Fall - BC Association of Clinical Counsellors

Of 

MAROON&GOLD 

How far along the road we 

have travelled… 

Some four years after our 

Association became an incorporated 

society, a Celtic rune symbol, 

“Sowelu” (“togetherness”) was 

adopted to embody our “brand”. This particular rune had been 

adopted by many organizations over the course of the 

centuries, and served well. It is a symbol of ancient history 

and not a symbol to reflect the vitality or professionalism in the 

21st Century. 

In the latter part of the nineteen-nineties, we began to build 

a member services component into our Association, with the 

creative energies of Arden Henley and Gerry Bock. A principal 

focus was presenting professional counselling services provided 

by RCCs, to the public. Our displays, brochures, pens, magnets, 

website and telephone directory entries were increasingly well 

received. With the work of excellence provided by Diane 

Payette, in partnership with Howard Abbey, Insights began an 

evolution from a newsletter to a “corporate” newsmagazine. 

Once Duncan Shields settled into his position of Chair, Member 

Services, our already-solid base began a further evolution, 

inspired by his artistic talents, to create a brand of the 

“…impression that we create in all contact with the public, as 

the foundation upon which we will continue to build a positive 

and professional image in the minds of our clients, and our 

business and political partners”. Duncan shared his early 

(artistic) aspirations with another artist, at a chance meeting. 

The artist, Uri Sanhedrai, holds an M.A. in Counselling 

Psychology & Art Therapy and was transitioning from a lifelong 

career in Branding into a second (new) career as a psychotherapist. 

In his first career as a Brand-Building (Reputation Building) 

Strategist & Designer, Uri helped national and international 

organizations identify and develop their Brand Identity & 

Implementation Programs to enhance relationships and loyalties 

amongst their audiences. These programs included numerous 

publications (some of which won awards), such as newsletters, 

corporate brochures, annual reports, and corporate identity 

Of Maroon & Gold 2 

Taking Part in Changing the World 3 

A Book in Sight 4 

Sights on the Internet 5 

Time Gender 6 

The Symbolic World of Children 8 

Therapeutic Letters 10 

Insights - BC’s Clinical Counsellors’ Magazine & News 

Jim Browne, Executive Director 

manuals designed to ensure readability and uniformity of corporate 

publication programs. Uri has transferred his skills and 

experience in brand identity building into his work as 

a psychotherapist, where he now helps individuals find and 

understand their own identity to enhance healthy and 

functional relationship with their Self and with others. 

With an understanding of both fields, Uri believes that the 

development of a Brand Identity should be driven not by 

business experts, but rather by people whose background and 

expertise are in the Humanities and Relationship Building... 

...and who better can build a truly strong brand for our 

Association than our members! Duncan, who shared this view, 

arranged for this artist/psychotherapist to meet with 

representatives of our Association (the Identity Project Team - IPT). 

Duncan set up the IPT with one representative from each 

Region, Bev Abbey, Diane Payette, Michèle Ashmore, and this 

writer. On a late fall day in 2005 we met Uri Sanhedrai, who 

gave us a “quick and dirty” education about “branding”. 

The IPT, in turn, provided Uri with a snapshot of our 

Association that would serve as the basis for him to conceptualize 

a brand for BCACC (and RCC). 

Uri presented his branding artwork to our Delegate Council in 

March 2006. The Council stood in awe at the flow and vitality 

of the designs presented, and recommended adoption to our 

Board of Directors. The Board heartily approved the 

recommended designs, that established branding for both 

“BCACC” and “RCC”, and authorized the IPT to choose the 

colours; thus the maroon and gold. 

Michèle, Aina, Julia, Nicola and Angela worked tirelessly to begin 

the huge process of converting every piece of our professional 

corporate image into our new brand. They worked with Uri 

and Duncan to produce letterhead, envelopes (small and large), 

labels, postcards, receipts/membership cards, certificates, 

presentation folders, and the website. The IPT worked with Uri 

and Duncan to design and produce a new display system for 

health, trade and regional shows, and brochures. Diane met 

with Uri and Duncan to begin groundwork discussions on 

Insights, the final major product rolling out, anew. 

So much effort by so many people, working together in 

a manner that would do Sowelu proud! 

Thank you all. 

C O N T E N T S 

2 

Dancing into Your Unique Marketing Message 16 

Saying”I’m sorry” has Never Been So Easy 18 

BCACC News 19 

Community 

Members 32 

Announcements 35 

Notices 38


Taking Part in Changing the World 

It's never too late to write about 

a good thing. Back in March, I had the 

privilege to attend the ACA/CCA 

Conference in Montreal and I have 

been reflecting on what I came back 

with. I made a concerted effort to 

attend as many workshops and 

seminars as possible but there was one 

particular speaker that kept me 

wanting to learn more. Her name is 

Jan Stewart and she is the Director of 

the Institute for At-Risk Education in 

Winnipeg. When Lloyd Axworthy, 

former Canadian Minister of Foreign 

Affairs, became the University of 

Winnipeg President, he brought with 

him his experience in Foreign Affairs 

and formed the Global College, 

co-chaired by Dr. Rey Pagtakhan, 

a place for research, dialogue and 

action and a first in Canada. 

The Institute for At-Risk Education 

provides a centre for research, 

community outreach, and professional 

development activities for pre-service 

and practicing educators who work 

By Diane Payette, Editor 

with at-risk children and youth. 

Children affected by trauma, war, and 

violence often pose challenges to 

educators and school leaders. 

Profound changes are needed in the 

educational system, to more 

adequately address the needs of 

children who are at-risk. The Institute 

for At-Risk Education is a forum for 

dialogue, critical reflection, and policy 

praxis aimed at transforming current 

educational systems to better meet the 

personal, social, and academic needs 

of at-risk students. 

In the last few years, I have been 

working as a school counsellor with 

a number of these at-risk-children. 

They are immigrants and refugees 

from war-torn Central Africa. These 

children have witnessed the atrocities 

of war, have lost family members and, 

have been deported to refugee camps 

in other countries like Tanzania. Some 

children 

at 

risk! 

of these children have spent most or 

all of their lives in these refugee camps 

where the living conditions are very 

poor. They arrive in Canada with 

very few or no social skills for the 

western urban life. 

In cooperation with Senator Romeo 

Dallaire, Search for Common Ground, 

USAID's Displaced Children and 

Orphans Fund, and UNICEF Canada, 

The Global College just hosted 

a three-day workshop from August 

28th-30th at The University of 

Winnipeg. The workshop focused on 

practical and innovative ways of 

eradicating the use of child soldiers. 

Representatives from policy makers, 

faith-based organizations, community 

leaders, youth leaders and former 

child soldiers, representatives of 

humanitarian assistance and human 

rights organizations, peace and 

security organizations, governments, 

and multi-lateral organizations 

convened in Winnipeg to engage in 

focused discussion and collaborative 

efforts to prevent the use of child 

soldiers throughout the world. 

Over 6,000 child refugees are entering Canadain schools each year with very unique and challenging needs 

3 

Page 27

A 

IN SIGHT 

BOOK 

ARQ2: Asking the right questions 2 

http://www.camh.net/Care_Treatment/Resources_for_ 

Professionals/ARQ2/index.html 

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, transsexual, two-spirit, 

intersex, and queer (LGBTTTIQ) people have specific life 

factors that relate to substance use and/or mental health 

problems. These factors include “coming out,” gender transition, 

societal oppression, loss of family support, isolation, and the 

predominance of bars in LGBTTTIQ communities. 

To provide effective addiction and mental health services, 

therapists/counsellors need to be aware of these life factors 

in clients. Asking the Right Questions 2 will help service 

providers create an environment where all clients feel 

comfortable talking about their sexual orientation and 

gender identity. 

Asking the Right Questions 2 includes: 

• interview items that can be used to facilitate discussion 

during assessment or early in treatment 

• an assessment form and guide to be used with a standard 

substance use, mental health, or other service assessment 

• background information to help clinicians use the 

ARQ2 guide 

• a glossary of concepts and terms 

This manual is a revision of Asking the Right Questions: 

Talking about Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity 

during Assessment for Drug and Alcohol Concerns; it has 

been revised to include mental health issues, updated 

resources and an expanded glossary. Download the entire 

manual in PDF format. 

SHARED SPACE 

Counsellor wanted to share space with 

Naturopathic Physician in beautiful 

downtown space in Vancouver near the 

Vancouver Art Gallery. 

Please call Dr. Jennifer Doan 604-878-9111 


4 

Background information: 

Part A 

• A1: Significant relationships 

• A2: Sexual orientation 

• A3: Gender identity 

• A4: Relationship between sexual orientation/gender 

identity and substance use and/or mental health concerns 

• Download the Client Questionnaire in PDF format 

Part B 

• B1: Discrimination—homophobia, biphobia, transphobia 

• B2: Coming out and transitioning 

• B3: Openness about sexual orientation/gender identity 

• B4: Family issues 

• B5: Involvement in the community 

• B6: Body image and aging 

• B7: HIV concerns 

• B8: Relationship between substance use and/or mental 

health concerns and Part B items 

• Download the Conversation Guide in PDF format 

Counsellor competence: This section answers some common 

questions from counsellors. 

This book offers a number of resources such as internet sites, 

a complete bibliography and glossary as well as references. 

What readers said about Asking the Right Questions: 

The ARQ manual makes it easy for service providers to 

bring sexual orientation and gender identity issues into the 

room, so that clients can sense that there is sensitivity to their 

needs. If the service provider doesn’t raise it, the client may 

assume that the person isn’t aware or receptive. ARQ is an 

invaluable tool for agencies, medical settings and private 

practice therapists. 

Nelson Parker, MSW; David Kelley, Lesbian, Gay and HIV/AIDS 

Counselling Program, Family Service Association of Toronto 

The way this manual presents its questions, in a straight 

forward, matter-of-fact format, immediately sends the 

message to clients that we accept them unconditionally for 

who they are. I think that this can ease some of their 

anxiety surrounding LGBTT issues, allowing them to feel 

more freedom in discussing their concerns. 

Tammy Pajuluoma, Healthy Choice Worker 

Algoma AIDS Network, Sault Ste. Marie, ON 

OFFICE FOR RENT! 

on West Broadway, near Arbutus. 

Available for sublet on Monday, Friday and Saturday. 

Cost $200 for one day per month. 

Call Maureen McEvoy (604-873-3278) or Sandy Brooks 

(604-732-6555) 

Newly refurbished, soundproofed, massage table available. 

Air-conditioned, small waiting room, kitchen area. 

Large patio deck, street parking.

Here are two Canadian websites that deal in a relevant 

manner with all issues related to youth: 

www.griponlife.ca 

Grip - New Youth Magazine and Website 

The Alberta Mental Health Board (AMHB) is very pleased 

to announce the release of Grip, a new magazine targeted to 

youth between the ages of 13 and 18, written and designed 

by teens. This magazine, along with a www.griponlife.ca 

website, is intended to provide support, encouragement and 

information to help youth navigate through the challenges 

during this stage of their lives. The focus is on overall mental 

health and wellness and ways that youth can help each 

other better cope and understand some of the changes 

occurring in their lives. One of the features of the website is 

an online forum where teens can interact with and get 

support from their peers. Both the print magazine and the 

website work under the advisory of health professionals 

from AMHB and its partners. Articles on a variety of topics 

all written by teens are available online with titles such as: 

Are you Just Bored? The Summer Job Search, Exam Stress, 

The Future is Now, Sticks and Stones and More… Be Only 

You, Fake Smile and Bus Ride. 

www.mindyourmind.ca 

Lip Service 

- The Official Newsletter of www.mindyourmind.ca, 

an award winning mental health website for youth by 

youth, offers a free e-newsletter called Lip Service, which 

provides quarterly updates on new website features, such as 

printable mental health tip calendars, stress-busting games, 

e-cards and celebrity interviews. Sign up for Lip Service at 

www.mindyourmind.ca. 

There is a special section on “Help”, where the visitor clicks 

on one of these three options: 

I Need Immediate Help, 

I Think My Friend Needs Help and 

How Can I Help My Friend? 

Under Personal Stories you will find an Art Studio section, 

where young people speak through art and Written Words 

where youths share their stories about how they cope and 

rise above the challenges of their lives. 


5 

Working with Intuition: 

in a Physical and 

Mental Health Care Setting 

An Evening Lecture and a Day Long Seminar 

Delivered in English and with Simultaneous Translation into Mandarin 

Program description: 

An evening lecture and one day seminar designed to address the needs of 

health care workers who must deal with science, facts and impressions when 

caring for people. Health care professionals are highly trained in methods and 

techniques. This training is built on a foundation of logic and the scientific 

method. Are the skills acquired in our formal training which is focused on 

training our conscious mind in logic and the scientific method enough? 

Perhaps not, all we need do is turn to Einstein, who said: “There are no logical 

paths to the natural laws; only intuition resting on sympathetic understanding 

of experience.” Others scientists like Newton have commented on the role 

of intuition in scientific discoveries. If well-known scientists use intuition 

together with an application of logic, why shouldn't health care professionals? 

This seminar has two objectives: to present information to legitimize the use 

of intuition in a health care setting, and to provide practical information on 

how to recognize and utilize intuition. These objectives will be achieved 

through a combination of lectures, dialogues, and exercises and a take-home 

assignment for which feedback will be provided. 

This seminar will help health practitioners connect on deeper levels with 

clients by using both logic and intuition thereby leading to better decisions. 

Learning outcomes: 

• Articulate a consciousness, mind/matter model, that provides a possible 

explanation for intuitive experience as proposed by Princeton University. 

• Identify on a preliminary basis the Chinese culture's perspective on 

intuition and its application in Traditional Chinese Medicine as proposed 

by medical anthropological studies conducted by Cambridge University. 

• Outline intuition in scientific activities and relate this to professional practice. 

• Identify four kinds of intuitive knowledge and provide examples from 

professional practice. 

• Increase the ability to trust, and know when and how to listen to and 

integrate intuition with logic, thereby connecting on a deeper level with 

clients and making better decisions in professional practice. 

Faculty: 

Tom Culham, B.A.Sc, M.A.Sc, Professional Engineer, and Senior Faculty 

School of Management City University, has a 27 year career in business and 

a lifelong interest in Asian culture and science. 

Lydia Rozenthal, B.A., M.A., Registered Clinical Counsellor and a psychotherapist, 

clinical supervisor and faculty member in the School of Arts and Sciences 

at City University, has a 25 year career with practical experience in cross-cultural 

work, body and mind connections, family, children and adult counselling 

therapy. 

Fees: 

Introductory Lecture: 

Complimentary and optional. 

Seminar: $200 for CTCMA members, 

on or before November 8th 

after November 8th registration fees are $220. 

Registration Deadlines: 

October 18th 

November 16th. 

Registration Details: 

Space is limited so reserve your spot now. Breakfast and lunch will be provided 

at the seminar and light snacks at the introductory lecture. To register or 

inquire about seminar details, 

please contact Kitty Lau at klau@cityu.edu or call 604-689-2489 x109.

However, my research made me 

conclude that we can reduce time 

perspectives to two mutually exclusive 

ways of attending to personal time. 

So-called alphas focus on their hereand-now. 

They live in the world and 

often are inattentive to their personal 

past and future, since to them the past 

is "no longer the present, “and the 

future "not yet the present.” By 

contrast, the preferential attention 

mode of so-called betas is on their 

personal past or future which they 

experience as a timescape that is 


Time Gender 

By Robert Pos, MD, Special Contributing Writer 

So-called Alphas focus on their 

here-and-now 

Counselling with insight into 

People take for granted that their life can be 

experienced in three time zones: their past, present 

and future. The conventional view holds that one’s 

time perspective is a unique mix of focusing on one’s 

past, present and future as a learned adjustment to 

one’s social niche, and that all people therefore share 

the same potential of relating to time. 

seamlessly connected with their 

present, although they often seem 

inattentive to their here-and-now. 

These two time perspectives crystallize 

into alpha and beta personalities 

which differ in mood regulation, 

self-esteem, motivation, self-talk, identity, 

social behaviors (including sexuality, 

partnering and parenting), thinking 

style, and attitude toward education 

and occupation. Since this duality in 

time perspectives is universal, it must 

be genetic. To distinguish this two-fold 

biological orientation in time from 

one's biological sexual gender, 

I named someone’s time perspective 

that person’s time gender. 

I concluded that this duality in time 

perspective with its ensuing alpha and 

beta personalities roots in two 

dissimilar kinds of autobiographic 

memory that make up one’s life story 

and are therefore the foundation of 

one’s identity. They become activated 

around age 5 or 6. Previously, an 

absence of a continuous life story prior 

to this was often thought of as due to 

repression (or infantile amnesia). 

My conclusions are based on a four-year 

research sample (1987-1991) of 405 

consecutive clients from Greater 

6 

Vancouver BC. By chance, my sample 

had the same sex distribution as the 

1986 population census of Greater 

Vancouver: slightly more than 50% 

women and slightly less than 50% 

men. Statistical analyses of the first 273 

subjects with more available variables 

showed that this cohort had other 

demographics in common with the 

Greater Vancouver population. As a 

result, the overall sample appeared to 

represent Greater Vancouver. It contained 

60% alphas and 40% betas. 

Assigning someone's time gender is 

not a simple matter and is discussed 

in detail elsewhere. But it is reassuring 

to know that counsellors can learn to 

put the time gender model to efficient 

use in their counselling, as I learned 

from supervising Susan Curtis, MEd, 

CEAP, over a number of years. 

That one can divide people on genetic 

grounds not only into females and 

males, but also into alphas and betas 

means that not all men are from Mars, 

nor all women from Venus. Instead, 

there are alpha men and beta men, 

and alpha women and beta women. 

This has profound consequences for 

counselling in that a counsellor does 

not always share the same time 

gender with a client. 

Counsellors should keep in mind that 

alpha and beta clients have different 

counselling needs which require 

corresponding approaches. Alpha 

counsellors should not alphacize, and 

beta counsellors not betacize all their clients. 

Originally, I assumed that the time 

gender distribution of 60% alphas and 

40% betas applied to both sexes; in 

other words, that sexual gender and

time gender were completely 

independent. However, the alpha-beta 

ratio amongst men turned out to be 

virtually 50%-50%, while amongst 

women there are about 70% alphas 

and 30% betas. This connection 

between sexual gender and time gender 

is statistically strong and stable. 

In the beginning, I had no explanation 

for this. However, recent molecular 

genetic research provided an answer. 

It reaffirmed that a preponderance of 

genes for brain function (notably 

higher cognitive functions) are linked 

to the X-chromosome. 

This makes it likely that the 

autobiographic time gender 

genes are also X-linked. Since 

men have one X-chromosome 

(inherited from their 

mother) and women 

two (one inherited from each parent), 

the about equal number of alphas 

and betas amongst men suggests 

that their mothers as a group (that is 

women in general) contain equal 

amounts of alpha and beta genes, 

despite the fact that about two thirds 

of women are alphas and one third 

betas. Alpha women must therefore 

contain either two dominant alpha 

genes, or one dominant alpha gene 

and one recessive beta gene, while 

beta women must carry two recessive 

beta genes. In the future, it may 

be possible to locate these 

autobiographic memory genes in the 

human genome. 

Although discussing alpha and beta 

personalities in detail is beyond the 

scope of this article, it is fundamental 


that counsellors become familiar with 

the fact that there exist two time genders 

amongst their female and male clients. 

No matter how hard we try, or how 

many self-help books we read, or how 

many hours of counselling we have, 

we cannot change our time gender. 

Everyone carries the weight of one’s 

time gender handicaps. If you desperately 

dislike your sexual gender, you can at 

least have a sex change operation. 

Counsellors often try -- without 

knowing they are doing so -- to help 

alphas change a particular alpha 

weakness into a beta strength, or some 

beta weakness into an alpha strength. 

Such efforts end by necessity in 

frustrating failure and a sense of 

increased inadequacy. Time genderbending 

is not an option. To become 

familiar with the time gender duality, 

and in particular with one’s own time 

gender, helps unload the baggage. 

Once we answer the question of 

whether we are alpha or beta, we 

become aware of our natural 

20 years experience as a marriage and family therapist (specializing in 

sexual and relationship therapy). Fee for individual supervision is $75 per hour. 

($65 per hour when contracting for at least nine months of supervision.) 

For more details, contact Bianca Rucker, PhD(Counselling Psychology) 

at 604-731-4466 (office is located near Broadway & Cambie in Vancouver) 

or via website www.biancarucker.com. 

7 

strengths, and we are more free to use 

them, while stopping to berate 

ourselves for what are essentially the 

limitations of our genetics. We then 

may be more inclined to deal with 

such limitations by looking for 

compensatory strategies. 

The unrealistic yet popular myth of 

temporal sameness haunts us all. 

As counsellors we must, however, 

overcome this myth. When running 

into marital problems, for example, 

The preferential attention mode of so-called Betas is on their personal past or future which 

they experience as a timescape that is seamlessly connected with their present 

we must realize that there are four time 

gender combinations in heterosexual 

marital-type unions. In identical time 

gender marriages there may be two 

alpha partners involved or two beta 

partners, while time gender interfacing 

marriages may involve an alpha 

female and a beta male, or a beta 

female and an alpha male. 

