Career Development Intervention As Mental Health Intervention: Evidence, Models, And Approaches With Specific Populations

Full Day - English - Intermediate
Location: Manitoba

Career development supports positive mental health. Although it is widely accepted that career outcomes such as job loss and unemployment are related to wellbeing, career factors are not considered as points of intervention for positive mental health. This workshop explores career intervention as support for mental health by outlining both the evidence base supporting career intervention and current models linking career development to outcomes in client opportunities, life circumstances, abilities, self-perceptions, and opportunity perceptions. Models linking career intervention to stress mitigation, coping, and wellbeing are included.

Interventions with specific populations (First Nations individuals, Individuals with addictions, Post secondary students, and Immigrants, refugees, and international students) are presented. Mental health indicators and career-related demands are examined in the context of broader social, economic and cultural factors. Approaches to mental health intervention, evidence supporting the role of career intervention and population-relevant career interventions are presented and linked to career and mental health outcomes.

Participants will leave the workshop with an understanding of:

• Evidence supporting career intervention as mental health intervention.
• The interaction of career development and mental health and the effects, coping, and wellbeing outcomes of career intervention.
• Population specific factors related to mental health and career demands.
• Evidence-based career intervention.

Michael Huston is counsellor with Mount Royal University. His research focuses on counsellor education and training strategies, career development intervention, and stress and wellness intervention.

Working for over 30 years in the wide-ranging career development field, Dave Redekopp is still curious about workerworkplace relationships, work-life connections, psychological health, the quirkiness of human behaviour, and more.

Kathy Offet-Gartner's work focuses on the interconnectedness of Indigenous student success, career development, and wellness. She uses success stories connect academic and career interventions and wellness, stress reduction, and new stories.

Rebecca Hudson-Breen, PhD., Associate Professor, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta.

Dawn Schell, MA., CCC., Counsellor, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia.

José Domene, PhD., Professor, University of Calgary, Calgary Alberta.

Build Your Own Resilience Plan: Practical Tools For Everyone

Half-Day - English - Intermediate
Location: Saskatchewan

This interactive, hands-on workshop will begin with a brief slide show and discussion about compassion fatigue and the high cost of caring in high-stress, trauma-exposed work environments. The role of resilience in personal and professional well-being will be explored as participants reflect on their current situation and experiment with various creative tools to build a personalized resilience plan. Participants will finish the workshop with 10 practical tools and strategies that can be useful for sharing with clients as well as for maintaining their own unique resilience plan.

Maureen Pollard worked as a social worker, primarily in child welfare from 1991 to 2012 before entering private practice in 2011. Maureen is a certified Compassion Fatigue Specialist and Educator.

Advanced Clinical Supervision Workshop Promoting Professionalism In Clinical Supervision: Embracing Supervisory Identity And Illuminating Competence

Full Day - English - Advanced

Location: Chancellor

This one-day advanced-level workshop is designed to promote professionalism in the practice of clinical supervision. Participants will further consolidate their professional identity as a clinical supervisor through targeted concept refinement and skill development. Clinical supervision competencies will be enhanced as participants engage in applied and experiential workshop activities that call for integration of prior conceptual and skill-based learning with a heightened critical analytic focus. Selected areas of exploration in this workshop reflect needs that have been identified by practicing Canadian clinical supervisors. These include (a) operationally differentiating clinical supervision from other supporting roles and practices (e.g., mentoring, coaching, consulting); (b) establishing a framework for comprehensive clinical supervision sessions (e.g., content coverage, methods employed); (c) competency-based and growth-promoting assessment, feedback, evaluation, and reporting; (d) ethically-congruent clinical supervision documentation (e.g., session summaries, formative reports, summative reports); (e) clinical supervision challenges leading to difficult conversations and/or remediation plans); and (f) crystallizing clinical supervisor identity. Integral to each of the investigations above will be attunement to the balancing of relationship and process, recognition of the omnipresent power differential given the hierarchical relationships and evaluative components in pre-service and licensure supervision, navigation of ethical conundrums, and fostering deeper diversity awareness, sensitivity, and competence.

Blythe Shepard, PhD, AB/NT director. I served on the CCPA Board for 10 years and co-chaired the Clinical Supervision Competency Framework project and the National Clinical Supervision Symposium.

