Have you heard of Compass?

Compass is a province-wide service that supports evidence-based care to all BC children and youth (0-25) living with mental health and substance use concerns. This is done by supporting community care providers with the information, advice and resources they need to deliver appropriate and timely care to children and youth close to home.

Services include telephone advice and support, Identification and help with connection to local and online resources, telehealth consultation when needed, and tailored education, including Compass Toolkits.

Family Smart has a variety of free online and over-the-phone resources for families in BC.

The BC Parent Peer Support program provides emotional support, information, resources, and help navigating services for parents and caregivers of any child, youth, or young adult with mental health and substance use challenges.

Family Smart's website also has resources, videos, and two different workshop offerings for families, schools, and professionals.

Did you know that there is a digital issue library for BC Counsellor Magazine?

When you click on the link, you can read articles from past editions such as:

"One Stone at a Time: Pursuing Positive Change in Child and Youth Mental Health and Substance Use" by Claire Pitcher and Wanda Murphy

"Cultivating Connection to Nurture Hope" by Shirley Giroux, PhD

The BC School Counsellors' Association website has had a recent update and overhaul.

Click here to check out some amazing resources.

Click here to read blog posts, including slides from the recent Pro-D session with Dr. Randall Gillis at BC Children's Hospital.

Did you know that Simon Fraser University has a free, online resource where you can learn about research in children's mental health?

"The Quarterly provides summaries of the best available research evidence on a variety of children’s mental health topics, prepared using systematic review and synthesis methods adapted from the Cochrane Collaboration and Evidence-Based Mental Health. Our goal is to improve outcomes for children by informing policy and practice. The BC Ministry of Children and Family Development funds the Quarterly."

The most recent edition is "Treating childhood eating disorders"

We invite you to join our BCSCA Members Only Facebook Group to take part in casual and professional conversations, learn about and share upcoming professional development opportunities. Search "BCSCA Members Only" on Facebook. 

Dear Colleagues,
It is with great pleasure that we invite you to participate in the annual BC School Counsellors’ Association (BCSCA) Conference on October 25, 2024 in Victoria, BC.

You are invited to submit a workshop proposal:
-Workshops can be delivered face-to-face, online, or in a hybrid format.
-Workshop session lengths are 45 minutes,  90 minutes or three hours.
-Workshops should be focused around delivering content valuable to school counsellors.
-Workshop proposals must be received no later than Friday, April 22, 2024.

The BCSCA is known for the high quality of workshops offered at our conferences. School counsellors, who are both mental health professionals and qualified teachers, work challenging jobs in an environment that can be isolating. They welcome the opportunity to connect through learning together in workshops with relevant content designed specifically for them. This is why we are reaching out to invite you to share your expertise, knowledge, and wisdom with our membership.

Perks of Presenting
Presenters receive complimentary registration for the day on which they present. The BCSCA will also promote your socials (e.g., website, Facebook, Instagram) to our membership of 400 school counsellors across BC if you give your permission to do so. Please complete the workshop proposal submission form or follow the link to our website. Decisions about which workshops will be accepted are made by the BCSCA Executive.

Please feel free to pass this invitation along to interested colleagues.
If you have any questions about our conference, please contact us at bcsca.executive@gmail.com

Twice a year, the BC School Counsellors' Association publishes an issue of BC Counsellor magazine. Click this link to visit the issue library and read past issues of the magazine.

We are always looking for ideas and contributors. If you enjoy writing and have an idea for an article you would be willing to share with colleagues in BC and beyond, then please email publications chair, William Nicholls-Allison (willnichollsallison@gmail.com), and see the attached author guidelines for more information.

The deadline for submissions to the Fall 2024 edition is Wednesday, July 17.

Click the link bellow to read the Writer Submission Guidelines