About the Author: 

“Robert Pos, MD, DPsych, PhD, 

FRCPC, FAPA, is an emeritus member 

of Department of Psychiatry, Faculty 

of Medicine, University of British 

Columbia. Previously he was Clinical 

Professor of Psychiatry at the 

University of British Columbia, and 

prior to that, Professor of Psychiatry at 

the University of Toronto. 

For further details of his curriculum 

vitae see his website 

www.robertpos.info.” 

Readers who are interested in the 

references for this article are welcome to 

contact the author.

Recently I presented a short 

workshop on play therapy for 

the BC School Counsellors 

Association at their annual conference. 

Preparation for this workshop proved 

to be a good exercise for me to look at 

and make sense of what I have been 

doing in my practice with children. 

I have attended many workshops and 

trainings over the years and finally 

became registered as a play therapist 

through the Association of Play 

Therapy three years ago. I would like 

to credit many of my play therapy 

teachers and supervisors, such as 

Marianne Carter, John Allan, Garry 

Landreth, Rise Van Fleet and especially 

Marie José Dhaese. Currently I run a 

private practice in Williams Lake and 

100 Mile House, working as a family 

therapist. About 30% of my practice is 

doing play therapy and I bring to this 

work twelve years of experience as an 

elementary school counsellor both in 

the school districts of Surrey and the 

Cariboo-Chilcotin. 

Children are a very vulnerable segment 

of our society. In a film we once 

watched in an undergraduate psychology 

class, I was riveted by Judy Adler's 

work with autistic children. One of my 

first real jobs the summer I was 15 was 

as a 'Mother's Helper' to a family who 

had three children, including an autistic 

eight year old. It was one of the most 

interesting and unique experiences of 

my life. Somewhere along the way 

I also read Virginia Axline's “Dibs In 

Search of Self”. It occurred to me that 

to a large extent, all children have 

difficulty communicating with an 

adult world. 

The aspect of play therapy that to me 

has felt like the most difficult one to 


The Symbolic 

World of Children 

By Dianne Noort, RCC, Contributing Writer 

feel confident with is that of interpreting 

the work that children do in the 

playroom. I asked myself, how do 

I actually do this? 

I work from this premise: 

As adults we build our knowledge 

and learning on interpreting our 

experiences. We often think about, or 

discuss our situations with other 

adults. Children have limited 

experiences and limited language. 

Play is the language of children. They 

are very observant and imitate or 

re-enact what they see and hear. They 

are not good interpreters, however, of 

their experiences. 

Play is a safe 

place for all 

children. 

It helps 

children 

digest their 

experiences. They 

can be their true selves, 

without being self-conscious. While 

playing, children temporarily leave 

real, or ordinary time and move into 

symbolic time. 

I believe that play therapy provides 

the opportunity to, as Martin 

Brokenleg put it in one of his lectures 

on building resilience in children, “see 

your kids when no one else can see 

them for who they are.” They can be 

their true selves, without being 

self-conscious. As therapists we 

need to provide ‘space’ 

for children to 

8 

come out of their daily lives and to 

direct their own play in a neutral 

environment. This provides them with 

the opportunity, under discreet guidance, 

to check-in with their inner world. 

The beauty of children's play, as Garry 

Landreth from the Centre for Play 

Therapy of the University of North 

Texas states, is that “you cannot play 

in the past, or the future; it exists right 

now.” What I've discovered is that 

children are so easily in the present - 

what they show you in their play is a 

slice of themselves right now. Children, 

too, are multi-layered in their beings, as 

are adults. Looking at their play can 

be a little like looking at the 

rings of a tree that has 

been cut down. 

Some years there 

has been good 

healthy growth 

because the

conditions for the tree were right and 

the ring is wider and fleshier than 

the narrower and denser ring from the 

year where conditions were 

compromised. 

Another nugget of advice from Garry 

Landreth suggests that children do not 

give up their typical way of coping in 

the playroom. Some of the things I 

look for are: the choices children make 

in the relationships or problems they 

play out; how they present conflicts; 

who are the protagonists and who are 

the villains and are they projecting their 

own identities onto the toys; is there a 

message of chaos, or underdeveloped 

play or do they show static play or 

movement in their play. Marie José 

Dhaese very rightly reminds us that 

this work keeps the therapist humble. 

The difficulty is to know which is what 

kind of play and what it represents. The 

symbols in the play hold the feelings, 

Marie Jose Dhaese affirms. It is our job 

to disentangle the child’s innate 

wisdom, thus helping the child to 

re-experience the event and the feelings 

associated both from the outside, as 

well as from the inside of themselves. 

This interaction is how the child 

begins to integrate their experience 

with a safer new reality. 

By creating a neutral space for children 

to play I have discovered that it is not 

so much my job to “do” something 

with the play the child sets out before 

me. I used to feel a real pressure to 

understand the child's process - now. 

The child needs time to work inside 

their own play, to manipulate their 

own symbols and experiment with 

their own interactions with the toys. It 

is very important, however, that they 

do this with the therapist as a witness. 

Therapists will experience children 

demanding undivided attention 

toward their play. Often in a child’s 

life when problem circumstances 

occur, the child is left alone with it and 

this is where the child attempts to 

make sense of what has happened, 

but not in an integrated way. 

As we watch the child's play carefully, 

the child’s personal symbols begin to 

make more sense. A process becomes 

Page 28 


THE BAR CONTINUES TO RISE 

IN THE FIELD OF EAP / EFAP 

The Employee Assistance Professional 

Association (EAPA) advocates for 

competent clinical professionals 

practicing in the field of EAP. 

Effective EAP work underscores that 

the clinical professional has 

a deeper understanding of the 

connection between business and 

EAP counselling. 

The field of EAP continues to evolve 

given the ongoing changes in the 

workplace, in society and in the 

economy; the high rates of mental 

health related disability claims 

especially among the younger 

employees; the challenges facing 

the older employees; and the overall 

difficulty many people appear to 

have in managing their lives. 

The skills and knowledge learned in 

this EAP training are transferable 

and acutely effective to other 

counselling practices given our 

clients in today's society. 

To ensure that your income from EAP 

work and other sources continues 

and increases, consider the 

following professional services 

and programs: 

Professional Services 

• 24 hour CEAP advisement for 

potential CEAP candidates 

(individual or group rates) 

• Consultation to EAP providers, 

counsellors and organizations re 

EAP services 

Call Claire Sutton, M.A., RCC, CEAP* 

Over 14 years EAP experience • Former National Director of a leading BC EAP provider 

President, Western Canada EAPA Chapter • EAP Advisor to the members of the BCACC 

604 -742-1178 • csutton@clairesutton.com • www.clairesutton.com 

9 

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Abstract 

Therapeutic letter writing as an adjunct to counselling has 

increased in use by counsellors in the last decade. Despite 

this growth, limited research attention has been devoted to 

how clients interpret such documents. 

This study investigated the letter writing practices of a small 

group of counsellors as well as the experiences of 7 clients 

who had received a letter from their counsellor 

during therapy. The data collected and analyzed was 

in the form of letters written by clients 

to the researcher. Four themes emerged 

from the analysis of their letters: 

(a) curiosity and connection, 

(b) consolidation: relationships and 

session content, (c) facilitating and 

hindering, and (d) in perpetuity: the 

tangible and lasting presence of letters. 

Implications for counselling and future 

research are discussed. 

Therapeutic Letters in 

Counselling Practice: Client 

and Counsellor Experiences 

Letter writing has a distinguished 

place in our history. Letters have 

documented the lives of numerous men and women; they 

have recorded historical events and have been the 

foundation of many contemporary genres. Letters have also 

been accorded the status of being one of the oldest and most 

intimate and sincere forms of literature (Dawson & Dawson, 

1909b). Within counselling, there has been a growing 

acceptance of the value of incorporating written 

communication into sessions despite the predominantly 

verbal means by which counselling issues are addressed. 

Generally, greater attention has been placed upon the client 

as the principal author and less focus on the written material 

initiated by the counsellor. Letter writing to clients however, 

has enjoyed a modest increase in use as an adjunct in 

counselling due in part to narrative therapy. The term and 

clinical practice of “therapeutic letters” can be attributed to 

this approach and to the work of Australian family therapist 

Michael White and New Zealand family therapist David 

Epston (Epston, 1994; White, 1995; White & Epston, 1990). 

The purposes of this study were to explore the use of 


Client and Counsellor Experiences 

Nathan R. Pyle - Memorial University of Newfoundland - October 24, 2005 

...the recipients... 

received “greater help 

from my letters than 

from their 

face-to-face therapeutic 

contacts” 

10 

therapeutic letters and gain understanding as to how clients 

interpret such documents. The guiding research question 

was: What meanings and significance do clients attribute to 

a therapeutic letter they have received from their counsellor? 

This article will commence with a literature review followed 

by a description of the research method, results, implications 

for counselling practice and a discussion of future research. 

Literature Review 

Letters can be considered one form of written 

communication used in counselling. 

They have frequently been incorporated 

into individual, couple, family, and 

group therapy with the identified 

client as the composer (Batiste, 1965; 

Diamond, 2000; Lindahl, 1988; Nau, 

1997; Penn, 1991; Penn & Frankfurt, 

1994; Rudes, 1992; Sloman & Pipitone, 

1991; Tubman, Montgomery & 

Wagner, 2001; Zimmerman & Shephard, 

1993). The intentions of counsellors 

who write letters can be categorized 

as (a) administrative letters, and (b) 

therapeutic letters. Administrative 

letters relate more to the maintenance 

of engagement and for the purposes 

of communicating with other professionals and agencies 

involved in the care of a client (du Plessis & Hirst, 1999; 

Steinberg, 2000; Vidgen & Williams, 2001). Letters sent to 

clients with therapeutic intentions not only summarize the 

content of a session and perhaps note a future appointment, 

but also contribute to the therapeutic process. 

One of the first descriptions of writing a letter with such 

intentions was by Ellis (1965) who described writing 

“diagnostic-therapeutic letters” (p. 27). To his surprise, he 

noted the recipients of his letters received “greater help from 

my letters than from their face-to-face therapeutic contacts” 

(p. 27). Additionally, counsellor-authored letters with 

therapeutic intentions have taken the form of “emplotment” 

(Goldberg, 2000); they have been used in Jungian counselling 

(Allan & Bertoia, 1992); for follow-up after a difficult ending 

to therapy (Omer, 1991); for engagement (Lown & Britton, 

1991; Wilcoxen & Fennell, 1983; 1986); and for paradoxical 

purposes (Selvini-Palazzoli, Boscolo, Cecchin & Prata, 1978; 

Weeks & L'Abate, 1982). Recently, the creation and growth of

such letters have been cast in a new light by the influences of 

postmodernism and more specifically, narrative therapy. 

Narrative therapy, considered one of the “third wave” 

(O'Hanlon, 1994) approaches, honours language and stories 

with the creation of therapeutic letters as a way to document 

and privilege peoples' lived experiences (White & Epston, 

1990). White and Epston described the use of a number of 

different letters in their work (e.g., letters of invitation, letters 

of prediction, and letters of reference). These letters were 

viewed as extensions of therapy sessions. Epston (1994) 

articulated this by describing them as being “organically 

intertwined” (p. 23) with the counselling session and that 

they follow each other “like the drawing in and letting out 

of breath” (p. 33). 

In addition to White and Epston’s work, many practitioners 

have explored and described the use of therapeutic letters 

(Andrews, Clark & Baird, 1997; Batha, 2003; Fishel, Bachs, 

McSheffrey & Murphy, 2001; MacDonald, 2003; Majchrzak 

Rombach, 2003; Marner, 2000; Pare & Majchrzak Rombach, 

2003; Parry & Doan, 1994; White & Murray, 2002). Despite 

the interest in therapeutic letter writing and its growth and 

visibility in the literature, a clear paucity exists in relation to 

formal research. Informal research has generally shown that 

therapeutic letters were appreciated by clients and 

contributed to positive outcomes in therapy (Epston, as cited 

in White, 1995; Nylund & Thomas, 1994). These evaluations 

concluded that the value of a single letter was equal to, or worth 


11 

approximately three to five face-to-face counselling sessions. 

There have also been two academic-based dissertations that 

examined therapeutic letters. Whyte's (1997) unpublished 

thesis explored the use of a structured summary letter. General 

findings of this study found the letter was therapeutically 

helpful to both therapist and client and was a valued adjunct 

to verbal discussions. Moules' (2000, 2002, 2003) hermeneutic 

inquiry into 11 letters is perhaps the most extensive study of 

therapeutic letters. Textual interpretations of the letters were 

coupled with interviews with the families and the clinicians 

who composed the letters. Moules (2000) found the letters 

influenced a range of elements in the therapeutic work and 

in the relationship between client and counsellor. She noted 

that the value or heart of a therapeutic letter appeared to be 

where the intention of the sender meets with the “ways that 

the recipients allow the letters to enter, inform, invoke, 

influence, and change them in some way” (2000, p. 199). 

The developing growth and knowledge-base of therapeutic 

letters is encouraging and demonstrates the interest in this 

intervention and how it may be of benefit to clients. 

Although there has been much anecdotal support for 

therapeutic letters, formal research is just beginning to 

confirm and more extensively map out this technique. This 

study's particular focus was on the writing practices of 

a selected number of counsellors and more specifically, on 

gaining a greater understanding of how clients experience 

and receive therapeutic letters. 

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Claire Sutton, M.A., RCC, CEAP 

President, Western Canada EAPA Chapter 

Phone: 604.742.1178 • Email: csutton@clairesutton.com 

January 18, 2007 

Michele Crawford, M.A., 

RCC, CCC 

RATIONAL EMOTIVE 

BEHAVIOURAL 

THERAPY

Method 

Participants 

There were two participant groups in this study: (a) counsellors, 

and (b) clients. The selection procedures for identifying 

counsellors involved a criteria-based approach as well as 

a network or snowball format (Creswell, 1998; LeCompte & 

Preissle, 1993). The criteria included (a) counsellors having 

previously written and sent letters to their clients in the 

process of counselling, (b) the letters had therapeutic intentions, 

and (c) the counsellors were required to be registered or 

chartered with a professional licensing body. In total, 16 

counsellors from across Canada were contacted by the 

researcher with a resulting 9 meeting the criteria and consenting 

to participate. There were 7 female and 2 male counsellors. 

Each counsellor held a minimum of a Master's degree with 

two being trained at the doctoral level. Six counsellors were 

registered Social Workers, two were registered Psychologists 

and one was a Canadian Certified Counsellor through the 

Canadian Counselling Association. Two counsellors 

were also clinical members of the American 

Association of Marriage and Family 

Therapy. The theoretical orientations of 

the counsellors were predominantly 

narrative and/or solution-oriented. The 

9 counsellors had an average of 24 years 

experience within a range of 9 to 38 years. 

Client selection involved counsellors 

reviewing suggested guidelines given by 

the researcher and then discerning and 

selecting two or three clients to whom 

they had previously written a therapeutic 

letter(s). The recommended 

guidelines encouraged counsellors to 

consider the following: (a) select current 

clients active on their caseload 

and secondly, those who have recently 

concluded counselling; (b) consider a range of clients (e.g., 

children, adolescents, adults, families and couples); (c) if 

children are selected, ensure they are over the age of 8 years; 

(d) exclude clients with serious mental health diagnoses 

(e.g., schizophrenia); and (e) although the presenting concerns 

and issues of the client(s) are not significant, those who have 

counselling issues that may make them vulnerable to 

significant emotional distress if they participate in the study, 

should be excluded. 

The selected clients were contacted by their counsellor by 

phone or in person and the study and its purpose was 

introduced to them. Each client received an information 

package from their counsellor, consisting of a letter of 

invitation, two consent forms, and two envelopes. A central 

message communicated to each client stated that whether 

they went on to participate or not, there would be no 

disruption in their counselling or their relationship with 

their counsellor. They were also each informed that their 

decision to be involved or not would be confidential and it 

would be at their discretion to inform their counsellor. 

Although setting the design in this way added uncertainty, 


the value of 

a single letter was equal 

to, or worth 

approximately three to 

five face-to-face 

counselling sessions 

12 

as the researcher was not aware of the specific clients who 

had received packages, it seemed to be the most appropriate 

and respectful way to invite participants while safeguarding 

the elements of voluntary participation and their 

confidentiality. This process resulted in a total of 7 clients 

participating in the study. All 7 were adults, 6 were female, 

1 male. Participants were from across Canada. 

Procedure and Data Analysis 

Aquestionnaire was completed by each counsellor participating 

in the study. The 11-item questionnaire explored their academic 

and clinical background (current place of employment, area 

of practice, years of experience, educational preparation, 

professional affiliation and theoretical orientation). The 

questionnaire also addressed their practice of using therapeutic 

letters (years writing therapeutic letters, reasons for sending 

a letter, intentions of the letter, frequency and components 

of their letters). The questionnaires were reviewed by the 

researcher and descriptive information was organized. Three 

questions allowed extended responses from counsellors 

and their responses to each were arranged 

according to shared categories or common 

practices by the researcher. 

The letter of invitation each client 

received in the information package 

gave instructions regarding their 

participation. As this study attempted 

to keep a consistent form (i.e., the use 

of letters), there was no face-to-face 

contact or interviews with participants. 

Instead, they were each invited to 

write a letter to the researcher about 

the letter they received from their 

counsellor. Participants were not 

asked specific questions but were 

encouraged to share and write about their experiences of 

receiving the letter(s) and the value and significance the letters 

had for them. 

The analysis of the letters was comprised of several steps 

with an overall framework guided by Creswell (1998). 

Creswell conceptualizes the analysis of data as conforming 

to a general contour or more specifically, “a data analysis 

spiral” (p. 142). He strongly encourages a back and forth 

movement during analysis which corresponds well with the 

inherent reading and re-reading that takes place when one 

composes or receives a letter. 

In commencing the analytic process, counsellors and their 

respective agencies as well as client participants were 

assigned pseudonyms to protect their identities. Each letter 

was then read and re-read numerous times without interruption 

or the noting or marking of any words or passages. 

Creswell's (1998) recommendation to commence data 

analysis in this manner fit with the spirit, tradition, and 

natural progression of receiving and reading a letter. That is, 

when we receive a letter, we often do not immediately

deconstruct it but rather let the words flow as we anticipate 

what the author will share with us next. Following the initial 

reading, we are intrigued and invited into a deeper 

relationship with what is written and how it is written. 

The analysis of the letters then moved to the identification of 

meaningful words and passages within each letter (Seidman, 

1998; Taylor & Bogdan, 1998). Seidman encourages researchers 

to be explicit or to articulate their criteria in identifying 

excerpts due to the value and implications of highlighting 

certain passages and letting go of others. In this study, the 

terms “reactions”, “sentiments”, and “situations” assisted in 

this process as the letters were assiduously read. These terms 

evolved out of the research question and the desire to explore 

the meaning and value in relation to how the letter(s) 

influenced their lives, thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. 

Also at this stage and to become further intimately involved 

with the letters, each one was re-written by the researcher. 

The development of categories or “baskets” (Marshall & 

Rossman, 1999, p. 154) commenced the next stage. A number 

of categories were initially developed; however, the continuous 

reading of the letters generated new categories or saw the 

collapse of others. At the conclusion of this process, 

8 categories were established in which text were placed 

(context of therapy, behavioural reactions, unique characteristics, 

use of the letter, affective responses, letter components, 

affective characteristics of the letter, and author history). 

At this point, the analytic process moved to the study of the 

categories “for thematic connections within and among 

them” (Seidman, 1998, p. 102). 

Four themes emerged from the thematic analysis: (a) curiosity 


13 

and connection, (b) solidification: relationships and session 

content, (c) facilitating and hindering, and (d) in perpetuity: 

the lasting and tangible presence of letters. Each theme was 

brought to the researcher's supervisors for further review 

and scrutiny. As well, the researcher wrote a letter to 3 of the 

participants who requested further correspondence. A letter 

was written to each of them as a way to confirm and further 

understand their experiences. Due to time constraints, only 

one of the participants was able to write a reply to the 

researcher. 

Results 

Counsellor Questionnaire 

The questionnaire completed by the counsellors indicated 

the average number of years they had been engaged in 

letter writing was 5.6 within a range of 2 to 10 years. The 

average number of letters sent to a client was 1.9 with 5 of 

the counsellors indicating that they usually sent one. The 

remaining 4 noted they generally sent between two to six 

letters when working with a family or individual client. 

The questionnaire also permitted a glimpse into their letter 

writing practices. The following discussion will explore 

counsellor responses to the three questions that invited more 

detailed information from them. 

Determining factors in the decision to send a therapeutic letter: 

There were five factors that influenced whether or not 

a counsellor composed and sent a letter. The first was that 

the letter was an established component of a consultation or 

reflecting team session. Counsellors reported that a letter 

was often sent to an individual client or family following 

each session and this was a routine part of the therapeutic

process. A second factor that played a role in the decision to 

write a letter was counsellor uncertainty. This uncertainty 

was related to the client's goals, the relationship between the 

counsellor and client, as well as a general feeling (by the 

counsellor) of being “stuck”. Counsellors described using 

the letter as a way to ask questions to gain clarity around 

these issues and to further facilitate “joining” with a client. 

