain the skills I needed to face conflict head on.”

Anna learned about the Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC) from a JIBC instructor who gave a workshop at her workplace and impressed her with his skills and ability to hold a room.

She was inspired to pursue a certificate in conflict resolution, specializing in third-party mediation. The Centre for Conflict Resolution emphasizes experiential learning, where students role-play difficult conversations with each other under the guidance of a coach. read more »

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Centre for Counselling & Community Safety Justice Institute of British Columbia School of Health, Community & Social Justice

Be the one rebuilding lives

October 10, 2017 – 3:30 pm
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Lana Fox’s peers and colleagues were suffering from the trauma of losing clients from the Downtown Eastside to the opioid overdose crisis. Thanks to JIBC’s Critical Incident Stress Management program, she learned how to help. (Story by Wanda Chow / Photo by Jimmy Jeong)

 

Lana Fox was working at the Portland Hotel Society in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside when she noticed her peers and colleagues were suffering.

Her role involved supporting clients with mental health and addictions issues through housing, safe injection and other programs. But before the opioid overdose epidemic made national news headlines and was declared a public health emergency, there was already an obvious change.

“I saw a definitive increase in the trauma being suffered by my peers,” Lana said. “They were attending significantly more overdoses and having increased negative outcomes. Our tenants and program participants were dying at an alarming rate.”

Wanting to help support her colleagues and community, she enrolled in the Critical Incident Stress Management Certificate (CISM) program at the Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC). read more »

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Centre for Counselling & Community Safety Justice Institute of British Columbia

Be the one rebuilding lives

September 8, 2016 – 3:49 pm
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Jana Jesson manages a child sexual abuse intervention program. She credits her education at JIBC with giving her effective tools to help empower her clients as they rebuild their lives. (Story by Wanda Chow / Photo by Jimmy Jeong)

 

Clinical counsellor Jana Jesson helps trauma survivors rebuild their lives one step at a time.

It was while studying at the Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC), learning how to use guided imagery exercises with survivors of trauma, that Jana recognized the technique could be useful for one of her clients.

“With my instructor’s guidance, I created an exercise that made such a difference for my client in terms of her being able to ground herself when she was becoming triggered or anxious. Eventually she was able to take that exercise and translate it into her own daily routine.”

She discovered earlier a passion for working with trauma survivors while completing a master’s degree in counselling psychology. It’s that sort of reward – seeing clients emerge better able to deal with past trauma with less anxiety and distress – that led Jana to her current role managing the Sexual Abuse Intervention Program based out of the North Delta office of the Boys and Girls Clubs of South Coast BC.

It was her managers there that suggested she take the two-year Graduate Certificate in Complex Trauma and Child Sexual Abuse Intervention at JIBC.

“The JIBC program is very well known in my field and given that my job title is working with children and youth specifically, they thought the child sexual abuse prevention part of the JIBC program would be important for me to have in addition to my training.“

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Centre for Counselling & Community Safety School of Health, Community & Social Justice

Mental health specialist broadens his scope of practice with leading-edge training from JIBC

July 3, 2015 – 1:09 pm
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2015_07JULY3_AFOT_WadeAlexander650x300Recognizing a need enhance his knowledge and skills to further support his clients, Wade Alexander completed two JIBC certificate programs that have taken his practice to a new level. (Photo and story by Richard Chu)

 

Wade Alexander is a registered nurse and a mental health specialist currently employed with the Kamloops Parole office in the Correctional Service of Canada. A couple years ago, he was looking to broaden his scope of practice to counsel federal parolees with trauma and substance abuse issues. He decided to take JIBC’s unique Aboriginal Focusing-Oriented Therapy and Complex Trauma (AFOT) Certificate and the Institute’s Substance Use Certificate to further his ability to help his clients.

“Both programs have had a major impact on my practice,” he said. “For a long time, there has been a need to address complex trauma and substance abuse, and both of these programs have been very useful in addressing both issues. In fact, we developed a new healing intervention as a result of my completion of both certificates.”

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