Sherry, John

In October 2021, the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) announced a new centralized hub model in British Columbia branded as Family Connection Centres (FCCs) that would replace and eliminate the Autism Funding Program by the Spring of 2025. While the intentions of FCCs are to create a new model of care that is designed to support children and youth from birth up to nineteen years of age with developmental challenges and create easier access and navigation of services for families and caregivers, it has not come without its share of significant concerns from professionals and communities across BC. The intent of this research project is to provide a guided framework to address the concerns that have been raised and include important recommendations from Foundry, a well-established youth agency in BC, as well as incorporating essential ethics from nature that will help to design a better agency structure and model. The proposed framework will focus on building from existing services and unique family networks, as well as connecting back to land and nature, to support and raise healthy children and create strong, connected familial communities.

no abstract available

Suicide in northern British Columbia [BC] is an understudied but prominent health concern. This study aimed to understand the individual experiences of those seeking support for suicidal ideation in northern BC and, specifically, sought to understand what responses are perceived as helpful and not helpful. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis, five semi-structured interviews were conducted, resulting in four main themes found across each interview, each with two sub-themes. These four themes include: 1) Death Avoidance, where participants discussed how death and suicide were avoided, missed, dismissed, and hidden by themselves and others as well as the widespread silence around mental health and suicide in communities; 2) Power and Powerlessness, which describes the power that suicide held over the participants and their attempts at reclaiming some of that power; 3) Meaning and Meaninglessness, which explores the search for purpose and meaning each participant underwent; and 4) Connection and Safety, which discusses the complex interactions between connection and disconnection, and the ways that felt sense of safety, or the lack of, impacted connection and suicide. This study supports existing literature that describes the importance of safe and validating connections that allow for options, choice, and exploration of meaning. Moving forward, collaborating with individuals considering suicide in a trauma-informed manner that emphasizes respect, validation, power, and meaning is recommended.

In the challenging mental health landscape of Northern British Columbia, a tale of connection unfolds - a narrative woven into the fabric of rural life that binds practitioners in a shared struggle for support. The complexities of care within this region, marked by the culmination of multiple health crises, have stressed the importance of centralizing practitioners as the protagonists within this story of social wellness. A need for meaningful clinical support has arguably never been greater, rising in response to the contextual needs of an often-isolated workforce, generally lacking specialized training in counselling processes. This story delves into the complex, fragile relationships that compose a Northern system of care, shaped by a unique socio-cultural climate and held in place by a tenuous thread. While acknowledging the scarcity of empirical evidence on the counselling experience in rural settings, this narrative draws on the value of engaging Northern practitioners’ voices in shifting supportive service delivery. In the quest for professional growth and competency, clinical supervision has materialized as a crucial collaborator in supporting professional practice, recognizing the invaluable position of developmental location in bridging the theory-to-practice divide. The following project seeks to redress these disconcerting discrepancies by providing an avenue to access and interpret helpers’ experiences, facilitating ongoing growth and development as conceptualized within an integrated developmental framework. Stories unfold as particularly salient means to aid this process of exploring practitioners’ developmental trajectories, fostering understanding, validating experiences, and unravelling complex elements of practice. This resource attempts to tap into this profound power of story to aid clinical supervisors in empowering practitioners, conceptualizing the process, and assisting helpers in navigating their nuanced narratives as they embark upon their journey of self-discovery in hopes of helping others.

Canadian schools have long employed punitive discipline, a colonial paradigm that is hierarchical and exclusionary. Using Participatory Action Research, two Indigenous and nine non-Indigenous educators collaborated to implement a restorative model into an elementary school in northern British Columbia. Our hybrid of Restitution and Restorative Practices (RRP) and Circles included regional Indigenous protocols. A thematic analysis of participant interviews revealed patterns in the key areas of belonging, cultural safety, trauma informed practice, shame, and decolonizing education. RRP was experienced as an egalitarian model and Indigenous protocols supported community building during Circle practice. Implementation of RRP and Circles (RRP/C) did not represent enough structural change to decolonize discipline, but this hybrid was a relational and holistic model that integrated the Indigenous values of consensus building, interconnection, and harmony. Concerns with the model and its implementation included cultural racism, resistance, vulnerability, shame, and safety.