Athird factor that guided the decision to send a letter 

involved the counsellor's clinical sense and judgement that 

it would be helpful in the therapeutic process. This was 

identified as a way of offering additional support and to 

accentuate the client's strengths and therapy gains. As one 

counsellor noted, she often sends a letter “when I think 

having an 'extra voice' (input) might be helpful between 

sessions.” The fourth determining factor in sending a letter 

related to the constraints of time. One counsellor wrote 

of the clinical reality faced by many counsellors: 

There was a time when I was able to 

limit my caseload & write letters to 

everyone I saw. Caseloads got heavier 

from time to time & I've become more 

selective. Presenting problem may help 

make the decision as, for example, in 

families where parents are asking for an 

ADHD assessment. I may not use letters, 

especially when I'm coordinating other 

services like pediatric consults, psychiatric 

consults etc. [for] the family. I think 

these families can still use therapeutic 

letters but I just don’t have the time. 

The fifth factor described by two of the 

counsellors indicated that reaching the 

termination phase of therapy is the point 

at which they sent a letter. Letters sent 

at the end of counselling were used 

as a way to summarize and close the 

relationship as well as an opportunity to 

succinctly reflect and honour the work that had been done. 

The intentions of the letter. The second area explored in the 

counsellor questionnaire related specifically to the intentions 

the counsellors had in sending the letters. Their responses 

were reviewed and two principal objectives or intentions 

emerged (a) highlighting the client's story and moments of 

strength, and (b) bringing awareness to the client of the 

experiences and understandings of the counsellor. 

Counsellors desired the letter to emphasize and bring 

focused attention to meaningful moments in the clients’ lives 

and to the gains made in therapy. As one counsellor stated, 

“I want the client to reflect and hold in their hand ‘written’ 

validation of what is happening, ... something they can 

pull out to remind them of goals, strengths.” Additionally, 

counsellors described the letter as an opportunity to 

“reinforce points covered in a counselling session” or as 

a way to “encourage the continuation of [the] alternate story 

which emerged in session.” The second significant intention 


“I want the client to 

reflect and hold 

in their hand 

‘written’ validation 

of what is happening,... 

something they can 

pull out to remind them 

of goals, strengths.” 

14 

noted by counsellors was the use of letters as a way of letting 

clients know their “thinkings” and “wanderings”. 

Counsellors in this study wrote of incorporating their 

observations and of sharing their “tentative thoughts” with 

clients through letters. Furthermore, the letters allowed an 

opportunity to “reinforce points covered in a counselling 

session” and as a vehicle to introduce forgotten questions, 

reflections, and concerns of the counsellor. 

Components of a therapeutic letter: The third area explored 

in the questionnaire involved the counsellors' descriptions of 

the elements they felt were important when composing 

a therapeutic letter. In examining their responses, two central 

features were identified: (a) questions, and (b) reflective 

statements. A number of the counsellors, in using these two 

components, described anchoring them in the content of the 

session and in the words of the client or family. 

The use of questions in the letters was valued by a 

number of the counsellors in the 

study. For example, one counsellor 

described questions as the most 

important part of a therapeutic letter 

adding how they “can be more quietly 

contemplated between 

sessions.” This counsellor encouraged 

the framing of questions in ways that 

the client could “mine” their own 

resources and knowledge and 

“expose their own strengths to 

themselves. In partnership with 

questions, counsellors described using 

reflective statements in the letters they 

composed. Counsellors described 

these statements as being “strengths 

focused”, and reviewing the work 

that had been done and what the 

client or family stated has yet to be 

done. Although the reflections may 

vary in content, counsellors emphasized 

the importance of using tentative 

language in the letter and drawing these statements from 

the client's story and words. 

Additional considerations viewed as important by 

counsellors in relation to writing therapeutic letters included 

giving thought to the confidentiality and safety of delivering 

each letter. One counsellor wrote, “I always make certain 

how a client receives mail to ensure a letter will not be 

intercepted.” Furthermore, counsellors noted the importance 

of reflecting on the letters before they are sent with sincere 

consideration to the words and the possible implications of 

them. “It is crucial,” one counsellor wrote, “that I think 

through the impact my observations may have (in so far 

as possible).” 

Client Letters 

The 7 participants in this study initially wrote the researcher 

one letter. Three of the 7 participants invited further dialogue 

with the researcher and as a result, a letter exploring and

confirming their experiences was sent by the researcher to 

each of these participants. Two of the 3 were not able to 

respond to the researcher's letters as they first indicated, 

resulting in one additional letter and a total of eight letters 

being analyzed in this study. The letters varied in length 

(one to three pages) with two of the eight being handwritten 

and the rest were typed (word processor). Three of the 

participants received their letter(s) following a reflecting 

team session while the rest received them from an individual 

counsellor. The eight letters received by the researcher were 

analyzed and four themes emerged: (a) curiosity and 

connection, (b) consolidation: relationships and session 

content, (c) facilitating and hindering, and (d) in perpetuity: 

the tangible and lasting presence of letters. The following 

discussion will be devoted to these four themes. 

Curiosity and connection: Participants described being 

curious and inquisitive at receiving a letter from their 

counsellor. In receiving a letter in the mail, there seemed to 

be a natural wonder of the written words and as the letter 

is scanned for its author, a picture often emerges of the 

composer. Clare, one of the participants, wrote: “I had 

forgotten all about the visit and then a letter came in the 

mail from the [Phoenix Program] & I didn’t know what it 

could be about.” Clare's curiosity in a way, beckoned her to 

open and explore the letter and its contents further. The letter 

also seemed to represent an invitation into a relationship 

with the words and the authors. Clare continued: “But 

knowing that they actually thought about my mom & I after 

we had left meant a lot to me. The fact that they had taken 

the time to put words on paper directly about what we had 

spoke about was amazing to me.” 

Similarly, Katherine wrote of how the letters she received 

allowed her to maintain a connection despite the passing of 

time between sessions. She wrote: “The letter helped me feel 

connected to the team weeks after the session.” 

For Katherine, this connection brought feelings of “support” 

and a demonstration of the “commitment” of the reflecting 

team that worked with her. 

Consolidation: Relationships and session content. 

Participants described in their letters the “reinforcement” 

value of therapeutic letters and how not only their relationships 

with their counsellors were solidified or consolidated 

through the letters, but also the discussion and content of 

the therapy sessions. For example, Elizabeth wrote: 

“Overall, the letters reinforced the work that needed to be 

done in the house and in some ways was a mini session 

with [Diane, therapist] that held us over until we saw 

her again. We looked forward to her letter.” 

Elizabeth and her family saw value in the letters as a means 

to review and integrate the sessions. She described reading 

the letter(s) at the table “as it outlined the good work we 

were doing.” 

David, another participant, also noted how the letter helped 

him contemplate further on the session he recently had with 

his counsellor. He wrote: “It gave me a lot of time to reflect 


15 

on that session and most importantly it [kept] me focused 

on what I had said during that session.” Celine also valued 

the letters she received as a way to reflect on past sessions 

and as a means to conceptualize and solidify the changes 

that occurred. She wrote that the letter “Really helped me 

to affirm and understand the changes I had made.” 

In continuing her letter, she wrote: “I could put the document 

where I could read it often or as much as I needed to. It's 

a wonderful document with a lot of very powerful 

messages because it does show the personal growth and 

positive side of my life along with words I no longer use 

like “depression”, “controlling”, etc”. 

Participants also wrote how the letters they received 

reinforced the bond or the relationships with their counsellors. 

For example, Katherine wrote about the value of the letter 

in relation to how it strengthened her connection with the 

reflecting team. She wrote: “The letter that followed the 

sessions showed me great concern from the team. It was 

tangible evidence of their dedication and concern.” 

Katherine continued by stating the letters: Played a big part 

in maintaining the bond with the team. The bond was there 

from the sessions but it was solidified by the letters. I always 

took notice of who had signed the letter - how many names 

were there, especially who had been able to hand-sign it. To 

me it was proof of how many viewpoints were supporting 

the framework of the letter and the thoughts given in it. The 

letters definitely held more meaning to me because the 

connection was already there. 

Katherine’s words reflect how the letter, for her, brought 

focus to the relationship with the team and strengthened the 

link between them. Eleanor expressed a similar feeling as 

she wrote about her experiences of receiving a letter 

following a reflecting team session. She stated: “They really 

listened to us and gave us the feedback in the room, but to 

see this written in a letter really reinforced how much they 

cared about us.” 

Facilitating and hindering: The therapeutic letters received 

by the participants were described as being helpful and 

constructive components of their counselling experiences. 

In addition to what they gained from the letters, some 

participants wrote how the letters they received complicated 

and/or added confusion to the counselling issues being 

addressed. The following will first outline the facilita- 

Page 28 

Uri Sanhedrai, M.A. 

Counselling Psychology / Art Therapy 

Specializing in issues facing 

older adults and their caregivers 

604-988-5066 

On-location visits can be arranged for persons with limited mobility. 

Looking to form or join a peer consultation group on adoption issues.

There are many reasons to write 

a marketing message that 

dances in the mental pathways 

of your clients’ minds and connects 

you together in a unique partnership, 

until the end is achieved. 

• This style of writing connects you 

and your client in a unique partnership 

• Writing in this way creates a desire 

for action and movement 

• This type of words and language 

provides opportunity for you to 

express yourself, while also 

connecting with others through your 

message. 


BEST PRACTICES MARKETING SERIES 

Dancing Into Your Unique 

Marketing Message 

“...a marketing message that dances in the 

mental pathways of your clients’ minds” 

By Gerry Bock, RCC 

There are no strict rules about exactly 

how to do this and each person will 

march or flow to a unique message. 

Each expression will be demanding of 

its own language, its own pattern and 

especially its own rhythm. Dance is 

responsive: reflecting the influence of 

specific music, the circumstances of 

the moment, and the energy of 

a unique partner. And dance is about 

moving, just as words and compelling 

marketing copy are about moving 

people - both in the sense of touching 

some people (and leaving others 

unmoved), and in the sense of 

transporting those who are willing, 

into new levels of awareness. 

Introducing a New Way to Express 

Your Message 

Words and language are incredible 

tools to assist you and your audience 

to doing transformative work together 

in the following ways: 

• Words and language connect your 

audience to their inner selves and new 

visualizations of what is possible 

while working with you 

• Words and language maintain the 

excitement and passionate connection 

between you and your client as you 

work together to explore and fulfill 

potential opportunities 

• Words and language compel your 

audience to learn more about you and 

your clinical practice, making it more 

likely that the clients you would like 

to attract will ultimately invest in your 

services 

Are you willing to harness the power 

of words and language in your 

written and spoken business 

communication? 

16 

Writing Great Copy in a Virtual World 

We need good words and language to 

express our transformative work into 

a more technologically based world. 

As the business part of our practice 

becomes more and more virtual, we 

will initially connect with more people 

through our words and language instead 

of face-to-face. Because the reality of 

technology (telephone, e-mail and the 

internet) means more and more of our 

clients will experience their first contact 

with us through our words and 

language filtered by technology, our 

words and our choice of language will 

make the case for our services, and 

move people to engage us, or not. 

When you consider writing good 

marketing copy, you may think first of 

sharp headlines, strongly emphasizing 

the benefits of your practice services, 

and perhaps even making strong calls 

to action. What you may forget is that 

“less obvious” first step. The step 

that typically gets taken for granted 

and which needs to happen first is 

developing your personal message. 

That means creatively expanding your 

personal thoughts and ideas into clear, 

radiant focus. 

The most powerful, and profound 

message is what you are uniquely 

here to share with your clients, and 

this part of your marketing needs 

to be developed first. The distinction 

between developing your message 

and writing your copy has become 

more and more significant with 

the growth of technology and 

because of the subjective nature 

of the services provided in a clinical 

counselling practice.

This is why: If you are marketing a 

physical product or a straightforward 

type of service - clothing, mechanical 

repair, hair cutting, or a how-to manual 

of information - then it doesn't take 

much effort or creativity to get across 

the “what” of your specific business 

offering. This can be done without 

losing your audience, or appearing to 

be a “slick” marketer. 

However, in marketing the business of 

clinical practice – offering subjective 

items such as personal and spiritual 

growth, or radical new ways of living 

and working – discussing your practice 

via comparison or by selling the 

benefits of your service, you are leaving 

out the essentials of the real story and 

possibly turning your audience away 

from your service (and possibly from 

the profession in general). 

Those of us in the business practice of 

“transforming lives” are not (hopefully) 

promising a discrete, isolated benefit 

such as: make more money, grow 

more hair, or save more time. We are 

inviting people on a journey to expand 

their understanding, to experience 

a new way of living that they may 

have never imagined for themselves 

without your unique assistance. 

The promise of our clinical work is 

transformation, which brings with it 

a rich tapestry of new feelings, 

experiences, and potential capabilities. 

Our words and the language that we 

choose to express ourselves - the key 

words and phrases that paint a picture 

of what the world could look and feel 

like if clients are willing to engage us - 

is the way we make that promise 

become tangible for our clients. This is 

the way in which we pull great ideas, 

concepts, and insights down to earth 

so that our clients can feel the realness, 

become compelled, and see our values 

and ideals in a manner that is inviting. 

Our words and our language need to 

be fresh, distinctive, and original if they 

are going to bring people to a new 

awareness or understanding of 

themselves, and their potential place 

in the collective dance of life with 

a fresh, new dance step. We need to 

identify and express for ourselves first 


what we are uniquely inviting clients 

to experience in partnership with us 

and then what they can expect if they 

engage our services. For example, are 

you talking to your audience about: 

“walking on water” or “feeling 

healthier”; or “being in love forever” 

or “creating better organizational 

productivity”; “experiencing the thrill 

of touching something deep inside of 

yourself” or “identifying your own 

greatest strengths”? 

Marketing copy writing is definitely 

about selling. In clinical practice, this 

means not selling in a manipulative or 

an aggressive manner. And before 

you can sell anything related to the 

services of a clinical practice, you need 

to be able to communicate who you 

are, what you value in yourself and in 

your clients and what other potential 

clients can expect as an outcome from 

your services. You need the right 

words and the right language to get 

you and your audience into the same 

space, and sharing a common 

understanding of where the dance is 

leading. You need a unique story 

that resonates for both you and for 

your audience. That is the art of 

developing your personal message. 

Message development is the deeper 

work of looking inside you, and 

considering your life story, for the 

words, images and feelings that make 

that profound message come to life for 

your potential clients. It's about 

finding words and metaphors to 

express the common thread that ties 

together all the best work that you 

have done and explains who you are 

and why you are offering what you 

uniquely do. It is about the 

delightful experience of finding the 

language inside of you that paints 

pictures, stirs feelings, and expresses 

the powerful change that you want 

most for the clients who attend 

your practice. 

If you focus on writing sales or 

marketing copy, before you have 

finished the story you are uniquely 

here to tell, your words will be very 

likely to fall flat. If you develop your 

own powerful and unique message 

and the words to express it, then 

copy writing becomes a process of 

adding refining touches to all of 

your marketing copy in a way that 

compels people to enjoy what you 

have to say and to do something 

with your message. 

To read more about the power of 

developing your own story, you may 

want to consult: “All Marketers are 

Liars: The Power of Telling Authentic 

Stories in a Low Trust World”, 2005, 

written by Seth Godin. 

Comments and inquiries regarding this 

article may be directed to: 

Gerry Bock, RCC at 604-574-6555 or 

by email at gerry@bock.ca 

Jan Spilman, RN, M.ED 

is pleased to announce the re-opening of Her 

North Shore private practice 

specializing in Individual Therapy 

& Psychoeducational Groups 

for Adults Caring for Ill or Frail Loved Ones 

and Individual Therapy for Professional Caregivers 

604-926-0609 • www.caregiverwellness.ca 

17

INTRODUCTION 

BC’s new Apology Act came into force in May of this year. 

This short, two-section long statute has the potential to 

change the way that professional regulatory bodies like the 

BCACC resolve public complaints against their members. 

The new Act should also release counsellors and other health 

professionals from the legal constraints which often prevented 

them from giving apologies to their wronged clients. 

In the first part of this article, I will identify 

the two legal problems that counsellors face 

and describe how the new Apology Act 

appears to remove those constraints. In the 

second part that will be published in the 

next issue of Insights, I will look 

closer at the implications of this new 

legislation for both counsellors and the BCACC. 

THE LEGAL PROBLEMS 

From time to time the BCACC receives 

a bona fide complaint from the client of a 

clinical counsellor where the resolution of 

that complaint could be readily 

achieved if the counsellor in question 

had simply provided that client with 

a heartfelt apology at the time of the 

unfortunate event, or if the counsellor 

later gave a meaningful apology in 

response to the formal complaint. 

But legal impediments would prevent 

a counsellor giving such an apology. 

While a counsellor may also have had 

personal reasons for not apologizing, the legal ones were 

more significant. What problems have now been resolved? 

First, if the counsellor hired a lawyer to help respond to the 

BCACC’s investigation of the client's complaint, it is likely 

that legal counsel would have advised the clinical counsellor 

not to say anything to the complainant (directly or through 

the Inquiry Committee) that could be construed to be an 

admission of liability. Even if the evidence gathered by the 

Committee made it obvious that the counsellor committed 

some wrong, the lawyer was likely going to recommend 

against making a full apology, at least not until after 

the complaint had been settled. At a University of Victoria 

workshop in 2003, Catherine Morris summarized this 

problem in these terms: 


BC's New Apology Act: 

Saying “I’m Sorry” 

Has Never Been So Easy 

Part One - The New Legislation 

Prepared by George K. Bryce, BCACC legal counsel - Current to August 17, 2006 

18 

The popular wisdom is that persons who face the prospect 

of being blamed should avoid apologizing or making 

statements about the incident in question. This advice is 

aimed at preventing statements from being turned against 

you if you are sued. Apologies are seen as risky because the 

apology could be interpreted as an admission of liability. 

The second problem counsellors faced was not as obvious, 

but was equally influential. Professionals face 

a dilemma created by the wording of their 

liability insurance policies. Some policies 

require that the insured 

professional cooperate with the insurance 

company in the defense of any claim that 

may have been filed against the 

professional (or even threatened). This 

would include responding to client 

complaints being investigated by the 

professional body. Some policies went 

further to expressly state that an 

insured professional is prohibited 

from voluntarily assuming or accepting 

liability or settling a claim. A policy 

might even state that, if the professional 

does something like give an apology 

to a client without the 

company's consent, such an act would void the 

insurance coverage. 

There are examples of such limitations in the BCACC 

Errors and Omissions Liability Insurance Program provided 

by Lombard Canada. In this policy, clause I(2)(a) states in 

part (my emphasis): “The Insured [Counsellor] shall not 

admit or assume liability for or settle any claim or incur any 

costs, charge or expense without the written consent of the 

Insurer.” A similar provision is found later in clause VI(2): 

“Except at his/her own cost, the Insured [Counsellor] shall 

not voluntarily make any payment, assume any liability or 

obligations or incur any expense, unless incurred with the 

written consent of the Insurer.” 

While there have been a few reported cases which have 

suggested that, in some circumstances, these sorts of legal 

problems can be overcome, no clear decision has been given 

by Canadian courts that removes these legal impediments to 

Page 31

AWord From Your 

President 

Bev Abbey 

In an article written by a President of 

another association, not one akin to the 

counselling profession, he said that 

“Occasionally, one is privileged to be 

involved with an event that stirs the 

emotions and where one can say, that I am 

proud to be part of the event.” 

So is the experience of this writer as I take 

a step back and review the recent events 

and accomplishments of our Board of 

Directors and all of our volunteers that 

support our Association initiatives. 

BC Association of Clinical Counsellors’ News 

Fall 2006 Volume 18 Number 2 

BC Association of Clinical Counsellors 

Mission Statement 

The direction of our Board is always to 

assure that our policies are current, and 

allow for the successful outcomes of our 

initiatives. In addition to setting and 

reviewing policy, each Director has 

a position that is responsible for specific 

initiatives. This is the overall structure of 

our Board. 

We work together to review, and set policies 

and make policy decisions, interdependently, 

to assure that the activities that 

are outlined in our Position Description are 

effectively managed. 

The starting point to review our activities 

is our Mission Statement, from which our 

Fundamental Principles cascade. 

“We are a society of regulated Clinical 

Counsellors, dedicated to providing the 

highest standards of professional 

counselling, consulting, assessment, 

testing and training services. 

Members of the Society act to embrace 

mental health by providing responsive, 

accountable and ethical counselling, 

consulting, assessment and training 

services to individuals, couples, families 

and groups.” 

19 

Fundamental Purpose 1 

“Developing and advocating for the 

profession of counselling (promoting 

the self-interest of the profession and the 

membership).” 

Our Chair of Member Services, Duncan 

Shields, undertook the tremendous task of 

bringing the image of our Association into 

the 21st Century. Respecting our 

commitment to the membership, Duncan 

coordinated regional representatives 

(Identity Project Team), who dedicated 

themselves to work on our re-branding 

initiative, facilitated by Uri Sanhedrai. The 

initiative, begun in December 2005, was 

presented to our Delegate Council in 

March, and is currently rolling out our 

new-look products, including Insights and 

health and trade show displays. The work 

has been received with applause and we 

are hopeful that this growth transition will 

add to your sense of pride in your 

Association membership. 