Lori Rudniski, MB & NU director. Lori Rudniski is the director of a long-term counselling centre, an instructor at the University of Manitoba and a Certified Counsellor-Supervisor. She provides clinical supervision for practicing counsellors and psychotherapists as well as for university practicum students.

Mental Health Effects Of Alzheimer's In Indigenous Communities

Half-Day - English - Introductory
Location: Consulate

This presentation will take a comprehensive look into the effects of Alzheimer's in Indigenous communities. The discovery, development, etiology, risk factors, and coping methods will be explored. Firstly, we will take an in-depth look at the risk factors of Alzheimer's disease among Indigenous peoples, and how it impacts them. Secondly, we will explore how the disease also impacts caregivers. In conclusion, effective coping mechanisms that are culturally conscious will be discussed in order to enrich the lives of patients and caregivers.

Amraj Tanda grew up in Merritt BC, and completed her B.A. and M.Ed in Kamloops BC. She currently works as a clinician in Barriere BC.

Moving Through: Healing And Transforming Relationships Between Indigenous And Settler Peoples

Full Day - English - Introductory
Location: Turner Valley

So often we hear, “Can’t we just move on? From Residential Schools. From a history of racism and oppression. From living in the past. Can’t we just get on with it?” This full-day, interactive, hands-on workshop is about moving through, because we believe we can never just “get back to normal” after significant loss and hurt. We become stuck, and the underlying oppression, frozenness, grief, and paralyzing guilt remain. Andrea and Cathrine bring together two stories—the story of how Indigenous genocide and healing have been experienced first-hand in Canada and the story of an aspiring ally seeking truth and reconciliation. How could our healing and transformation also be linked? What can we learn together, as we weave our healing journeys in solidarity? And who else wants to join us, linking their own stories and rituals of “moving through”? In this workshop, we will practice re-authoring the stories that define us. We will model a way forward, drawing on our own healing wisdom and rituals, and we will discover new rituals together. We will witness the light and dark of our histories. Through story, music, ritual, and movement, we will reclaim our interconnectedness with each other and the land.

Andrea Currie is Saulteaux Métis from Manitoba. She is a psychotherapist, writer, musician, and teacher and sources strength and inspiration from the Métis, Mi'kmaq, Anishnabe, and Nova Scotia Black communities.

Cathrine Chambers is a psychotherapist working in Mi’kma’ki territory. As a member of settler society, she is passionate about engaging helping/healing professionals in processes of decolonization, reconciliation, and allyship.

Perinatal Mood And Anxiety Disorders (PMADs): Counsellors, Do No Harm

Half-Day - English - Introductory
​Location: Chairman

The 2018/2019 Statistics Canada report confirms that 1 out of 4 Canadian mothers experience postpartum depression and/or anxiety in the first year of a baby’s life, while 1 in 3 moms in Nova Scotia, and 1 in 3 young Canadian moms (under the age of 25) experience PMADs. Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders are the number one obstetrical complication and among the leading cause of maternal deaths and suicides. Further, more mothers suffer from PMAD than there are new cases of breast cancer and the combined number of new cases annually for men and women of tuberculosis, leukemia, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, lupus, and epilepsy. The spectrum of PMAD includes: depression, anxiety/panic, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and postpartum psychosis. PMADs peak at 3 months postpartum and can last beyond 2 years. They are the most underdiagnosed, underreported, and undertreated complication of pregnancy and are often unrecognized or unaddressed due to societal stigma, minimization, and knowledge gaps among counsellors and psychologists. This workshop is aimed to close the gap and raise awareness among CCPA members and provides evidence-based strategies in recognizing and treating postpartum mothers (and fathers).

Gina Wong, R.Psych. and Associate Professor at Athabasca University specializes in reproductive and perinatal psychology for over 18-years and serves as an expert witness in maternal infanticide/filicide cases in Canada.

Competent Work With Transgender And Gender Non-Conforming Clients: An Intersectional Perspective

Half-Day - English - Introductory
Location: Saskatchewan

There is both a demand and a need for mental health professionals to be culturally competent in working with transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) people. Essential to this competency is an understanding of intersectionality. Participants will learn about the theory of intersectionality, and how compounding effects of minority stress may impact our TGNC client's experiences in life. This seminar thereby includes how to have a basic understanding of respectful and competent work with TGNC people. Participants will also learn how to create and maintain cultural competence with many genders, and explore their own gender identity. In doing so, they will learn how their gender identity (as a cultural identity) may enter into and impact their work with clients of all genders. This seminar is based on the American Psychological Association's Guidelines for working with TGNC people and is informed by current Canadian research and statistics. We will practice experiential learning through case study, small group work, and larger group discussion.

