BCACC is offering BCSCA members a deeply discounted rate at $250 (plus GST) for their upcoming education event: Families, Family Breakdown and the Law.

This 2-day, in-person training will assist counsellors in understanding the intricacies of working in the family law arena, how to confidently work with families in breakdown who are engaged in the legal process and how best to prepare yourself in the event of a complaint. This course would qualify for: 14 hours of ADR maintenance hours with the Law Society of BC  / 14 educational/ BCACC continuing competency credits

If you would like to register for this training, please email Jenny Kim at jenny@bcacc.ca with the code “BCSCA2022” for the special rate. Jenny will help you register for the event at whichever of the four locations around the province works best for you:  Victoria, Kelowna, Burnaby, or Nelson, with expressions of interest also being collected for Prince George.

As part of the Ministry of Education's work towards integrating the Mental Health in School's strategy into all aspects of the work we do in schools, UBC's Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) is building a BC Compassionate Systems Leadership Network. 

The network will focus on three domains of activities: Connecting, Learning, and Resource Development. This will mean:

- more consistent communications,
- a regular Compassionate Systems Community of Practice,
- increased access to Compassionate Systems tools and practices,
- an expanded range of training opportunities for experienced and new practitioners,
- and progression towards a CSL approach that is specific to our context in BC.

Currently, sessions run every second Thursday morning from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. 

Please email Joanne Schroeder, Strategic Initiatives Manager for Compassionate Systems Leadership at the Human Early Learning Partnership and Network Coordinator, at joanne.schroeder@ubc.ca if you are interested in being connected to the network and also if you have friends or colleagues who would like to be included. 

The Window of Tolerance is a model founded in Neuroscience (the scientific study of the nervous system), which helps develop good practice for improving and maintaining mental health and wellbeing. It offers a way of thinking about how we function optimally, in our various roles, and how to manage when heightened emotions begin to have a negative impact. Like everyone, children’s emotions fluctuate, particularly at times of stress and crisis and in the height of emotion, they find it difficult to express what’s happening verbally. Physiological and behavioural changes provide the information we need to understand and support them. Recognising the signs that a child or young person is struggling with their emotions, helps us to support them. Using the Window of Tolerance is one way of doing this.

This British resource from the Jersey Psychology and Wellbeing Service provides a variety of suggestions, tools, and approaches to integrate the Window of Tolerance model into therapeutic work with children and families.

BCSCA membership pays!

As a BCSCA member, you have access to discount codes for workshops from a variety of pro-d providers including Jack Hirose & Associates, the Crisis & Trauma Resource Institute, and Mental Health Foundations. Check your email or the BCSCA members only Facebook page for codes to access these discounts. More information coming soon on the new BCSCA website.

Do you enjoy writing and have an idea or perspective you might be willing to share with colleagues around BC and beyond? Is there a technique you rely on that could help others in their work as mental health professionals? Consider writing an article for BC Counsellor! We are always looking for ideas and contributors, including Youth Voice authors (i.e. students who are open to sharing their experiences with or perspectives on mental health); these authors are also typically round and recommended by school counsellors. Please email publications chair, Shirley Giroux (bcsca.editor@gmail.com), or see the attached author guidelines for more information.