At our June Board meeting we welcomed 

three new Directors: Pauline Fitzgerald, 

Vice-President, Region 5 (Fraser Valley); 

Adrienne Mahaffey, Chair, Ethics and 

Standards Committee (having served as 

a Director-at-Large with the BC Chapter, 

Canadian Counselling Association); Barry 

Williscroft , Chair, Discipline Committee 

(formerly a Region 3 (Interior South) 

Council Representative and Delegate 

Council Representative). 

Our Regional Vice-Presidents are currently 

reviewing their Position Descriptions, and 

exploring ways to enhance the 

Continuing Competency programs on 

an inter-Regional basis. 

Dianne Symonds, Chair Continuing 

Competency Committee is awaiting 

feedback on a pilot project testing the 

process of attaining and monitoring our

continuing competency. A draft of the 

program was very well received by the 

Delegate Council in March of this year. 

John Fraser, Vice-President, Region 4 

(Lower Mainland Northwest) has become 

a member of the Provincial Disaster Stress 

Trauma Response Team. 

The Task Group for Counsellor Regulation 

approved the Competency Profile (CP) for 

the Counselling Therapist, at its May 

meeting. Validation work on the CP has 

been very rewarding and the process is 

being extended with different counsellor 

populations. 

Planning and preparation for the 

CCA/BCACC National Conference 2007 

“CONNECTING WITH OUR CLIENTS: 

Counselling in the 21st Century” actively 

continues. A “Call for Presentations” is 

posted on our Association website. Mark 

this event on your Calendar, and register 

early, to ensure that you can get in, 

particularly with the national/international 

interest that is being generated. 


“Regulating the professional practice of 

registered members (protecting the public 

interest through entry criteria, peer review 

and discipline).” 

Glen Grigg, Executive Vice-President and 

Coordinator, Regulatory Operations brought 

us together in June to review key aspects 

of our regulatory functions, within a projected 

5-year time frame. David Cane, Consultant 

to the Working Committee on Competency 

Profile Development, Task Group for 

Counsellor Regulation, facilitated a rich 

discussion on the possible use of the CP as 

a basis for our RCC registration process. 

Meredith Egan of Simon Fraser University, 

focused our discussion on the philosophy 

and underlying values, principles and 

considerations for what it looks like to 

work with the process of “Restorative 

Justice”. 

Jim Browne led a discussion on the 

philosophy, values and process of recruiting 

and training a cadre of volunteer members 

to serve on Regulatory committees, 

possibly on term rotations, or “on call” for 


special topics. This acknowledges and 

honours the huge responsibilities and 

challenges facing these committees. 


“Maintaining an operational structure 

and infrastructure for the foregoing 

purposes.” 

Under Jim Browne’s administrative 

management leadership, our Association 

has been able the manage all of the above 

events. Jim’s staff in the Victoria Office 

have a remarkable capacity for keeping up 

to date with ever-demanding needs of 

a very active Association. Our thanks 

and appreciation. 

Our thanks, also, to all who contribute to 

the growth and development of our 

Association. Our membership is who we 

serve and we appreciate the opportunity 

to do so. 

Executive 

Vice-President Report 

Glen Grigg 

A planning day held just before the 

Board’s June meeting highlighted the work 

of David Cane on competency based 

registration, Meredith Egan on restorative 

justice, and Jim Browne on cadre systems 

in professional regulation. 

David Cane’s important contribution was 

to bring the Board “up to speed” on the 

work of the Task Group on Counsellor 

Regulation and the Working Group which 

has been, with his consultation and 

leadership, building a competency profile 

for entry-level skills, knowledge and 

ability for a counselling therapist. David 

helped us to think about what competencies 

mean for the future of professionalism in 

general, and the steps BCACC needs to 

take to move away from a registration 

model that uses academic degrees and 

other such credentials as proxies for 

professional competencies. The resulting 

direction was that BCACC consider using 

the existing Competency Profile for 

a Counselling Therapist — a generic 

professional designation — as a baseline 

for establishing the competency profile of 

an entry-level Registered Clinical 

Counsellor — our specific designation. 

20 

Meredith Egan of Simon Fraser 

University’s Centre for Restorative Justice 

began by pointing out that BCACC’s 

emphasis on the prevention of harms, and 

a restorative approach to harms when they 

occur, put us in the forefront of 

progressive practice in professional 

regulation. Meredith was careful to ensure 

that restoration is a process that 

complements other aspects of regulation, 

but does not replace them. Also highlighted 

were the many ways in which the 

BCACC is, albeit informally, employing 

a restorative process. Opening discussion 

reminded us that crucial to establishing an 

effective restorative model is understanding 

the kinds of values, processes, and 

communications that are essential to 

restorative approaches. Further, none of 

these will entirely replace the need for 

traditional inquiry and discipline in 

circumstances where the conditions of 

restorative processes are insufficient to 

bring about safety and fairness. We 

reached a sense of direction on this matter, 

understanding that specific structures to 

support restorative justice will broaden 

and deepen, and not replace, our approach 

to the protection of the public. 

Who will do the work of registering 

members and then ensuring that they are 

supported in maintaining the crucial 

boundaries of our profession? Part of the 

answer came from Jim Browne who 

described systems of preparation that 

create a pool of trained volunteers within 

a profession. Those who have acquired 

knowledge of the boundaries and 

conditions of regulatory decisions prior to 

doing committee work can more readily 

move this work forward, and having 

a community of those who are well-prepared 

will spread the work out in a fair way. We 

are already seeing good success with our 

Member Orientation Workshops, and so 

specific regulatory committee preparation 

will be a way to build on this momentum. 

The Membership, the local Regional 

Councils, the Delegate Council, and the 

Board of Directors can, in my opinion, be 

very proud of the way initiative to sustain 

and enhance BCACC’s position as 

a leadership in governance and 

professionalism continues to move 

forward.

Office of the Registrar 

Angela Burns 

A snapshot of the Association on: 

July 19, 2006 

Total members: 1590; Active: 1457; Inactive: 

102; Student rate: 28; Honorary: 1 

By Region: 0 (out of province) 36; 1 - 126; 2 

- 214; 3 - 122; 4 - 700; 5 - 319; 6 - 72. 

Criteria Equivalence: BCACC has a fast 

track for regulated professionals from 

jurisdictions whose criteria for 

membership meet or exceed ours. Since 

the last issue of Insights, we have had 

two new members register via this route: 

Linda McAuley from the College of 

Alberta Psychologists, and Marianne 

Reiterer from the National Board of 

Certified Counsellors. 

Inquiry: Since January 1st, 2006 we have 

received 4 complaints. We have closed 

3 cases and are monitoring 2 consent 

agreements. 

Deceased: In May we learned that Doug 

Norman (#1806) passed away on October 

29, 2005. 

Doug joined BCACC on July 1, 2001, and 

he sat on the Region 4 Regional Council 

from August 2001 to April 2004. He 

resided in Vancouver at the time of his 

death. 


Committee Reports 

Continuing Competency 

Committee Report 

Dianne Symonds, Chair 

Work continues on our Proposal for the 

Continuing Competency Program. We 

have now incorporated the information 

that the Delegate Council Reps provided at 

the meeting in March. Once the Board of 

Directors passes the document, we will 

begin the program. The Delegate Council 

Reps offered to pilot the program as soon 

as it is ready. The pilot will take about 

a year so the program should be ready for 

all members in 2008/2009. 

We have also been examining internet 

courses that might be appropriate for our 

members. The Canadian Psychological 

Association has recently developed an 

Ethics course for its members. This is an 

internet based multimedia production that 

is available to members on the CPA 

website. We have asked for permission to 

preview this course as an example of the 

capabilities of this method of delivery. 

If they agree, it will be presented at the next 

Board of Directors’ meeting for discussion. 

If we decide to proceed, we have the 

opportunity to create our own courses 

using Educational Companies set up to 

produce this type of internet course. These 

courses will be based on our own course 

content that we provide to the company 

(lecture notes, video of presentations, etc). 

In addition, we can purchase appropriate 

courses from other organizations. 

This is an interesting new direction for our 

Association and one that has the potential 

to bring continuing education opportunities 

into the homes of most of our members. 

It fits well with the committee's belief that 

educational opportunities should be 

accessible to all our members wherever 

they live in the province. 

Hope you had a great summer and as 

always a special thanks to my committee. 

21 

Discipline Committee Report 

Barry Williscroft, Chair 

As the new Chair of the Discipline 

Committee, I have been spending time getting 

to “know the ropes” of the Association, 

and getting used to the issues facing us 

as we continue to develop our capacity 

as a self-regulating body. To that end, I am 

developing ideas to improve our ability to 

manage discipline complaints, and to 

clarify the appeal policies and process. 

There will be more to report as this effort 

continues. At present there are no appeals 

in progress. 

I have been impressed by the warm 

welcome extended to me as a new member 

of the Board, and the assistance so freely 

offered to help me get up to speed. 

Inquiry Committee Report 

Shirley Halliday, Chair 

The Inquiry Committee is involved in the 

implementation of the Association’s 

fundamental purpose #2, that is, the one 

concerned with regulating the professional 

practice of registered members. This 

standing Committee of the Board of 

BCACC is responsible for receiving, 

sorting out, and when indicated, 

investigating and resolving complaints 

that are made against the practice of 

a member of BCACC. In the process of 

doing this work there are issues that can be 

identified as having implications for policy 

development. In this respect there is an 

organic and ever-developing relationship 

between the Committee and the Board, 

and other Committees of the Board, for 

example Legislative Review, Regulatory 

Panel, Discipline Committee, and Ethics 

& Standards Committee. 

The members of this Committee are 

Jocelyn Harris (Region 2), Richard 

Routledge (Region 2), Jane Goranson- 

Coleman (Region 4), Tom Schoeder 

(Region 5), and myself serving in role 

of Chair, (Region 4). This particular group 

of Committee members is now into its 

second year working together (although

there is a rich and long history of working 

on this Committee also present). The work 

of the Committee is competently and well 

supported by BCACC office staff in the 

persons of the Registrar (Angela Burns), 

Deputy Registrar (John Gawthrop), and 

Regulatory Administrative Support (Julia 

Burke). The Board related work for the 

Chair is well supported by the Executive 

Assistant (Michèle Ashmore). 

In the current year the Committee has met 

(as of this writing in July) four times 

(in February, March, May and June, 2006). 

Four (4) new complaints have been 

received; three (3) cases have been closed; 

four (4) are ongoing (for example, the 

investigation process is still in progress or 

a resolution is in the process of being 

completed with a member); and, we are 

monitoring two (2) consent agreements. 

There have been no appeals of decisions 

made by the Committee this year. 

There are two further items that I would 

like to describe to you in this report in Insights. 

The first is one you are already aware of 

(in terms of a relatively new Board 

approved standard of practice), but I want 

to highlight this as an outcome of the 

Committee reporting back to the Board 

about a need for guidance from the Board. 

During the process of working with 

a couple of cases it became clear that we 

lacked guidance in the area of how to 

respond to complaints that centered 

around a custody and access report done 

by an RCC. When this was reported to the 

Board, it went into action by bringing 

together some members who are 

experienced in this area, along with some 

Board members, and the outcome eventually 

was the Custody and Access Standard that 

was approved by the Board on October 22, 

2005 and is posted on the website. This is 

a recent example of the ongoing organic 

relationship between the Committee and 

the Board, with the Board providing 

guidance and, thus, support for the work 

of its standing Committee. 

The second item concerns tax deductibility 

of counselling fees. Again this came to light 

in the process of sorting through a complaint 

file (what we can call an issue arising). 

Registered Clinical Counsellors need to be 


aware that BCACC is a voluntarily-regulated 

society, incorporated under the Societies 

Act of BC. As such, Registered Clinical 

Counsellors are not considered to be 

“Medical Practitioners” under the Income 

Tax Act. To be deemed a “Medical 

Practitioner”, eligible to provide receipts 

for health services as “Medical Expense” 

under the Income Tax Act, two criteria 

must be met: (1) That the practitioner must 

be a member of a college of a regulated 

health profession; (2) That the health 

profession college must be established 

and the profession regulated pursuant to 

a statute that has been approved by the 

provincial or territorial government 

in question. 

Registered Clinical Counsellors should be 

very clear about this when they are making 

fees for service arrangements with their 

clients. It is best that clients check directly 

with the Canada Revenue Agency 

regarding deductibility of counselling fees. 

Yet another good reason why the 

establishment of a College of Counselling 

Therapists under the Health Professions 

Act is such a high priority initiative for our 

Board of Directors. 

Member Services Committee Report 

Duncan Shields, Chair 

Member Services Team 

Sustaining Action Towards Our Vision 

"Continuous effort… is the key to unlocking 

our potential." – Winston Churchill 

Several years ago, I started building a sailboat. 

In moments stolen from family, friends 

and work it has slowly emerged from 

a pile of wood to an often-commented on 

feature in our driveway. Despite complications 

and delays that have sought to stall 

momentum, progress has continued bit by 

bit. A perfect size for my family, with 

a cuddy cabin for weekend cruising, it 

often calls to me while it sits patiently 

waiting for me to complete the many 

hours of sanding before I can give it that 

final gloss finish. 

This seemingly endless preparation creates 

22 

a tension between the excitement about 

completing the task, the knowledge that 

flaws left uncorrected will be magnified by 

the finish, and the ever-present temptation 

to just get it done and accept a lower 

standard. This choice has been a constant 

one throughout the building process. 

I have chosen to be patient however, and 

will persevere to make this project the very 

best that I can. 

One of Member Services’ fundamental 

objectives is to develop the professional 

profile and credibility of the RCC designation 

and the Association. For many of the tasks 

that we need to complete (also in moments 

stolen from work and family), the quality 

of the outcome is directly related to our 

willingness to be patient and put sustained 

effort into getting the best result. 

Over the past seven months, Member 

Services has pursued this objective in part 

through the complete renewal of our 

image and “brand”. This brand, which is 

the impression that we create in all contact 

with the public, is the foundation upon 

which we will continue to build a positive 

and professional image in the mind of our 

clients, and our business and political partners. 

In order to enhance our brand, it was 

important to take the time to carefully 

consider the messages that we give, the 

impressions we make, and the identity we 

wish to communicate. To this end, our 

identity team deliberated about the 

Association’s logo and moved us towards 

adoption of a more polished tradeshow 

booth, updated brochures, stationery and 

a variety of other Association material. 

In collaboration with our branding 

consultant, our web page, magazine ads 

and legal and medical directory 

advertisements have all been updated to 

better showcase our Association and the 

membership. Finally, with this issue, 

Insights, our flagship presentation piece 

has been given a new look to increase 

readability and attractiveness. With this 

finale, the identity project team has completed 

their task. 

That said, much work remains to be done 

to position our Association and membership 

where we want to be. Perhaps one of the 

more complex tasks involves third party

eimbursement – the ability for clients to 

be reimbursed for our members’ services 

through their employers’ extended health 

insurance benefits. 

Last year, the Third Party Billing Team 

reached the point of putting together 

a position description for an insurance 

consultant to prepare and conduct 

presentations to employers and insurers. 

This pilot project was announced to the 

membership and the budget for the 

position was under discussion when we 

discovered that federal tax implications 

might arise for insurers recognizing 

professionals not regulated under BC’s 

Health Professions Act. This complication 

jeopardized the success of any approach 

that targeted employers and insurers 

directly and necessitated a different 

strategy directed at the federal level. 

In this situation we must reassess, make 

careful choices, and patiently sustain our 

action towards desired outcomes. As a first 

step in this process, in collaboration with 

our Executive Director, Jim Browne, Member 

Services will open a dialogue with Canada 

Revenue Agency about this issue. 

In the meantime and despite the bumps in 

the road, we can celebrate our successes 

and continue to push forward to obtain the 

professional profile and position that we 

envision. I am very pleased by the efforts 

and outcomes achieved thus far by the 

many volunteers who have contributed 

their sustained efforts, despite many 

obstacles and delays along the way. 

In partnership with your colleagues, you 

can make a difference, persevere and help 

BCACC successfully meet the challenges 

that face our Association. 

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, 

committed people can change the world. 

Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." – 

Margaret Mead 


Registration Committee Report 

Kathy Lauriente, Chair 

It’s been a very busy Spring and Summer 

so far. The Registration Committee continues 

to work hard to refine our registration 

process in an ongoing response to great 

change. With the proliferation of new ways 

of delivering education and the use of 

rapidly growing technology, the counselling 

field is evolving daily. I am always amazed 

at the new and creative ways our members 

are learning and involved in practice. 

From a regulatory perspective, however, 

this rapid evolution certainly presents 

some challenges. One of our regulatory 

tasks is to try and provide some parameters 

for membership as far as required training 

and standards to ensure that consumers of 

our services receive strong and ethical 

therapeutic practice. Defining these 

parameters, during a time of big change is, 

without question, like trying to nail Jello to 

a tree. It’s slippery, sometimes sticky, kind 

of messy and fleetingly successful. Just 

when we think we’re getting close, things 

change again! 

At the same time, I believe this is necessary 

and important work and it’s been a good 

lesson in recognizing that this (like 

everything else in life) is about the journey, 

not so much the arrival. It’s wonderful to 

see how far we’ve come and it’s always 

exciting to imagine where we’ll go from 

here as we anticipate the establishment of 

a College. The BCACC should be proud 

that we’re an organization that strives to 

reflect the evolving work of our members, 

new and creative ways of learning and the 

needs of our clients. Change isn’t easy but, 

when our committee finds itself up to our 

armpits in alligators with new challenges 

and MORE change, I remind myself that 

this is what needs to happen to remain 

current, responsive and at the top of our 

game. We muster our energy and go back 

to give that Jello-nailing another good try. 

After much recent consideration, I have 

a sneaking suspicion maybe the lemon 

might work better than the cherry did… 

I’ll have to try and remember to take that 

up with the committee at our next meeting. 

23 

Regional Reports 

Region 

1North Coastal: All coastal 

regions of the province 

north of the Sechelt 

Peninsula up to and 

including Powell River, 

and the northern portion 

of Vancouver Island, which 

is past but not including 

Chemainus, and which 

includes Gabriola Island. 

North Coastal Report 

Dale MacIntyre, VP 

Catching up on events since my last report: 

In March, I attended the Delegate Council 

meeting, the AGM and Board of Directors’ 

meeting in Vancouver. Brien Dolan 

(Campbell River), Marie-Josée Piché 

(Powell River) and Susan Warner (Parksville) 

were our Delegate Council Representatives. 

In April, Edgewood, a treatment center in 

Nanaimo hosted a seminar on the nature 

and treatment of addiction exclusively for 

BCACC members. There was excellent 

participation from all over the province. 

They were even treated to a fire drill, 

caused I later discovered, by dust being 

raised by spring cleaning in the basement. 

In May, the regional meeting was unique 

in that we gathered at Generation Farms 

just outside of Nanaimo on a sunny Saturday 

afternoon to hear Deborah Marshall talk 

about her work in equine facilitated 

psychotherapy. We even got the opportunity 

to interact with the horses. Speaking 

personally, it was a memorable afternoon. 

In June, I attended the regular Board of 

Directors’ meeting in Vancouver. The Board 

spent another day on retreat anticipating 

and planning for the next 5 years of BCACC’s 

evolution and growth. We discussed 

incorporating restorative justice principles 

into our regulatory discipline process, 

shifting to a competency-based approach for 

regulatory standards and implementing 

a cadre system for regulatory committees. 

In July, Faye Schwab, our Regional Marketing 

Co-ordinator, organized our Region’s 

participation in the Parksville Women’s and 

Girls’ Health Fair. This meant setting up 

the Association’s display booth and staffing 

it for the day. Faye reports: “It was a good

event with lots of people stopping by to 

chat”. Participants also commented that 

they were really impressed with the new 

look of the BCACC’s booth – and how 

easy it was to set up and transport. 

Unfortunately, this event was Faye’s last 

contribution to the work of our Region. 

She accepted a position as grief 

co-ordinator/counsellor at Stollery 

Children’s Hospital at the University of 

Alberta Hospital in Edmonton, and so she 

left us at the beginning of August. Faye 

was a member of the BCACC for a short 

time, but her participation and contribution 

were huge. I wish her all the best. 

The good news is, Irene Champagne 

(Parksville) has agreed to resume her 

position as Regional Marketing Co-ordinator. 

If you know of an event in your community 

that the BCACC should participate in, or 

any other idea that will raise the profile of 

the Association in the Region, please 

contact Irene. (laquerencia@shaw.ca) 

I look forward to regional meetings this fall: 

On October 5 in Nanaimo, Janet Logothetti 

(Nanaimo) will present on Adult ADHD: 

executive functions, assessment and treatment. 

Understanding ADHD from the perspective 

of executive functions of the brain. 

On Nov. 25 in Courtenay, Lynn Redenbach 

(Nanoose Bay) will present on Investing in 

Our work, Ourselves and Each Other: Exploring 

the Clinical Consultation Relationship. 

Using the Stone Centre’s relational cultural 

theory, Lynn will help participants explore 

their consultation needs and articulate 

those relational practices that will enrich 

and integrate their consultation experience. 