Elizabeth Eaton (MPS, BA Psyc) is a psychotherapist based in Edmonton. As a cisgender, queer woman, she has worked extensively with the TGNC community throughout her undergraduate and Master's degrees.

The Demographics Of Male Survivors Of Sexual Abuse - What To Expect When Their History, Stories And Emotions Come Out, The Accounts More Varied And Darker Than The Stereotypes Our Culture Embraces

Half-Day - English - Introductory
Location: Consulate

In the recent years, the “Me too” movement caught our attention. In this seminar, you will be able to hear about another “Me too,” a portion that is rarely heard and sometimes silenced, the stories of the male survivors of sexual abuse. Since 2008, Hellmut Noelle has been working with male survivors at the Family Resource Centre in Vernon BC. Over the years as part of the detailed intake process, we heard about the ages and gender of the perpetrator(s), the years of silence and the oft-times disparaging response of families and institutes. Then there is the complex, intense and destructive emotional wake and lifestyle that follows for decades. Come and hear a presentation that may shock you and break stereotypes. Learn some valuable tools for working with this demographic. Hopefully, it will grow into greater understanding and compassion on both a personal and professional level for this 18% of the men in Canada.

Hellmut Noelle (CCC- 9852) has worked with fellow survivors of sexual abuse in Vernon BC since 2008. This practice has led to passion to bring awareness to this misunderstood minority.

Working With Diversities That Are Less Well Known: Giftedness, Trauma And Intersectionalities Of Diversities

Half-Day - English - Intermediate
Location: Chairman

Clients and students often arrive at our doors with a complex set of needs, and intersections of many different diversities. This interactive discussion will invite participants to work with models of diversity to understand their community-based clients and/or students in all levels of education, focusing on some of the less well-known forms of diversity. Particular attention will be paid to giftedness and working with clients from a trauma-informed perspective. In addition, participants will learn models of diversity and how to develop a comprehensive understanding of clients/ students, allowing for a diversity-sensitive approach. Participants will come away from this mini workshop having practiced models, listened to case examples, and received handouts and resources for further learning. The presenters, Dr. Gillian Smith and Dr. Debbie Clelland, are now both faculty in Adler University’s Counselling Psychology programs. Prior to her work at Adler, Gillian worked in schools for over 22 years as an elementary school counsellor, and developed some of her expertise in working with trauma as part of the district Critical Incident Team. Debbie worked for over 12 years in private practice, K-12 schools and community settings, and has developed an expertise in gifted children and their families.

Debbie Clelland, RCC, Full Professor, has been teaching in Adler’s Counselling Psychology programs for 10+ years. She conducted research on acceleration policies and the needs of families of gifted children.

Gillian Smith is an Assistant Professor of Counselling Psychology at Adler University in Vancouver. Before working at Adler, Gillian worked as an elementary and secondary school counsellor for 22 years.

We Matter - An Indigenous Mental Health Movement For Youth

Half-Day - English - Introductory 

Location: Leduc

Across our Indigenous communities, mental health, addiction, suicide, and bullying are such major concerns, both with youth and adults. A weekend seminar or a single gathering won’t solve these issues, rather we need to build a sustained movement around mental health in every single one of our communities across Canada. It is possible to have safe and consistent mental health support available to anyone who needs it, at any time of the day – and this is We Matter’s goal. We Matter is full of resources that are designed to empower community members feel confident to speak about mental health, especially with Indigenous youth. In this workshop, we go over some of what those resources are, how they can be used effectively, and how they can be spread across your region or community. 

An Anishinaabe Kwe from Timiskaming First Nations passionate about Indigenous rights, politics & social justice. Frances Elizabeth Moore is currently the acting Operations & National Outreach Manager for We Matter. 

Danika Vessel is a Metis undergrad graduate (Psycholgy and Indigenous studies) who's working towards completing a masters degree in counseling psychology. Danika is one of We Matter's Ambassador of Hope.