Watch for further announcements of the 

times and locations of these meetings. 

Region One Regional Council 

Marie-Josée Piché (Powell River) 

Susan Warner (Parksville) 

Susan Butler (Nanoose Bay) 

Monika Grünberg (Courtenay) 

Brien Dolan (Campbell River) 

Irene Champagne (Parksville) - Regional 

Marketing Co-ordinator 

Please contact me if you have any comments, 

questions or suggestions. Dale MacIntyre: 

(250) 713-3370 or email: dmmacintyre@shaw.ca 


Region 

2Southern Vancouver 

Island: All regions of the 

island south of and 

including Chemainus, and 

the Gulf Islands south 

of but not including 

Gabriola Island. 

S. Vancouver Island Report 

John Hayashi, VP 

The most recent meeting that we hosted 

took place on Saturday June 17th and 

featured guest presenter Brian Grimes TIR 

Traumatic Incident Reduction trainer. 

The presentation was attended by 

approximately 20 guests and was very 

informative. Brian continues to offer 

training sessions throughout the province. 

Our next regional meeting is scheduled for 

Friday September 29th in the afternoon. 

We will have a guest presenter from the 

fields of Occupational Health and Human 

Resources. These fields provide service to 

employers and at times help arrange 

psychological services for employees of 

large organizations. The presentation will 

focus on the role of occupational health 

and HR, when they arrange psychological 

services for employees and what they look 

for from counselling services. Following 

the meeting, we plan on having a light 

appetizer dinner at around 5:00 p.m. and 

hope everyone attending will stay to 

socialize and network. 

At the BCACC Board Meeting on June 

10th, I met with Ruth Silverman of CCA 

and we discussed the possibility of a 

BCACC and CCA joint function. Through 

Ruth I made contact with UVic faculty 

Blythe Shepard and Tim Black as well as 

student Nabiha Rawdah. We had a meeting 

on June 26th and discussed what 

a co-hosted event might look like, when 

we would hold the event and what needed 

to be arranged. We arrived at an initial 

rough plan of co-hosting an event at the 

university around March 2007. 

The educational event would focus on 

building a professional practice and the 

business/marketing skills needed. 

A second topic of interest was professional 

practice ethics issues. We saw these issues 

as being of interest not only for those 

entering the profession, but also those 

24 

active in the field and wrestling with the 

complexities of being in private practice. 

Our Region’s Regional Council and those 

at UVic will likely meet in September to 

again discuss moving forward with this 

joint venture. 

I attended the Disaster Stress & Trauma 

Response Services (DSTRS) training in 

Vancouver on April 21 and 22nd. Come 

September, I plan on beginning the task of 

reviewing where we are at with our 

DSTRS volunteers in our region. I will 

also try and schedule a meeting of the 

Regional Disaster Response Co-ordinator 

to further familiarize myself with disaster 

response operational procedures. 

The idea of inter-regional hosted events is 

still being explored. I will continue to 

network with Regional VP Dale MacIntyre, 

as we are a logical pairing to host events 

that other regions might attend. 

The Regional Council now consists of Leila 

Paul, Michelle Morand, Eli Chambers and 

Mélodie Dupuis. We could really benefit 

from additional members on our Regional 

Council and welcome anyone who is 

interested sitting in on one of our meetings. 

We are moving ahead on some very 

exciting projects. Please step forward as 

now is a great time to join our team! You 

can contact me, John Hayashi Regional 

VP at johnkhayashi@shaw.ca or on my cell 

phone at 818-1228. 

Region 

3Bounded on the north by 

a line drawn between, but 

not incl., Hope, Westwold, 

Chase, east to Arrowhead 

near the Alberta border; 

south to the US border; west 

up to but not including Hope. 

This region encompasses 

the Okanagan and the 

Kootenays. 

Interior South 

Sam Reimer, VP 

While it is obvious the membership of our 

Association is growing, the number of 

RCCs in our Region has dropped over the 

last few months; currently there are 121, 

whereas towards the end of last year that 

number was closer to 130. This is mainly 

due to individuals either moving to another

egion or resigning for various reasons. 

Of course there is also the fact that there 

have been fewer applicants from our 

Region in this same time period. 

Before writing an Insights Report I always 

send out a note and usually talk either on 

the phone or in person with members of 

the Regional Council. They have told me 

that since the spring issue of Insights there 

has been little activity, and that there are 

things being planned either in late summer 

or early fall regarding Regional meetings. 

Tentatively planned Regional Meetings, 

from north to south to east, are the following: 

• Salmon Arm – informal and on the 

beach; late summer 

• Penticton – brief workshop and regular 

agenda; November 2 with Leora Splett 

presenting on working with children. 

• West Kootenays – 2-day Workshop 

focusing on male survivors of sexual 

abuse; included will be a separate meeting 

with the regular agenda for RCCs and 

other interested mental health 

professionals; early fall. 

Details and other information can be 

viewed on the website at: 

www.bc-counsellors.org/reg3meet.htm. 

Please check it out, AND if you have 

anything to add please be in touch with 

either this writer or Leora Splett. 

A few highlights since the last Insights 

include: 

1. Leora and I set up the portable booth 

and had opportunity to promote the 

Association to the attendees of the Annual 

Valley Wide Chamber of Commerce 

Business After Hours Meeting from 5 – 8 

p.m. on Wednesday May 17th. It was held 

at the Okanagan University College 

Campus; the Kelowna Chamber was 

celebrating its 100th anniversary. 

2. John Gawthrop, the Deputy Registrar, 

presented the Member Orientation 

Workshop in Kelowna on Saturday May 

27th. As expected, it was a special and 

enriching experience for all 13 participants. 

If you haven’t already attended, whether 

you are a long-time or more recent member, 

please mark your calendar and attend 

one as soon as possible; dates are regularly 

sent out and are available on the website 

and at Head Office. 


It’s free and these are also Continuing 

Competency hours! 

3. The networking meetings organized by 

Suzan Milburn in Vernon have, due to 

attendance and interest, been less frequent; 

it is now suggested that they continue 

twice a year instead of every second month. 

4. News from one of our members in the 

Kootenays, Barry Williscroft, is the 

following: “The big concern in our area 

was the mine accident in Kimberley which 

took four lives on 17 May. A message of 

condolence would be appropriate. I spent 

two days there as part of the crisis 

response, and there were at least two other 

RCCs also responding.” 

For RCCs in the Southern Okanagan, 

please note: 

We continue to seek an energetic and enthusiastic 

volunteer as a Regional Council Rep to 

represent the south Okanagan. If you are an 

RCC in that part of our Region and are 

interested in serving in that position, please 

contact this writer. 

On a personal note, I am taking this 

opportunity to state how proud I am of all 

the RCC volunteers in Region 3: those on 

the Regional Council as reps and 

assistants, those involved on other standing 

committees, and those chairing standing 

committees, the newest appointee being 

Barry Williscroft to the Chair of Discipline. 

Congratulations! Thanks to all because 

you contribute so much to make things 

happen and for operations to run smoothly! 

As usual, please feel free to contact this 

writer or any of the Regional Council Reps 

if you have any questions, comments or 

suggestions. 

Here is who and where we are: 

Carmen Carter (Nelson): 

(250) 354-4485; carmencarter@shaw.ca 

Kevin McMullen (Cranbrook): 

(250) 421-9809; Kevin_McMullen@telus.net 

Lee Splett (Kelowna): 

(250) 860-6661; lasplett@telus.net 

Kevin Ward (Salmon Arm): 

(250) 832-0031; kward@telus.net 

Sam Reimer (Kelowna): 

(250) 868-2338; sams@silk.net 

25 

Region 

4Includes: 

Vancouver, Burnaby, 

North and West 

Vancouver, Richmond, 

Port Moody, Coquitlam, 

Port Coquitlam, New 

Westminster, all regions 

up to and including 

Whistler, and the Sechelt 

Peninsula. 

Lower Mainland Northwest 

John Fraser, VP 

Region 4 Regional Council Representatives 

The current list of Regional Council 

Representatives for Region 4 includes the 

following members: John Fraser (VP), 

Jerry Arthur-Wong, Geoffrey Ayi-Bonte, 

Allison Bates, Marilyn Beloff, Nancy Downes, 

Lida Izadi, Sara Kammerzell, Jo-Anne 

Kates, Eva Merriam, Betty Rainford, Diana 

Romer, Elaine Roth, and Jennifer Scott. 

Region 4 has been allocated up to 

18 Regional Council Reps so if you are 

interested in becoming a Regional Council 

Rep or would like further information 

regarding this volunteer position please 

feel free to contact John Fraser at 

(604) 602-0890 (office), (604) 648-9976 (fax) 

or at johnfsi@telus.net (e-mail). 

BCACC Region 4 Workshop 

Introduction to Somatic Experiencing® 

Developed by Peter Levine, Ph.D. 

Presenter: Ian Macnaughton, M.B.A., 

Ph.D., RCC 

For a complete description of this workshop 

see the insert included in this edition of 

Insights. 

Date: Saturday October 14th, 2006 

Time: 9am - 4:30pm 

Location: YWCA in downtown Vancouver 

(535 Hornby Street, Welch Room - 4th 

floor). There is underground parking in 

the building as well as a parkade across 

the street. The YWCA is also located one 

block east of the Burrard Skytrain Station. 

Registration: This workshop is primarily 

for Region 4 members, however, there may 

be some limited space for participation 

from other regions. BCACC members 

from regions other than Region 4 are welcome 

to register at this time. They will be 

placed on a waiting list and their attendance 

will be confirmed by no later than

September 30th, 2006. This training is 

a continuing education activity sponsored 

by Region 4. There is no cost to participate in 

this workshop. 

Please contact John Fraser at 604-602-0890 

or e-mail johnfsi@telus.net (E-MAIL 

PREFERRED). In your message please 

leave your name, your phone number or 

return e-mail address and your home 

Region. Registration and an opportunity 

for refreshments and networking will take 

place between 8:30AM and 9AM. The 

workshop will start promptly at 9AM so 

please allow yourself time to register. 

Counsellors’ Café 

Region 4 is pleased to continue sponsoring 

the ever-popular Counsellors’ Cafés. 

These Cafés take place at the residence of 

Dr. Nancy Downes and are organized by 

Diana Romer. The Cafés offer both an 

opportunity for professional development 

as well as a great opportunity for informal 

professional networking. If you are 

interested in participating in an upcoming 

Café please contact Diana to register. 

There is a limit on the number of people 

who can attend the Café so registration is 

required. Diana can be reached by 

e-mail at deromer@shaw.ca or by calling 

604-290-6407. 

Cafés start at 7PM and finish at 9PM. 

PLEASE ARRIVE ON TIME, AS LATE 

ARRIVALS CAN BE DISRUPTIVE TO 

THE PRESENTATIONS. 

The Counsellors’ Café has also been 

a great opportunity for our professional 

colleagues to showcase their talents. 

The success of the Cafés has been the 

result of the contribution and willingness 

of RCCs to volunteer their time and 

expertise to further enrich the professional 

development of our members. If you have 

a topic or area of speciality that you would 

like to present, please contact Diana Romer 

with your ideas. The presentations are 

very informal and are quite fun and 

stimulating. Your contributions in this 

respect are very much appreciated! 

UPCOMING CAFÉS: 

October 26th 2006: Maecan Campbell & 

Dana Barton presenting on Integrated 

Body Psychotherapy. 


Region 

5This region is composed of 

Surrey, Delta, White Rock, 

Langley, Clearbrook, 

Agassiz, Mission, 

Chilliwack, Abbotsford, 

and Maple Ridge, and all 

smaller communities 

within these boundaries 

including Hope. 

Fraser Valley 

Pauline Fitzgerald, VP 

We had a wonderful season. In the past 

few months Brian Grimes presented on 

the effectiveness and results of the use of 

TIR – Traumatic Incident Reduction. Brian 

is a gracious and entertaining speaker who 

was well received. For those of us who 

have been trained and used TIR we can 

only attest to its effectiveness. 

In addition we also had David Granirer 

speak of the use of humour in his counselling 

practice and described how it might 

be used by other therapists to break the ice 

or move a client forward in the 

psychotherapeutic process. David is well 

known as a psychotherapist and stand-up 

comic. In addition to his busy schedule, he 

offers stand-up comic classes at Kwantlen 

College. It seems David is adept at 

helping clients, who have experienced the 

darkest side of life, view the funny side, 

which appears to be quite empowering for 

his clients and students alike. If you are 

interested in finding out more about David 

please view his web site at www.granirer.com. 

Our Region found David’s presentation to 

be thought-provoking, and empowering 

as well as entertaining. 

Many of our members participated in the 

Police Victim Services Trade Show, which 

was a huge success!!! Congratulations 

team and members who participated. 

Kudos to Teresa Vozza of Region 4 who 

co-ordinated the event. This trade show 

was the debut show of the new logo and 

display. It seems they were well received 

and we were definitely viewed as “mental 

health” practitioners. It was a rewarding 

experience as it represented members from 

the whole province, as far as Tumbler 

Ridge. Many were seeking referrals to 

specific members from specific regions for 

Victim’s Assistance Services. What a great 

opportunity for us to market our skills, 

and our Association! 

26 

While many of our Regional Council Reps 

geared down for the summer season there 

is excitement about upcoming events and 

workshops coming later in the year. There 

is much enthusiasm and support from our 

Members and Regional Council. 

One item which we would like our 

members, as well as those of other regions 

to consider is Dec 6th Shoe Memorial. 

While this date seems a long way off, 

it will crop up before we are aware of the 

date. It seems that Pat Kelln, a Police 

Victims Services Trade Show attendee, 

addressed this day with our members at 

the booth. It seems on Dec 6th all old 

shoes which are sent in are lined up on the 

steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery with 

the names of women who have met 

violent deaths or are missing. Afterwards 

these shoes are donated to women in need 

of shoes for interviews, as part of women 

dressing to succeed through job training. 

We in Region 5 hope you had a great 

summer season with much relaxation! 

Region 

6Includes the rest of the 

province north and east 

from a line drawn between 

Hope, Westwold, Chase, to 

Arrowhead near the 

Alberta border. 

Interior North 

Rob Riddle, VP 

There is little to report as I was on vacation 

for part of April, and most of May. 

I attended the Disaster Stress & Trauma 

Response Services (DSTRS) workshop in 

Vancouver on April 21st and 22nd. I hope 

that we can provide some additional 

training based on this experience for those 

of you in Region 6 who have volunteered 

to respond in case of a crisis. 

I did schedule a general regional meeting 

in Kamloops before I left on vacation but 

cancelled it due to lack of response. I hope 

to be in touch with all of you over the 

summer by e-mail and meet with the 

Kamloops group in the Fall. 

Don’t forget the Member Orientation 

Workshop in Kamloops on November 4th.

Taking Part in Changing the World 

Continued from page 3 

How is that relevant to us in British 

Columbia? Over 6,000 child refugees 

come to Canada each year. In a recent 

report from the Federal Government, 

it is expected that 300,000 new immigrants 

are in the family class which includes 

refugees and those people granted 

permanent residency on humanitarian 

grounds. These figures represent a new 

cluster of children entering Canadian 

schools with very unique and 

challenging needs. As clinical counsellors, 

we need to prepare and develop the 

skills to work with this new population 

that will continue to arrive with very 

specific needs in dealing with war 

trauma. So here is a special invitation 

to those of you who already work 

with this special population, and for 

those who are interested in learning 

more. Basically, you are invited to 

“change the world”. 

In February 2007 the University of 

Winnipeg's Global College and its 

partners will host the Winnipeg 

Winter Summit "Human Rights and 

Social Justice: Setting the Agenda for 

the UN Human Rights Council". This 

conference will be an international 

forum on War-Affected Children, 

Gender Rights and Rights of 

Indigenous Peoples, and is part of 

Human Rights Action Week at The 

University of Winnipeg. 

(see Announcements). Another way to 

take part in this ongoing dialogue is 

by contributing to their blog. Please 

select the Global College Blog tab to 

the left of the page on 

http://blog.uwinnipeg.ca/gcdc. 

Another way to participate is to make 

a donation to support The Global 

College by visiting 

www.uwinnipegfoundation.ca. 


THECIRCLE 

OF STRENGTH 

SERIES: 

Reframing Peace in Conflict 

With Shelley Brierley, M. Ed., CCC, RCC, RTC 

Ms. Brierley brings; 30 years experience in the field of counselling and 

human relations, 20 years of which she was a Sr. Instructor with William 

Glasser’s Int. Assoc. of Reality Therapy, 8 years as a Sr. Instructor with 

Int. Assoc. of Applied Perceptual Control Theory. She utilizes Bowens’ 

Family Systems, Karpman’s Drama Triangle, RT, PCT, as well as her 

extensive experience as an international speaker and sought-after therapist. 

“The Cycle of Blame presents a powerful roadmap of the self-defeating 

behaviors. We often find ourselves traveling in relationships of all types. 

Becoming aware of the destructiveness of these choices might motivate 

us to seek new paths. The Circle of Strength presents new paths, which, 

if traveled, enhance our self-image and our relationships. We have 

choices along life’s journey. I choose to travel the path of The Circle of 

Strength.” Loleta Wood Foster, Ph.D. Licensed Psychologist, Executive 

Director, Assessment, Counseling, and Consulting, Fayetteville, NC, USA 

The Levels of 

“The Circle of Strength 

• Level One – Is an overview of the dynamics of The Cycle of Blame 

and The Circle of Strength as it pertains to the individual and 

relationships. 

• Level Two – Reviews the dynamics of The Cycle of Blame and The 

Circle of Strength, addresses core beliefs, myths and the evolution of 

relationships, personal mission statements, strategies to move toward 

their personal Circle of Strength, awareness of the implications of 

their behaviour in relationships & teams. 

• Level Three – Reviews The Cycle of Blame and The Circle of 

Strength. Focus is on teambuilding & problem solving, understanding 

systems change, use of self as an agent of change, inviting others to 

their The Circle of Strength 

Upcoming Fall Workshop Dates: 

Level 1 – October 12 & 13/06 

Level 2 – November 4 & 5/06 

Level 3 – October 14 & 15/06 

Other Locations available: Yellowknife, NWT; North Carolina, USA 

For information Contact: 

Oasis Consulting Ltd., “A Lifelong Learning Resource” 

Ph: 604-532-0680 • Fax: 604-532-0623 Webpage: 

www.thecircleofstrength.com • Email: info@thecircleofstrength.com 

27


The Symbolic 

World of Children 

Continued from page 9 Continued from page 15 

evident where at first the child works out how to represent 

the problem and where they are at with the problem, and 

then symbolically plays out the aspect of the event that 

affected them. Here you may see the child do the same thing 

in the playroom over and over and over. I wondered at first 

if I needed at this point in the play to be more directive or 

involved, but I have discovered that it is a very important 

time as a therapist to keep a little distance but carefully 

observe and be present. Your presence without smothering 

is beneficially grounding to the child. Often when a child 

appears “stuck” on a theme, they are actually working 

something out. One day, almost magically, the play changes 

and the child begins to try new points of view in the play. 

Then after another while, we notice integration. The play 

may be more organized or more of the child's self appears, 

or some of the child's current everyday life enters into the 

play. It's as if the child has caught up with itself and their 

inner world and outer worlds match a little better. 

I find that working with children keeps me in touch with 

“the soul” of my therapy. Children have largely taught me 

about bringing to life an inner emotional world and how to 

connect this to the outer reality of functioning in daily life. 

One Day 

Training Workshops: 

New Narratives on Loss, Death and Grief: 

Re-membering Conversations 

Lorraine Hedtke MSW, LCSW. 

(www.rememberingpractices.com) 

February 9, 2007 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. 

Putting Narrative Ideas into 

Practice with Children 

Ninetta Tavano MSW, RSW, RCC. 

April 20, 2007 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. 

Canadian Memorial United Church and Center for 

Peace, 1825 W16th Ave. Vancouver B.C. 

For workshop details see: 

www.thenarrativeproject.ca 

28 

tive 

features participants wrote about, followed by the unhelpful 

aspects they identified. 

Participants in this study wrote of feeling “validated” and 

“acknowledged” by the letters they received from their 

counsellors. Others noted that the letters were a good 

“self-esteem booster” bringing “encouragement” and 

a movement toward a greater sense of “confidence.” Susan 

further described this sense of confidence that the letter 

helped instill as she wrote how it: “Helped me to process 

my thoughts & act differently on them. All the letters I have 

received helped me to deal with my emotions and gave me 

such confidence in myself. Sometimes a letter stirred me in 

a better direction.” 

The therapeutic letters also held value to a number of 

participants as a means of remembrance. For example, 

Katherine noted that it is was “comforting at the session to 

know that I did not have to try & remember their points or 

write them down because I knew I would later receive them 

in the letter.” In a similar way, Katherine described how the 

letters “would usually arrive a few weeks after the session 

so this would remind me of the topics we had discussed and 

of the questions they [the reflecting team] had wondered 

about in the feedback.” Elizabeth also wrote how the letters 

were “a great reminder to keep up the work” as well as 

a “reminder for all of us to be responsible to do our part.” 

In reflecting on her experience, Elizabeth also brought to the 

fore how letters can potentially be harmful and noted how 

they “were helpful but not.” She described that “the not-so-good 

part [of the letters] was how my husband would view the 

letter & bring it up later that night as a waste of time to go.” 

Elizabeth continued: “Because of the marital problems at 

that time the letters would end up hindering because it was 

a reminder for all of us to do our part & he knew that he 

wasn't holding up his part of the deal.” 

David had parallel experiences as Elizabeth in receiving and 

reading the letter. As described earlier, the letter allowed him 

“a lot of time to reflect” on the sessions he had. He went on 

to write: “It did arouse emotions from anger to confusion 

while I reread the letter several times. I received the letter 

from my counsellor in [August] and as I reread it today it 

still causes mixed emotions.” Although David concluded 

that letters following counselling sessions “could be a helpful 

tool,” his reaction notes how letters have the potential to not 

only be facilitative but perhaps equally a hindrance as well. 

In perpetuity: The tangible and lasting presence of letters. 

A unique element of therapeutic letters is their concreteness 

and how the reader can hold, for a period determined by 

them, the questions and reflections posed by his or her 

counsellor. In this study, 5 of the 7 participants made direct 

reference to still having the letters sent to them by their 

counsellors. For example, Celine described keeping the letter

she received and re-reading it as a way to mark her personal 

growth. She wrote: “I could put the document where I could 

read it often or as much as I needed to” and concluded her 

letter to the researcher by stating she continues “to read [the 

letter] though certainly not as often.” Katherine also kept the 

letters and wrote of the enjoyment and value of having the 

written words with her. She described that “It was very 

good for me to seen them 'in print'. I had appreciated the 

sessions but the follow-up letters gave me concrete evidence 

of how our family was doing and in such gentle tones.” 

Similarly, Eleanor kept the letters she received and wrote: 

“From time to time I would read the letter again to reflect on 

the session.” Eleanor also made reference to the value of 

receiving the letter in the mail. Her letter to the researcher 

noted that “receiving a letter through 'snail mail' versus 

e-mail makes it seem all the more personal and caring.” 

Discussion and Implications for Counselling 

The questionnaire completed by counsellors reflected 

an active practice of letter writing that 

appeared bound only by the constraints of 

time. Counsellors incorporated their letters 

into the counselling process at different 

points. The counsellors however, 

seemed to value and use letters in similar 

ways. For example, they intended 

each letter to be an opportunity to 

review a client or family's story that 

was shared in 

session. Counsellors also described 

writing their letters in the shared 

language of the meetings and in tentative 

and curious tones. It is of value to note 

that the counsellors in this study 

reported contemplating the composition 

of each letter and how it was to be received, but did not 

describe if or how the letter was to be further involved in the 

counselling process. This may have been a limitation of the 

questionnaire but as described in the following paragraphs, 

counsellors following up the letter may hold value for various 

reasons. 

In reflecting on the counsellor questionnaire and more 

specifically the letters written by clients, a number of 

considerations emerge with regard to therapeutic letter 

writing. First, participants’ words to the researcher brought 

attention as to how therapeutic letters are intense documents 

which can arouse and invoke emotions and thoughts in 

a powerful way. Counsellors are encouraged to be mindful 

and bring due deliberation (as with any psychological 

intervention) to their intentions and words, and recognize 

the “space between” may leave room for a misreading of the 

letter’s intent. Furthermore, participants' letters seemed to 

suggest that counsellors should follow-up after sending 

a letter. Each participant was moved in some respect by the 

letter they received. Their written words described therapeutic 

letters as curious and valuable documents with little reference 

to them being a neutral or insignificant part of their 

counselling experience. Following up after sending the letter 


Letters sent at 

the end of counselling 

were used as a way to 

summarize 

and close 

the relationship... 

29 

can serve two purposes. First, a counsellor is able to provide 

an opportunity to clarify and explore with the client any 

misreading or interpretation of the intent, content, or spirit 

of the letter. Secondly, providing follow-up allows the client 

to be further engaged in the letter and the therapy process 

by giving him or her an opportunity to “edit” or revise what 

has been written. 

Secondly, it can be postulated that the impact and value of 

a letter is potentially greater when accompanied by an 

existing supportive relationship. Participants in this study 

seemed to gain more from the letters when a comfort level 

and relationship was already in place. Moules (2000, 2003) 

noted similar sentiments from participants in her study 

concluding that letters which have the potential to be granted 

noteworthy therapeutic status, are ones that will and have 

been “read out of, and into, a relationship of significance” 

(2003, p. 44). In addition, the letters received by the participants 

generally did not initiate new movement. 

Instead, they held value to the participants 

as a means of consolidating and 

adding depth to the client-counsellor 

relationship and the emotional and 

verbal content of the therapy session. 

The letter's unique feature of allowing 

the reader to quietly contemplate the 

words at a pace, time and location set 

by the reader, seemed to encourage 

this process. 

Finally, participants in this study 

made reference to enjoying the 

personal nature of the letters they 

received. Two participants wrote 

specifically about how they noticed 

and appreciated the signatures at the 

end of the letter. This simple yet 

significant act seemed to draw 

attention and reinforce the personal and intimate tone of the 

letter. Participants’ words seemed to encourage counsellors to be 

authors of letters that reflect the humour, joy, and compassion 

of the relationship and the true character of themselves. 

As described by Dawson and Dawson (1909a), a letter writer: 

“Must be resolutely sincere, for the moment he begins to 

pose, his magic wand is broken, and he becomes tedious and 

offensive; he must above all possess the intimate note, for 

without it he will produce an essay, but not a letter (p. 11)”. 

Limitations of the Study 

The decision to study therapeutic letters through the medium 

of letters involved accepting some limitations. A central one 

was the limited access to clients and the ability to extend 

a “conversation” with them. This study involved no face-to-face 

contact with participants but relied on the delicate presence 

of letters. Due in part to the mechanisms that needed to be 

established in relation to protecting the client-counsellor 

relationship, voluntary consent and confidentiality, only one 

letter was collected from each participant with the exception 

of one who wrote twice. As such, this letter seemed to invite 

further conversation that may have added further depth

with additional exchanges of letters between the researcher 

and participants. An additional noteworthy limitation is the 

risk of positive selection bias because the selection of clients 

was at the discretion of counsellors. The findings of this 

study are bounded to the context in which it was conducted 

and thus limits are placed on generalizability. Unlike 

conventional quantitative research, this study allows the 

reader the opportunity to decide “how the findings may 

transfer to another context” (Morrow & Smith, 2000, p. 200). 

Written Words, Computer-Mediated 

Communication and Future Research 

This study focused on the writing and use of letters that 

were sent and received by mail. The burgeoning use of the 

internet and email by counsellors however, has grown 

significantly in the last decade and opens up numerous 

research and practice possibilities (McDaniel, 2003; Peterson 

& Beck, 2003; Rochlen, Zack & Speyer, 2004; Wright, 2002). 

The use of this medium in relation to therapeutic letters 

brings to the fore many interesting questions. For example, 

are there therapeutic differences in sending and receiving 

a letter via email versus regular mail? Would the significance 

of the letter change for clients and would they express 

a preference and why? Despite the apparent convenience of 

email, one can not escape the history and personal meaning 

of “traditional” letters. As a result, a curiosity arises as to 

whether this would be lost through electronic communication. 

In contemplating and describing the instantaneous way to 

communicate today, Kermode and Kermode (1995), authors 

of The Oxford Book of Letters, note how it is “hard to 

October 20-21, 2006 

Renaissance Vancouver Hotel Harbourside, 

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 


30 

imagine an anthology of faxes, and harder still to foresee 

an Oxford Book of E-mail” (p. xxiii). 

Overall, this study contributed to the existing limited research 

regarding the value and quiet intensity of this intervention. 

The research potential of therapeutic letters and of 

counsellor-initiated writing in general, is rich and beckons 

to be explored. Further study can help identify and define 

the helpful and hindering aspects of letters as well as the 

application of letters in group therapy and reflecting team 

contexts, and with children and adolescents. Despite the 

increased use of therapeutic letters in counselling, there is 

much to gain from further study in this area. 

Acknowledgement 

The author extends appreciation to Cathy Smallwood, 

Dr. Bill Kennedy, Dr. Clar Doyle and Dr. Nancy Moules for 

reviewing earlier versions of this manuscript. Thank you 

to Memorial University for their support of this study. 

A sincere thank you is also extended to the counsellors and 

clients who gathered around this project and shared their 

experiences. The author is grateful for their interest, 

encouragement and the time they each invested. 

Author Note 

Nathan R. Pyle, B.A., B.S.W., M.Ed., CCC, is a provisionally registered 

psychologist (SK) and graduate of the Masters program in Counselling 

Psychology in the Faculty of Education, Memorial University of 

Newfoundland. This article is based on Nathan's Master's thesis. Nathan 

is currently completing doctoral studies in the Division of Applied 

An Integrated Approach to Treatment 

involving psycho-dynamic psychotherapy 

& cognitive-behavioural therapy 

to address both addictive behaviour and 

the underlying addictive process. 

A “Must Attend” for Clinicians 

of all Therapeutic Orientations 

Register Now!

Saying “I’m Sorry” 

Has Never Been So Easy 

Continued from page 18 

a counsellor giving an apology to a wronged client when 

circumstances suggest that making such a statement would 

be ethically, morally or professionally appropriate. 

THE LEGISLATIVE SOLUTION 

In a January 2006 discussion paper, the BC Ministry of the 

Attorney General proposed that new legislation be 

developed in BC to encourage the giving of full apologies 

as a way to help resolve disputes, including the resolution of 

complaints against health professionals like clinical counsellors. 

Apparently this proposal was warmly received, because 

a few months later, on March 28, 2006, the Hon. Wally Oppal, 

Attorney General, introduced for first reading in the BC 

Legislature Bill #16 (2006) to enact the new Apology Act. 

It is noteworthy that the explanatory note in that Bill 

addressed the same two legal problems that faced 

counsellors who wanted to apologize to their clients. 

This Bill provides that an apology made by or on behalf of 

a person in relation to any civil matter does not constitute an 

admission of fault or liability by the person or a confirmation 

of a cause of action in relation to the matter, does not affect 

the insurance coverage available to the person making the 

apology, is not admissible in any judicial or quasi-judicial 

civil proceeding and must not be considered or referred to in 

relation to fault or liability in any such proceeding. 

Bill #16 (2006) received Royal Assent on May 18, 2006 and, 

as a result, the new Apology Act came into force on that day. 

The full text of this short Act is set out in the sidebar. 

PRELIMINARY DISCUSSION 

Two sets of provisions of the new Apology Act should be of 

particular benefit in terms of resolving complaints that are 

filed against counsellors, if not - more importantly - 

reducing the number of such complaints in the first place. 

First, applying the definition of an apology, when clause 

2 (1) (a) is read in conjunction with subsection 2 (2), the net 

effect should be that any statement given by a counsellor to 

a client that falls within the broad definition of an apology 

cannot be later used by the client in a civil proceeding to 

seek damages for alleged harm that resulted from the same 

events that led to that apology. Instead, if the client did sue 

the counsellor later, the plaintiff client would have to 

provide evidence of the counsellor's liability by means other 

than introducing into court the counsellor's earlier apology. 

Second, clause 2 (1) (c) appears to eliminate the contractual 

limitations on counsellors giving apologies. 

The implications of these provisions will be discussed in 


31 

more detail in the second half of this two-part article. This 

discussion will hopefully include a commentary from 

Lombard on the new legislation. 

SIDE BAR 

Apology Act 

S.B.C. 2006, c.19 

Definitions 

1. In this Act: 

“apology” means an expression of sympathy or regret, 

a statement that one is sorry or any other words or actions 

indicating contrition or commiseration, whether or not 

the words or actions admit or imply an admission of fault 

in connection with the matter to which the words or actions 

relate; “court” includes a tribunal, an arbitrator and any 

other person who is acting in a judicial or quasi-judicial 

capacity. 

Effect of apology on liability 

2 (1) An apology made by or on behalf of a person in 

connection with any matter, 

(a) does not constitute an express or implied admission of 

fault or liability by the person in connection with that matter, 

(b) does not constitute a confirmation of a cause of action in 

relation to that matter for the purposes of section 5 of the 

Limitation Act, 

(c) does not, despite any wording to the contrary in any 

contract of insurance and despite any other enactment, void, 

impair or otherwise affect any insurance coverage that is 

available, or that would, but for the apology, be available, to 

the person in connection with that matter, and 

(d) must not be taken into account in any determination of 

fault or liability in connection with that matter. 

(2) despite any other enactment, evidence of an apology 

made by or on behalf of a person in connection with any 

matter is not admissible in any court as evidence of the fault 

or liability of the person in connection with that matter. 

Royal Assent: May 18, 2006 

For a useful discussion on the importance of a meaningful 

apology, see Gawthrop, J., & Harris, J., “The Use of 

Apologies in Complaint Prevention and Resolution”, 3:1 

Insights, pages 1 - 2 (Winter 2004); and Alter, S., Apologising 

for Serious Wrongdoings, Final report for the Law 

Commission of Canada (May 1999). 

Morris, C. “Legal Consequences of Apologies in Canada”, 

paper presented at a University of Victoria workshop on 

Apologies, Non-Apologies, and Conflict Resolution, 

Dunsmuir Lodge (October 3, 2003), page 1; see also 

www.peacemakers.ca/publications/MorrisLegalConseqences 

ofApologyOct2003.html. 

Ministry of the Attorney General (BC), Discussion Paper on 

Apology Legislation (January 30, 2006).

Member Orientation Workshops 

BC Association of Clincal Counsellors introduces the new 

Member OrientationWorkshops. In just one day, new 

members can experience an in-depth overview of BCACC. 

New members come across a vast array of committees, 

public initiatives, professional expectations and opportunities, 

by virtue of their new status as RCCs. But how and where 

does one get started? 

BCACC’s Board of Directors has understood these difficulties. 

There is so much to learn and potential to be explored. New 

members receive a Welcome Package as a paper introduction, 

but up to now there has been no experiential mechanism to 

assist in the process. 

Accordingly, the Board has taken steps to support and inform 

new RCCs what BCACC is about. This is taking the form of 

a one-day “Member Orientation Workshop”. This training 

event is designed to introduce new members to the 

Association and its structure, the regulatory function of 

BCACC, and ethical decision-making. Attendance is free of 

charge, but advance registration is required. All materials, 

together with refreshments and a light lunch, will be provided. 

The Board expects all new RCCs to attend the workshop 

within two years of joining the Association. By attending this 

event you will gain much more of a grounding in what being 

an RCC entails and you will tap into a wide network of support. 

Current members are also welcome to attend. Upcoming 

locations and dates are shown below and could be changed. 

CITY REG. CONTACT DATES 

Kelowna Sam Reimer Saturday May 27, 2006 

Vancouver John Fraser Saturday September 16, 2006 

Kamloops Rob Riddle Saturday, November 4, 2006 

Nanaimo Dale MacIntyre Saturday, February 24, 2007 

Lower Mainland John Fraser Saturday, April 21, 2007 

Kelowna Sam Reimer Saturday, May 19, 2007 

Lower Mainland John Fraser Saturday, September 15, 2007 

Kamloops Rob Riddle Saturday, November 3, 2007 

Workshop Presenter: John Gawthrop, MA, RCC 

John has a counselling background going back 25 years. He 

is Deputy Registrar of BCACC and is a past Chair of Ethics for 

the Association. In 1994 he provided leadership in redrafting 

our existing Code of Ethics into a set of Ethical Practice 

Standards, which formed the basis for our current Code of Ethical 

Conduct. He has conducted ethics investigations for BCACC 

since 1997 and is a certified regulatory investigator. 

In addition, John has delivered ethics training and consulting 

in academic and private sector settings since 1994. He designed 

the Orientation Workshop and drew from his knowledge of 

and history with the varied aspects of the Association in 

creating and/or editing the informational and experiential 

components of the day. The intent is to provide a well-paced 

and lively experience that will be of lasting relevance to new 

and current RCCs alike. 

32 

Membership Renewal 

Due and Payable January 2, 2007 

Expect to receive your 2007 Membership Renewal Package 

by mail in the middle of November. If you do not receive 

your package by November 30, please contact Nicola in 

Head Office. Fees can be paid by cheque, money order or 

credit card (Visa, MasterCard, or American Express). 

By following the applicable procedures below, you will help 

us process your renewal more quickly: 

• If you have moved, or will be moving, contact Nicola in 

Head Office (nicola@bc-counsellors.org) so that your renewal 

package is sent to the correct address. 

• Send your renewal forms and payments together. 

We cannot process one without the other. 

• Sign all required places on the form. Legally, we need 

your signature to accept your new information, process your 

credit card payment, and/or place your name on the website. 

This must be done each year. 

• Indicate your insurance coverage by checking the appropriate 

space on the renewal form. If you receive a request for proof 

of insurance coverage, it means that we do not have a current, 

valid proof of insurance in your file. Current insurance is 

a requirement of membership in BCACC's bylaws. 

• To change your membership status, you must complete 

a Change of Status form, in addition to your renewal form. 

Contact Nicola in Head Office before you send your renewal 

form and an appropriate status change form will be sent to 

you, to be sent in with your renewal form and payment. 

• To arrange postdated payments, contact Nicola in Head 

Office prior to January 2. 

NEW! Membership Renewal Packages received in Head 

Office after January 31, 2007, will be subject to an additional 

$50.00 charge. (January 2 - $431.00 - February 1 - $481.00) 

Thank you! 

Important Notice to All Members 

Changing Membership Status 

When you are changing Membership status, particularly 

when going to Active from Inactive, please notify Head 

Office at once. It is important that you contact Mitchell and 

Abbott to ensure that you have the proper insurance 

coverage before commencing private practice. Inactive 

insurance provides you with coverage for counselling you 

undertook prior to the onset of your inactive policy. Head 

Office verifies all changes in status with a letter of 

confirmation of the status change. Status changes are 

reported to the Membership in the next issue of Insights.

Membership Update 

(From April 1, 2006 to July 19, 2006) 

The office of the registrar welcomes the following new members 

who have joined us since April 1, 2006 

2635 Allen Bernsten 108 Mile Ranch 

2614 Kai-Lin Yang Burnaby 

2644 Patricia Openshaw Chemainus 

2596 Sandra Miller Coquitlam 

2630 Francine Guimond Courtenay 

2583 Melanie Gemeinhardt Delta 

1442 Penny Armstrong Langley 

2659 Eileen Burkholder Langley 

2651 Beverly Redekop Langley 

2688 Linda McAuley Lantzville 

2620 Karin Cleven Maple Ridge 

2598 Janice Briggs Nanaimo 

2537 Dorothy Stevens Nanaimo 

2607 Maria Iaquinta New Westminster 

2633 Marianne Reiterer North Vancouver 

2622 Lisa Viljoen North Vancouver 

2608 Cynthia Thompson Parksville 

2518 Tami O'Meara Prince George 

2679 Adekunle Oyeyemi Prince Rupert 

2660 Christie Hunter Richmond 

2582 Rimal Sandhu Richmond 

2442 Olga Nakazna Salmon Arm 

2600 Eric FieldSalt Spring Island 

2616 Elaine Hamel Sechelt 

2605 Jason Evans Surrey 

2610 Orson Linton Surrey 

2591 Carola Ackery Vancouver 

2585 Lisa Beckett Vancouver 

2606 Janet Beggs Vancouver 

2648 Ian Bond Vancouver 

2638 Kathryn Bowen-Roberts Vancouver 

2584 Dawn Chesney-Turner Vancouver 

2626 Stephenie Gold Vancouver 

2566 Koon Ming Ho Vancouver 

2577 Lynne Jones Vancouver 

2525 Shulamit Lanir Vancouver 

2634 Joseph Letwin Vancouver 

2678 Julie Lloyd Vancouver 

2658 AdrienneMahaffey Vancouver 

2590 Roma Palmer Vancouver 

2621 Renee Parker Vancouver 

2597 Tiffany Popowitz Vancouver 

2617 Elana Sures Vancouver 

2615 Stefanie Thomas Vancouver 

2653 Patricia Nasmyth Victoria 

2629 Sedigheh 

Ghaemmaghami Farahani West Vancouver 

2557 Maria Oliveri West Vancouver 

2594 Roger Wilson Westbank 

2641 Andrea Nair White Rock 

The following members have changed status since April 1, 2006. 

Active to Inactive 

1860 Hamid Hajebian Coquitlam 

875 Michelle Bonneau Kelowna 

1325 Jaymi Wark West Vancouver 

Inactive to Active 

459 Judith Colpitts Kelowna 


33 

Reinstated 

853 Martin Bartel Agassiz 

743 Diane Marshall Bowen Island 

1120 Lesley Gregorash Burnaby 

2316 Marijana Jozic Burnaby 

1215 Laura Marquez Burnaby 

1488 Trevor Broadhurst Campbell River 

2286 Jennifer Antonsen Chilliwack 

663 Bjorn Ratjen Cobble Hill 

1821 Jan Iannucci Coquitlam 

1084 Kim Sullivan Dawson Creek 

2029 Lynda Chalmers Delta 

2475 Susan Vanderwerff Delta 

180 Sandra Wrightman Grantham's Landing 

2356 Cheryl Bulycz Hope 

1336 Henry Sawatzky Kelowna 

877 Amber Harvey Mayne Island 

636 Deborah Marshall Nanaimo 

1842 Sareeta Karim North Vancouver 

2034 Frances Soon North Vancouver 

669 Bill Preston Qualicum Beach 

1232 William Chamberlain Roberts Creek 

2304 Diana Benedek Vancouver 

2080 Keri-Lyn Bjornson Vancouver 

2119 Rosamond Chan Vancouver 

329 Mikail Collins Vancouver 

496 Deborah Conway Vancouver 

1939 Martina de los Santos Vancouver 

2393 Shelora Fitzgerald Vancouver 

1606 Izgi Gocer Vancouver 

1834 Megan Hughes Vancouver 

1487 Melissa Kahn-Tietz Vancouver 

469 Janet Lichty Vancouver 

870 Carol Mouat Vancouver 

1292 Stephanie Saville Vancouver 

1331 Miljenka Zadravec Vancouver 

2065 Ross Fedy Vernon 

2399 Lynne Crawshaw Victoria 

2564 Daniel Hughes Victoria 

2408 Desmond Lynch Victoria 

420 Richard Pawley Victoria 

1871 Jennifer Pritchard Victoria 

2374 Judith Berg West Vancouver 

The following members have resigned effective January 1, 2006. 

1289 Evandro Lopes Abbotsford 

792 Alan Smitton Abbotsford 

1394 Delta Arnold Aldergrove 

93 Dion Bassett Blaine WA 

2455 Kiran Arora Burnaby 

1300 Diana Bockus Calgary 

1109 Donna Dunn Castlegar 

1280 Daniela Alexy-Ng Delta 

1459 Cath Thorlakson Eagle Bay 

2016 Verlie Martin Kelowna 

714 Jhan Derpak Kelowna 

1280 Liana Grant Mackenzie 

1921 Michael Sather Maple Ridge 

821 Martin Goerzen Merritt 

2210 Sharon McLeod Nanaimo 

2237 Barbara Taylor North Dakota USA 

1326 Charlotte Ross Port Coquitlam 

2045 Bob Cochrane Prince George 

2480 Jacques D'Astous Queen Charlotte 

93 Charlotte Dyck Richmond 

2232 Barbara Schneebeli Richmond

211 Daniel McGee Shawnigan Lake 

120 Grant Grobman South Surrey 

75 Dave Cameron Surrey 

622 Judith Beale Vancouver 

2142 Lynn Eddy Vancouver 

2377 Brenda Jamer Vancouver 

932 Barbara Mearns Vancouver 

1289 Bev Behrman Vancouver 

2339 Garth Alley Vancouver 

2213 Amrit Crowther Vancouver 

749 Ralph Frank Vancouver 

301 Elizabeth Upton Victoria 

1185 Jude Marleau Victoria 

1899 Jayne Embree Victoria 

2455 Jenny Ferns Victoria 

2417 Sarah Adams Victoria 

2036 Diane Rae Victoria 

The following members have been terminated for non-payment 

of dues effective January 1, 2006. 

706 Chris Kinman Abbotsford 

2422 Greg Lawley Agassiz 

2478 Jane Li Burnaby 

1048 Rajpal Singh Burnaby 

2272 Charlene Pettit Coquitlam 

1150 Colin Mallard Courtenay 

688 Marcia Carlson Crescent Valley 

2038 Mike Gallo Fort St. John 

2464 Faith Auton-Cuff Gibsons 

850 Aruna Jagdatt-Gore Kamloops 

2513 Raven Larocque Kamloops 

1262 Debra Martin Kelowna 

1895 Linda Griffin Kilmuckridge 

1368 Sophia Van Vuuren Lions Bay 

1378 Linda King Maple Ridge 

1918 Barbara Stanley Nanaimo 

2089 Kathleen Achenbach Nelson 

244 Stacy Kotyk North Vancouver 

2040 Jules Smith North Vancouver 

1543 Jean Paetkau Parksville 

153 John Langston Peachland 

1058 Sheridan Gibbons Port Moody 

1403 Patricia Toma Prince George 

775 Patricia Vickers Prince Rupert 

1836 Catherine Racine Richmond 

1466 Susan Boyle Sooke 

2452 Tasha Belix Vancouver 

12 Sharon Burrows Vancouver 

123 Siu Man Chan Vancouver 

2313 Steve Conway Vancouver 

612 Gail Dal-Santo Vancouver 

2412 Michelle Deshaw Vancouver 

2042 Eamonn Gill Vancouver 

1428 D.Michele Hucul-Kambolis Vancouver 

1824 Robin Hutton Vancouver 

266 Judith Kerr Vancouver 

401 Karen Schauber Vancouver 

991 Geoff Straw Vancouver 

1830 Phoebe Tsang Vancouver 

1097 Lorraine Melvin Vancouver 

432 Chris B. Rush Vernon 

805 Steven Bentheim Victoria 

1557 Susanne Gregory Victoria 

1593 BéAnna Lynne Victoria 

2413 Corinne Logan West Vancouver 

473 Naomi Serrano West Vancouver 

34 


1929 Rebecca Mitchell White Rock 

1980 Jason Ellis Windsor 

There was an error in membership status changes reported in the 

Spring 2006 issue of Insights. The following are members’ correct 

status changes. (From Dec. 1, 2005 to March 31, 2006) 

Active to Inactive 

127 Elaine Holgate Delta 

205 Lora Favor Shawnigan Lake 

630 Margaret Nefstead Whitehorse 

918 Anne Morelli Burnaby 

958 Sandra Kalmakoff Vancouver 

1105 Joanell Clarke Van Anda 

1149 Kerry McKenzie Harrison Hot Springs 

1159 Marilyn Murdock Victoria 

1200 Lynn McCaw Parksville 

1213 Lorraine Crump North Vancouver 

1224 Karen Kappe Vancouver 

1858 Kathryn Pedersen Vancouver 

372 Jennifer Taylor Victoria 

1722 Lexcie Richies Victoria 

1763 David Galeski Naramata 

1825 Rosemary Holland Victoria 

1876 Tamara Dalrymple Victoria 

1925 Rae Neilson Surrey 

1930 Benjamin Wong Richmond 

1962 Faye Solano Port Moody 

2027 Donna Thomas Surrey 

2119 Rosamond Chan Vancouver 

2130 Arloene Burak Cowichan Bay 

2150 Shona Mackinnon Wood Maple Ridge 

2244 Holly Jones Chilliwack 

2296 Leanne Novakowski Abbotsford 

2362 John AtkinAtkinson Penticton 

2364 Dominic Wan Burnaby 

Inactive to Active 

2160 Meena Makkar Abbotsford 

781 Frances Ross North Vancouver 

157 Chris Phillips Vancouver 

1974 Prisca Reynolds Wylie Vancouver 

Professional Full Time Student to Active 

1079 Cathy Hill Burnaby 

Regular to Professional Full Time Student 

1595 Judith Martin Cowichan Bay 

1332 Debbie Clelland Maple Ridge 

1238 Robin Cox Vancouver 

Are You Moving Soon? 

Let Us Know! 

Call us at (800) 909-6303 

Fax us at (250) 595-2926 

or e-mail: hoffice@bc-counsellors.org 

Thank You For Helping Us 

Stay In Touch!

Justice Institute of BC 

Check out the new course calendar for the Centre for 

Leadership and Community Learning at the Justice Institute 

of BC. The faculty is impressive: Joe Solanto, Ph.D, Danie 

Beaulieu, Ph.D. Allan Wade, Ph.D., Cathy RichardsonPh.D. 

and Linda Coates, Ph.D. Some of the internationally 

acclaimed researchers and therapist will participate in 

a number of special events as part of the Counselling and 

Capacity Program… visitwww.jibc.bc.ca/clcl 

December 6th Shoe Memorial at the 

Vancouver Art Gallery 

One item which we would like our members, as well as 

those of other regions to consider is Dec 6th Shoe Memorial. 

While this date seems a long way off, it will crop up before 

we are aware of the date. It seems that Pat Kelln, a Police 

Victims Services Trade Show attendee, addressed this day 

with our members at the booth. It seems on Dec 6th all old 

shoes which are sent in are lined up on the steps of the 

Vancouver Art Gallery with the names of women who have 

met violent deaths or are missing. Afterwards these shoes 

are donated to women in need of shoes for interviews, as 

part of women dressing to succeed through job training. 

BC’s Multicultural Health Directory 

The affiliation of Multicultural Societies and Service Agencies 

of BC (AMSSA) has developed the BC Directory of 

Multicultural Health Expertise as a free online service for 

health organizations, community agencies, institutions, 

communities and individuals to connect public health care 

professionals with multicultural health expertise and 

cross-cultural health care services. Currently, the directory 

has a list of 84 health care and social service providers with 

a range of expertise providing services for families in 

communities across BC. You can access the directory at 

www.amssa.org. 

AMSSA has also developed a database of multicultural 

health publications, currently containing 380 publications on 

a wide range of multicultural health topics. Access the 

Resource Directory at www.amssa.org. 

Pare-chocs: French-Language Teen 

Depression Prevention 

The CTREQ (Centre de transfert pour la réussite éducative 

du Québec) has just announced a new French-language program 

on depression and teens called Pare-chocs, designed to build 

skills to prevent and/or reduce depression symptoms in 

35 

youths 14 to 17. Developed by psychology professor Diane 

Marcotte from the University of Quebec at Montreal , the 

program features a set of well-researched tools designed to 

be delivered by two presenters - 12 sessions with a group of 

adolescents, 3 with parents. Skills targeted include social 

habits, relaxation, healthy thinking, communication and 

relationship management, self-esteem, body image and others. 

The program will be available this fall. Please note this is 

a French-language program and the link that follows is also 

in French. To learn more about Pare-chocs, visit 

www.ctreq.qc.ca or contact Isabelle Landry, project coordinator, 

at (418) 658-2332, poste 24 or isabelle.landry@ctreq.qc.ca. 

Work and Children Drive Rising Stress 

Arecent BC poll shows that work and children are driving 

a continuing rise in stress levels. The good news is that as we 

finish those responsibilities, a majority of us report leading 

more relaxed lives. According to the survey, over half of BC 

adults say that overall they feel at least somewhat stressed 

(54%), middle-aged and younger people are the most 

stressed and women are more stressed than men. Others 

who tend to be more stressed are people in households with 

children and those who are working. In fact, work and 

school-related issues are the most likely to be the cause of 

people's stress. BC residents also note problems with family 

and relationships, health and financial woes as factors 

contributing to their stress. See "Work and Children Drive 

Rising Stress,” at www.mustelgroup.com. 

New Private Practice Referral Online 

BCACC has completed its new version of the PRIVATE 

PRACTICE REFERRAL LIST ONLINE. The format and look 

are new and we now have the ability to list your referral 

information as soon you give it to us, so no more waiting for 

scheduled updates! 

You can find the referral list by going to BCACC's website: 

www.bc-counsellors.org and clicking on the link “Private 

Practice Referral List”. 

Only members who have met the following criteria will be 

listed on our PRIVATE PRACTICE REFERRAL LIST ONLINE, if: 

1. You are a member in good standing with BCACC; 

2. You are in private practice; 

3. You are accepting referrals; and, 

4. You have given written permission and consent to be listed 

on the web. 

Some NEW features include: 

1. Potential referrals will be able to contact you via email, by 

clicking a link. Your email address will not be visible to the 

person, however.

2. Map Quest to assist clients in locating your private practice office. 

3. New members names will be identified for 45 days after 

joining the Association. 

These features are optional and can be removed, at your request. 

We encourage you to have a look at the new list. If you are 

listed and do not want to be, or if you aren't listed and want 

to be included, please advise us by email: 

hoffice@bc-counsellors.org or fax: 250-595-2926. 

Education at CAMH: Discovering, 

Sharing & Applying New Knowledge 

CAMH is a leader, not only in research and care, but also in 

innovative education about mental health and substance abuse. 

Our research and clinical programs work side-by-side with 

our education, health promotion and publishing programs. 

This allows us to turn our discoveries and best practices into 

knowledge that we can transfer to the general public, clients 

and families, as well as to health professionals and 

organizations, throughout Ontario, across Canada and 

around the world. 

• Classroom courses, forums, workshops and events - 

includes continuing professional development courses and 

other educational events. 

• Online courses - Learn from your workplace or home - 

no travelling! Online courses to improve clinical practice 

relevant to professionals in mental health and addiction 

services as well as allied professionals. Sign up now for fall 

2006 courses! 

Courses for Fall 2006 

• Admission, Discharge and Assessment Tools (ADAT) Training 

• Basic Pharmacology in Mental Health and Substance Use 

• Fundamentals of Mental Health 

• Methadone Maintenance Treatment 

• Motivational Interviewing 

Courses for January 2007 

• Fundamentals of Addiction 

• Core Knowledge & Skills for Withdrawal Management 

• Introduction to Concurrent Disorders 

CAMH & Multilingual Resources 

The Multilingual Resources section has been created to 

provide multi-language information on mental health and 

addiction to people for whom English is not a first language 

and professionals who work with clients from culturally and 

linguistically diverse backgrounds. www.camh.net 

Click on the language you need to download the PDF file. 

More information about PDFs on camh.net is available. 

A listing of resources by language will be available shortly. 


36 

Index by document: 

• About mental health (factsheet): What is mental health; 

What contributes to mental health problems; Types of 

mental health problems; Where to get help. 

Available as web page: English, French (coming soon) 

Available as PDFs: English, French, Amharic, Chinese, Farsi, 

Greek, Hindi, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Serbian, 

Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Tamil and Urdu. 

• Asking for help when things are not right (factsheet): 

What is part of the normal reaction to living in a new 

country; When it is a good idea to ask for help and where. 

Available as web page: English, French (coming soon) 

Available as PDF in the above listed languages as well. 

Depression Anxiety Screening and 

Education Day 

This event is coordinated annually by CMHA BC on behalf 

of the BC Partners for Mental Health and Addictions 

Information. For this year, mark your calendars for October 

5th! For more information, visit the Depression Anxiety 

Screening and Education Day website, or call the BC Mental 

Health Information Line at 1-800-661-2121 (a free call in BC). 

Bottom Line Conference 

on March 6 & 7 in Vancouver! 

The Canadian Mental Health Association, BC Division’s 5th 

annual Bottom Line Conference on depression, anxiety 

disorders and addictions in the workplace will take place 

in Vancouver. If you would like to be notified when 

conference and registration information becomes available, 

please send your name and email address to 

conference@cmha.bc.ca. 

Mental Illness Awareness 

Week in October 

Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW) carries on where 

Mental Health Week leaves off by focusing attention on 

mental disorders: signs and symptoms, how to get help, 

stigma, hope and recovery, and the impact of mental illness 

on lives, families, workplaces and society. MIAW was 

initially spearheaded by the Canadian Psychiatric 

Association and is now an education project of the Canadian 

Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health, a national 

fifteen-member alliance of organizations representing the 

entire mental health-illness continuum. Mental Illness 

Awareness Week is always the first full week of October. 

Depression Anxiety Screening and Education Day across 

BC is always held on the Thursday of Mental Illness 

Awareness Week.

Call for Programs National Multicultural 

Conference and Summit 2007 

January 24-26: The Psychology of Multiple Identities: 

Finding Empowerment in the Face of Oppression. In 

Seattle, Washington at the Sheraton Hotel. The due date for 

program submissions is Wednesday, May 31, 2006. For more 

info, see http://www.multiculturalsummit.com/ 

The Public Health Agency of Canada: 

Responding to Stressful Events 

Natural or human-caused disasters such as earthquakes, 

health emergencies, terrorist attacks or acts of war challenge 

our coping skills, even if we only witness them on television. 

If they touch our lives more closely, they can cause a lot of 

distress, fear and anxiety. The website of PHAC offer valuable 

information on Taking Care of Ourselves, Our Families and 

Our Communities, Helping Children and Teens Cope and 

Taking Care of the Caregivers. It is important to be aware 

that stressful feelings are normal when our lives are touched 

by catastrophic events, and that there are steps we can take 

to feel better. 

Visit http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/oes-bsu-02/ 

RCC Lapel Pins 

In support of our members’ professional efforts and to 

enhance public familiarity and recognition of the RCCs as 

competent and accountable mental health professionals, we 

developed a Lapel Pin displaying our new symbol. 

This attractive Lapel Pin, shown below in actual size, was 

designed to suit all genders and can be produced in Plate 

Gold, in Brass with colour and in oxidized and polished 

Nickel/silver. (shown from right to left) 

Prior to production and to determine cost, 

we want to hear from you! 

Please complete this form and return via mail to: 

#14 - 2544 Dunlevy Street, Victoria, B.C. V8R 5Z2 

or fax to: (250) 595-2926 (Attn: Michèle Ashmore) 

or email to mashmore@bc-counsellors.org 


37 

You Are Invited to Change the World 

In February 2007, The University of Winnipeg’s Global 

College and its partners will host the Winnipeg Winter 

Summit “Human Rights and Social Justice: Setting the 

Agenda for the UN Human Rights Council”. This conference 

will be an international forum on War-Affected Children, 

Gender Rights and Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and 

is part of Human Rights Action Week at The University of 

Winnipeg. Stay tuned to the following site, 

http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/index/global-college-index to 

receive conference information and updates. 

Name: _______________________________________________ 

Member #: ___________________________________________ 

Mailing Address: _____________________________________ 

_____________________________________________________ 

• Are you interested in purchasing an RCC Lapel Pin? 

Yes____ , No_____ 

• Are you interested in purchasing more than one Lapel Pin? 

Yes____ , No_____ 

• If yes, please indicate how many: _________ Lapel Pins 

• Please choose from following options indicating in the 

space provided how many you wish to purchase: 

(1)___________Gold Plated 

(2)___________Brass with Maroon colour background 

(3)___________ Oxidized and polished Nickel/Silver 

• If we were only to produce one of the above options 

for everyone, which option will you prefer? (Please circle): 

(1) (2) (3) 

How many would you purchase? __________ 

The information you provide us will enable us to determine the 

size and cost of our order. 

Thank you for your input.

Insurance Information 

The Mitchell and Abbott Group of 

Hamilton, Ontario is BCACC's Broker 

of Record for Professional Liability 

Insurance (Errors & Omissions) and 

Office Contents/Premises Liability 

Insurance for Members of BCACC. 

The annual Renewal date for your 

insurance policy is April 1st. For 

information contact Brad Ackles at: 

A Great Way to Earn Continuing Education 

Credits: Read Insights! 

Circle True or False to indicate your response to each of the 

following questions. 

Once completed, mail this questionnaire to: BCACC Head 

Office, #14, 2544 Dunlevy Street, Victoria, B.C., V8R 5Z2. 

The Mitchell and Abbott Group 

Insurance Brokers Limited 

Suite 305, 393 Rymal Road West 

P.O. Box 6040, Station D 

Hamilton, Ontario L8V 5C4 

Toll free 1-800-461-9462 or 

(905) 385-6383 Fax (905) 385-7905. 

Or contact Brad by email 

backles@mitchellabbottgrp.com 

A total of 2 credits will be granted when the questionnaire is received. 

Members are to record these credits on the CE Summary Form that is 

included in your BCACC Professional Liability Insurance Renewal package 

mailed out each year in February from The Mitchell & Abbott Group. 

T F 

T F 

T F 

T F 

Pullen Insurance Agencies, Victoria, 

covers the BEN-I-FACTOR GROUP 

For Your Inspiration: 

“Empty is the argument of the philosopher 

which does not relieve any 

human suffering.” 

Epicurus (341B.C.-271B.C.) 

Continuing Competency Questionnaire 

1) According to Jim Browne, ”Sowelu” means 

“togetherness”. 

2) Lloyd Axworthy played no role at all in forming 

the Global College at the University of Winnipeg 

for At-Risk Children. 

3) In his article, Dr. Robert Pos writes that “once we 

answer the question of whether we are alpha or 

beta, we become aware of our natural strengths and 

we are more focused to use them...” 

4) Contributing writer Dianne Noort states that 

according to Garry Landreth, children always give 

up their natural way of coping in the playroom. 

38 

T F 

T F 

T F 

T F 

T F 

T F 

INSURANCE PROGRAM for BCACC 

members. This program offers 

Dental Benefits, Extended Medical 

Benefits, Disability Insurance and 

Group Life Insurance. For information 

contact Pamela Lewis or Rick Reynolds 

of Pullen Insurance Agencies at: 

Pullen Insurance Agencies 

220-2186 Oak Bay Avenue 

Victoria, BC V8R 1G3 

Toll free 1-888-592-4614 

or (250) 592-4614 

Fax (250) 592-4953. 

Or contact Pam by e-mail 

pulleninsurance@telus.net 

If you have any concerns or complaints 

about BCACC's insurance brokers 

or policies please contact Julia Burke in 

our Victoria Office at 

jburke@bc-counsellors.org 

1-800-909-6303 Ext. 3 

or 250-595-4448 Ext. 3. 

5) Nathan Pyle writes that “although there is much 

anecdotal support for therapeutic letters, formal 

research is just beginning...” 

6) In the first part of his article about the implications 

of the new BC Apology Act for clinical counsellors, 

George Bryce quotes Catherine Morris (2003): 

“The popular wisdom is that persons who face the 

prospect of being blamed should avoid apologizing 

or making statements about the incident in question.” 

7) Registrar Angela Burns reports that as of July 19, 

2006, BCACC has 1457 Active Members. 

8) The Bottom Line Conference this year will be 

held on March 6 and 7 in Vancouver. 

9) Sponsored by the UBC Institute of Mental Health 

in Vancouver, the Dalai Lama will be at the 

Orpheum on September 9. 

10) Uri Sanhedrai, the publisher for this pilot issue of 

Insights, gave a very different face to our publication. 

Name:________________________________________________ 

Membership #:_________________________________________

Dianne Noort 

Robert Pos 

Nathan R. Pyle 

For contributing Writers Guidelines 

contact the editor at: 

dipayette@shaw.ca 

FROM YOUR RESOURCE CENTRE 

Members who wish to borrow library materials can contact 

Aina in Head Office. Phone her at 1-800-909-6303 extension 5, 

or send an e-mail to aina@bc-counsellors.org. 

Books, pamphlets and videocassettes can be borrowed for one month. 

Copies of documents and reports can be kept by RCCs to have on 

hand as reference material. The Resource Library is comprised of 

materials donated by RCCs. If you have any materials you wish to 

share with your colleagues by donating them to the Resource 

Library, please contact Aina. 

You can find the current Resource Centre list on our website at 

www.bc-counsellors.org/reslib.htm, or contact Aina in Head Office 

and she will send you a hard copy. 

THE WEB CORNER 

www.bc-counsellors.org • By Aina Adashynski 

Enhancing Mental Health All Across the World Wide Web 

Check out the new bc-counsellors.org! BCACC's website has a fresh 

face - part of BCACC's identity update. Look for changes to improve 

navigation in the coming months. 

NEW Private Practice Referral List Online 

In mid-July, we announced the new Private Practice Referral List, 


Disclaimer! 

Except where specifically indicated, 

the opinions expressed in Insights are 

strictly those of the authors and do not 

necessarily reflect the opinions of the 

BC Association of Clinical 

Counsellors, its officers, directors, 

or staff. 

The publication of any advertisement 

by the BC Association of Clinical 

Counsellors is not an endorsement of 

the advertiser, or of the products or 

services advertised. 

The BC Association of Clinical 

Counsellors is not responsible for any 

claims made in advertisements. 

Advertisers may not, without prior 

consent, incorporate in a subsequent 

advertisement the fact that a product 

or service has been advertised in 

a publication of the BC Association of 

Clinical Counsellors. 

39 

Subscriptions 

Subscriptions for Insights are 

available at a cost of $21.00 (G.S.T. 

INCL.) for three issues. 

Please contact BCACC Head Office 

powered by IRM (the new membership database we installed in fall 

2005). While there are a few wrinkles to iron out regarding use of the 

new list (e.g., streamlining the list of “Categories”), we are happy to 

offer these new features and benefits to our members: 

1. Potential referrals are able to email RCCs by email by clicking 

an icon in their profile. (Members’ email addresses are not visible to 

the sender.) 

2. Map Quest link to help clients find an RCC’s private practice office. 

3. New members’ names will be identified for 45 days after joining 

the Association. 

Some tips for searching: 

1. The Search link will allow you to do a basic search - by city, counsellor's 

name, or focus of practice/category of counselling. You can also do 

a “Boolean” search, which means using words such as AND, OR, 

NOT to narrow your search (e.g., “couples AND Vancouver” will 

find RCCs who do couples’ counselling in Vancouver. 

2. The Advanced Search link allows people to search by city, name, 

and category, but ALSO by address and phone number (handy 

when one has forgotten the name of the counsellor they made an 

appointment with!). 

This is just a quick summary of the changes most of you have 

already seen. As always, we welcome your suggestions and feedback! 

Contact Aina in Head Office: email aina@bc-counsellors.org or call 

1-800-909-6303, ext. 5.


C A L E N D A R O F E V E N T S 

Submissions for events can be made 

before the advertising deadline date 

by email at dipayette@shaw.ca. 

There is a limit of three listings per 

agency or person. The Calendar of 

Events and the BCACC Regional 

Calendar Meetings are posted at 

www.bc-counseloors.org. 

September 

15-16: The Art of Compassionate 

Therapy: The Hakomi Method. 

Presenter: Beth Falch-Nielsen. 

Sponsored by the Hakomi Institute of 

BC in Vancouver. For more information 

or to register, call Rae Bilash at 

250-361-2045 or email: info@raebilash.ca 

or visit www.hakomibc.ca 

25-27: The 7th World Indegenous 

Women & Wellness Conference: 

Warriors Against Violence. Speakers: 

Madeleine Dion Strout, Bruce Wood 

and Ginger Gosnell. Sponsored by 

UBC Interprofessional Continuing 

Education in Partnership with the 

Pacific Association for First Nations 

Women and Women's Hospital and 

Health Centre. In Vancouver, at the 

Westin Bayshore Resort and Marina. 

For more information, email 

ipinfor@interchange.ubc.ca. 

October 

4-8: The Enneagram in the 

Narrative Tradition. Presenter: Peter 

O’Hanrahan. Event sponsored by: 

Enneagram Worldwide. On Cortes 

Island, BC. Contact: Enneagram 

Worldwide 1442 A Walnut Street Suite 

75 Berkeley, CA 94709 

866/366-8973,513/829-3457 or email 

eptpoffice@aol.com 

12-13: New Frontiers in Trauma 

Treatment. Speaker: Dr. Bessel van 

der Kolk M.D. Sponsored by Jack 

Hirose and Associates. In Calgary, 

Alberta at the Executive Royal Inn at 

2828 23rd Street North East. From 

8:30-4:30. Registration forms are available 

at www.jackhirose.com. 

20-21: Sexual Addiction: An 

Integrative Approach to Treatment. 

Sponsored by WCPPA. Presenter: Dr. 

Aviel Goodman. In Vancouver at the 

Renaissance Vancouver Hotel 

Harbourside. For more information 

cal 604-216-7313 or visit 

www.wcppa.ca 

23: The Narrative Project: 

Narrative Therapy Level I Training 

Program. Trainer: 

Ninetta Tavano MSW., RSW., RCC. 

Continues on October 14, and 

November 14 & 18 from 1:30 to 7:30. 

Location TBA/ For more information, 

contact ninetta@shaw.ca 

24: A Body to Die For: Advanced 

Training in the Treatment of Eating 

Disorders & Body-Image Disturbance 

in Women. Sponsored by the Refrew 

Center Foundation. In Portland, 

Oregon and on October in Seattle, 

Washington. Contact Donna Vitz 1- 

800-RENFREW or dvitz@renfrewcenter.com 

; www.renfrew.org . 

26-29: Native Mental Health 

Conference: Cultural Foundations for 

Wellness Sponsored by The Native 

Mental Health Association of Canada 

in Vancouver at the Coast Plaza Hotel 

and Suites, 1763 Comox Street, 

Vancouver. For further information 

please email nmha@telus.net, call 604- 

793-1983 or fax 604-793-4557. 

November 

3-4: The EMDR Clinician and the 

Challenging Client: Using the 

Relationship to Improve 

Psychotherapeutic Outcomes. 

Instructor: Mark Dworkin LCSW 

Vancouver, BC at The Blue Horizon 

Hotel, Robson Street. Contact Dr. 

Stephen Milstein at 604-938-3511 or 

email: stephen@healthandemotionalwellnessseminars.com 

40 

4-7: International Society for 

Traumatic Stress Studies 22nd 

Annual Meeting. In Hollywood, 

California. For more information visit 

www.istss.org/meetings/index.htm 

5: Working with Traumatized 

Clients: Using the Psychotherapeutic 

Relationship to Improve Outcomes. 

Instructor: Mark Dworkin LCSW. In 

Vancouver, BC at The Blue Horizon 

Hotel, Robson Street. Contact Dr. 

Stephen Milstein at 604-938-3511 or 

email: stephen@healthandemotionalwellnessseminars.com 

5-8: 5th Annual Conference on 

Making Gains in Mental Health and 

Addictions. Event sponsored by: 

Canadian Mental Health Association, 

(l'Association Canadienne pour le 

santé mentale). In Toronto,Ontario. 

For more information call Rachel 

Gillooly at 1-705-454-8107. 

9-11: 4th International 

Multidisciplinary Conference on 

Spirituality and Health: 

Interweaving Science, Wisdom, and 

Compassion. Speakers: Dr. Susan 

Folkman, Rev. Prof. Stephen Graham 

Wright, Roshi Joan Halifax and others. 

In Vancouver, at the Westin Bayshore 

Resort and Marina. To register visit 

www.interprofessional.ubc.ca or call 

local/outside BC: 604-822-6156 and 

toll free at 1-877-328-7744. 

16-17: Immigrant & Refugee 

Men: Mental Health & Systemic 

Stressors: 11th Annual Cross-Cultural 

Mental Health Symposium. Presented 

by the Cross-Cultural Psychiatry 

Program; Department of Psychiatry; 

VGH/Vancouver Community Mental 

Health Services; Vancouver Coastal 

Health; Immigrant Services Society of 

British Columbia and Storefront 

Orientation Services. At the Simon 

Fraser University at Harbour Centre in 

Vancouver. To join the e-mail list, send 

a message to Janey Chang, 

Symposium Coordinator at 

symposiuma@shaw.ca.

16-18: 3rd Annual Western 

Canadian Conference on Addictions 

and Mental Health. Co-sponsored by 

Jack Hirose and Associates with Dr. 

Ray Baker, M.D. and Healthquest. 

Speakers: Dr. Ray Baker, M.D., Linda 

Bell, MSW, John Bradshaw and many 

others. In Richmond, BC. More information 

forthcoming at www.jackhirose.com 

29-30: Working with Couples. 

Speakers: Dr. Harville Hendrix, Ph.D. 

& Dr. Janis Abrahms Spring, Ph.D. 

Sponsored by Jack Hirose and 

Associates. In Richmond, BC. 

from 9:00am - 4:30pm at the Best 

Western Richmond Hotel & 

Conference Centre, 7551 Westminster 

Highway. Registration forms available 

at www.jackhirose.com or call 

604-924-0296,toll free: 1-800-456-5424 

or email: jackhirose@shaw.ca 


Your BCACC Regional Meetings 

Please mark your calendar for these 

upcoming regional meetings. For more 

information and contact names, read your 

Regional Report and for current updates, 

visit www.bc-counsellors.org. 

Region 1 

October 5 in Nanaimo, Janet Logothetti 

(Nanaimo) will present on Adult ADHD: 

Executive Functions, Assessment and 

treatment. Understanding ADHD from the 

perspective of executive functions of the 

brain. On November 25 in Courtenay, 

Lynn Redenbach (Nanoose Bay) will 

present on Investing in Our Work, Ourselves 

and Each Other: Exploring the Clinical 

Consultation Relationship. Using the Stone 

Centre's relational cultural theory, Lynn 

will help participants explore their 

consultation needs and articulate those 

relational practices that will enrich and 

integrate their consultation experience. 

Watch for further announcements of the 

times and locations of these meetings. 

Region 3 

November 2: in Penticton: brief workshop 

with Leora Splett presenting on working 

41 

with children, followed by the regular agenda 

Early fall: in the West Kootenays: 

a 2-day Workshop focusing on male 

survivors of sexual abuse; included will be 

a separate meeting with the regular agenda 

for RCCs and other interested mental 

health professionals. 

Details and other information can be 

viewed on the website at: 

www.bccounsellors.org/reg3meet.htm. 

Please check it out, AND if you have 

anything to add please be in touch with 

either this writer or Leora Splett. 

Region 4 

October 14th: Introduction to Somatic 

Experiencing® Developed by Peter 

Levine, Ph.D. Presenter: Ian 

Macnaughton, M.B.A., Ph.D., RCC For 

a complete description of this workshop see 

the insert included in this edition of 

Insights. 

Regions 2, 5 and 6 

Visit www.bc-counsellors.org for 

upcoming meetings in these Regions.

w h o ’s w h o 


BOARD OF DIRECTORS 

President Bev Abbey 

Executive Vice-President Glen Grigg 

REGIONAL VICE-PRESIDENTS 

Region 1 - North Coastal Dale MacIntyre 

Region 2 - South Vancouver Island John Hayashi 

Region 3 - South Interior Sam Reimer 

Region 4 - Lower Mainland Northwest John Fraser 

Region 5 - Fraser Valley Pauline Fitzgerald 

Region 6 - North Interior Rob Riddle 

STANDING COMMITTEE CHAIRS 

Discipline Barry Williscroft 

Inquiry Shirley Halliday 

Continuing Competency Dianne Symonds 

Ethics & Practice Standards Adrienne Mahaffey 

Legislative Review Vacant 

Public Relations Jim Browne 

Registration Kathy Lauriente 

Member Services Duncan Shields 

AD HOC COMMITTEE CHAIRS 

Publications and Communications Review Jim Browne 

Board Orientation Dale MacIntyre 

REGIONAL COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES (alphabetically by region) 

Region 1 Susan Butler Irene Champagne 

Brien Dolan Monika Grünberg 

Marie-Josée Piché Susan Warner 

Region 2 Eli Chambers Mélodie Dupuis 

Michelle Morand Leila Paul 

Region 3 Carmen Carter Kevin McMullen 

Lee Splett Kevin Ward 

Region 4 Jerry Arthur-Wong Geoff Ayi-Bonte 

Allison Bates Marilyn Beloff 

Nancy Downes Lida Izadi 

Sara Kammerzell Jo-Anne Kates 

Eva Merriam Betty Rainford 

Diana Romer Elaine Roth 

Jennifer Scott 

Region 5 Gordon Auld Charlaine Avery 

Gerry Bock Patricia Dubberley 

Cliff Holloway James Logan 

Elizabeth Morris Muzaffar Syed 

Region 6 Brian Joyce Nikki Pawlitschek 

Greg Scriver Ralph Wright 

EXECUTIVE AND ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF 

BCACC Head Office 

#14 - 2544 Dunlevy Street, Victoria, BC, V8R 5Z2 

Tel. 1-800-909-6303 (within Canada) or (250) 595-4448 Fax: (250) 595-2926 

Website: www.bc-counsellors.org • E-Mail: hoffice@bc-counsellors.org 

Office Hours: Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. 

Registrar: Angela Burns 

Deputy Registrar: John Gawthrop 

Executive Assistant: Michèle Ashmore 

Administrative Support Staff - Regulatory: Julia Burke 

Administrative Support Staff - Association: Aina Adashynski, Nicola Lutte 

BCACC Surrey Office 

Executive Director: Jim Browne, 109-15550 - 26th Ave., Surrey, BC V4P 1C6 

Tel: (604) 535-8011 Fax: (604) 535-6261 

E-Mail: jim_browne@telus.net 

Insights Editor: Diane Payette Tel: (604) 921-6624 

E-mail:dipayette@shaw.ca 

This Issue’s Publisher: Uri Sanhedrai Tel: (604) 988-5066 

E-mail: uri@sanhedrai.com 

42 

Final Submission Dates! 

Ads & Inserts 

Insights is published three times 

per year: late spring, early fall 

and winter. For those interested in 

advertising events & programs, 

the next deadline for submissions: 


• 

Articles & Reports 


Advertising Policies 

Read these guidelines carefully! 

Advertisers can choose between 

classified ads, display ads, inserts or 

utilize our calendar of events section. 

A contact name (individual/ 

company/agency is required in all 

display ads and inserts). 

Classified and display ads 

Specification for classified and display 

ads will be published prior to the next 

issue date of Insights. 

Advertising Inserts 

Insert paper stock: 

Please note: To differentiate between 

our association’s inserts and those of 

our advertisers’, our advertisers’ 

inserts should not be printed on white, 

ivory, biege, cream or buff colours. 

Your inserts can be printed on any 

other coloured paper of your choice. 

(20lb glossy or matte) 

Insert size: 

8.5” x 11” (only!) 

Insert binding: 

Please do not staple or fold inserts. 

Insert shipping & storage: 

Wrap your inserts very well as they 

will be in storage for 4 weeks. 

Quantity required: 

1850 copies 

New rates 

Our new rates will be published 

ASAP prior to the next issue date of 

Insights. 

Thank you for advertising with Insights


2007 CCA/BCACC NATIONAL CONFERENCE 

“CONNECTING WITH OUR CLIENTS: 

Counselling in the 21st Century” 

Mark your calendars for May 22nd - May 25th, 2007 for the joint 

CCA/BCACC 2007 National Conference. Watch for further registration 

information and plan to register early. A Call for Presentations is 

posted on the BCACC website. As a national conference, with interest 

being shown in the Western States, participation is going to be 

limited to the first 500 registrants as a matter of space constraints. 

With Mary Harvey, Danie Beaulieu and Susan Gamache. 

Presentations, Papers, and Workshops make use of 90-minute time 

slots in multiples of up to 4 (full day presentation). 

Presenters are required to register for the conference, at minimum 

for the day they are presenting. 

PRESENTATION REQUIREMENTS 

Any presentation or paper consistent with the theme of 

“Connecting With Our Clients: Counselling in the 21st Century” 

is welcome! 

We intend that each conference participant will have a rewarding 

experience of collegiality and the common purpose of our 

profession. Beyond this, the conference will: 

• enhance the profile of counselling across Canada 

• present new concepts and strategies concerning therapeutic 

connections with clients 

• point to helpful innovations in technology, and 

• highlight new trends and demographics in Canadian counselling. 

PLEASE USE THE FOLLOWING OUTLINE TO 

SUBMIT YOUR PROPOSAL: 

1. Descriptive title (must be memorable and informative, as this is the 

identifier attendees use most often for selecting events). 

2. Brief presenter(s) identification (one sentence per presenter) 

(attach CV for details). Please indicate how you would like the 

presenter(s) to be listed in the program. 

3. Presenter contact information (especially e-mail addresses), as well as 

designation of a primary presenter who will be the liaison with 

conference organizers and responsible for contacting other presenters. 

4. Intended audience (by client demographics, counsellor 

background, clinical concern, practice setting, etc.) 

5. Language of the presentation. 

6. Briefly describe the presentation (100 words maximum), 

identifying its relationship to the conference theme. 

7. Length of presentation in multiples of 1.5 hrs. (Up to 6 hrs). 

8. List the learning/outcome/experiential objectives. 

9. Briefly identify the presentation style (e.g.. academic paper, 

interactive workshop, multimedia presentation, panel discussion, 

artistic performance, simulation, etc.) 

10. Ideal audience size and instructional setting. 

11. Equipment required (flip charts, LCD projector, overhead 

projectors etc.). 

12. Attach list of references, DVDs, videotapes, web sites, support 

materials, or other methods to accurately describe and give 

background to the presentation. 

13. Attach CV of each presenter. 

43 

Send your proposals by September 30th, 2006, to: 

Conference 2007 C/O Mel Loncaric, 

10215 152A Street, Surrey, BC, V3R 4H6 

Or FAX to (604) 951-8982, 

Or E-mail to loncaric_m@sd36.bc.ca 

IMPORTANT NOTES FOR PRESENTERS 

1. Presenters are responsible for their own expenses. 

2. Presenters are required to register for the conference for at least 

the day on which they are presenting. 

3. In the case of multiple presenters, you are asked to designate one 

person as the Primary Presenter. This person will liaise with the 

conference, including issues of equipment, and take on the 

responsibility of communicating with the other presenters. This will 

help minimize ambiguity and lost communication. 

4. Primary presenters will be notified by December 15th, 2006 as 

to whether the proposal has been selected. 

5. The program committee welcomes your feedback about 

scheduling, but reserves the right to make final and 

non-negotiable decisions about scheduling presentations. 

6. Conference organizers will make every effort to provide the 

presentation equipment requested, but cannot guarantee all 

items. Note that LCD projectors are often in short supply and 

a strain on the conference budget, so bringing your own, 

arranging for your own rental, or converting your presentation 

to overhead slides are good options. 

NEW! Certificate program in 

Solution-Focused Counselling 

Earn Certification as a Solution- 

Focused Practitioner or as a Solution- 

Focused Therapist with the Canadian 

Council of Professional Certification 

(CCPC). 

Solution Talk TM gives you 60 hours of 

classroom instruction and supervision 

towards your certification. 

You do not need to be part of the 

Certificate program in order to register 

for a workshop of your choice. 

We are very proud to offer: 

• Level 1 • Level 2 

• SFC with Children and Teens 

• SFC with Couples and Families 

• SFC with Trauma and Suicide 

• SFC with Mental and Physical Illness 

• Summer Intensive: Levels 1 & 2 

Continuing Education Hours: 

Earn 10 hours per workshop. Solution 

Talk TM is an approved provider of 

Continuing Education by the ASWB, the 

CCA and the CCPC. 

Nancy McConkey, MSW 

Workshops for Health 

Care, Counsellors 

and Educators 

Go to 

www.solutiontalk.ab.ca 

for the 2006-2007 

workshop schedule 

across Canada. 

Call us about 

ON-SITE TRANING, 

supervision services, 

and the Certificate 

program. 

Toll-Free: 

1-866-304-TALK 

E-Mail: 

soltalk@telusplanet.net

Fall - BC Association of Clinical Counsellors

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