While research continues to establish a connection between shame and complex trauma, there is a lack of understanding on how this is addressed in therapeutic practice. The current research employed a qualitative exploratory research methodology to answer the question, how do counsellors perceive and treat shame in adult survivors of complex trauma? Seven counsellors were recruited to engage in a virtual semi-structured. The data was analyzed using thematic analysis resulting in three main themes, each containing various sub-themes. The three themes are emotional landscape, which pertains to the emotional effects of shame and how they can be treated in therapy; self-concept, which explores the negative beliefs and thinking patterns clients develop and suggests techniques for diffusing shame; and attachment and the therapeutic relationship, which highlights interpersonal difficulties faced by clients and the impact of the therapeutic alliance, along with exploring the personal experience of counsellors in the therapeutic relationship.

Attachment is well established as a fundamental component of long-term partner relationships. Patterns of attachment, between adult partners, hold potential to strengthen or erode the relational bond. Furthermore, partner attachment dynamics have been linked to the long-term emotional and physical wellbeing of both partners. At present, effective in-depth adult attachment resources and interventions are available in various formats. This project adds to the available repertoire of adult attachment resources by providing a three-day introductory retreat focusing on attachment theory fundamentals and skills for developing healthy attachments in relationships. This three-day retreat utilizes interactive partner and group activities along with group therapy sessions. In addition, this couples’ program introduces mindfulness and gratitude practices that support secure partner interactions. This retreat program is intended to be an initial introduction to attachment science and is designed to generate openness and a desire for further engagement with adult attachment resources.

This study describes the experiences of foster parents who have companion animals in their homes and the perceived impacts these animals have on children and youth in foster care. Six participants were interviewed regarding their experiences with animals in their home environment, their relationship with their foster children, and themselves, and the benefits and challenges of having a companion animal in the home. A qualitative, exploratory inquiry was conducted. Data analysis was completed using thematic analysis which revealed six central themes with 12 subthemes: (1) provision of companionship (subthemes include unconditional love); (2) strengthening of the foster home environment (environmental connection, increased feelings of safety); (3) teaching empathy (including responsibility and compassion); (4) emotional regulation (grief, emotional support, and calming presence); (5) benefits to foster parents (companionship, unconditional love, emotional support, additional support); (6) challenges. These findings have important implications for future social work practice and specific recommendations were created from the findings of this study.

International students pursuing higher education experience diverse challenges during their stay in their host culture. This project design relies on research findings of the pervasive challenges faced by international students in creating a guidebook for international students pursuing higher education at the University of Northern British Columbia. The stress that students encounter around the psychological and social-cultural domains is often difficult to mitigate when familiar support systems are not available and/or accessible. The dominant stress areas identified during the cross-cultural transition are in the areas of language, academic, social, financial, and labor market. The availability of support systems that provide international students with awareness about cross-cultural challenges, support resources, and their functions in the academic setting as well as community environment can assist them in better integration and successful outcomes.

This thesis was conducted in the province of Alberta’s Edmonton Metropolitan Region (EMR) to identify the themes and variances among women’s informal methods of coping with and leaving abusive relationships, using a qualitative-exploratory approach. With the acknowledgment of feminist theory, the strengths-based perspective, and person-centred theory, this thesis explored women’s perspectives and their personal experiences of resiliency during and after leaving their abusive, male partners. Thematic analysis was used to code and analyze the data, which identified the following themes among the survivors: strong, informal support networks, engaging in self-care activities and self-improvement activities as a trauma response, and, the shared, personal attributes of self-preservation, resourcefulness, and self-reflection. Recommendations for theory, practice and further research are posed to the helping professions and informal support networks of survivors.

This paper describes a qualitative study involving six participants who work in the field of sex offender intervention. Participants’ struggles and professional rewards are examined. Recommendations on workplace policy and procedure adjustments are made based on the findings. Although participants identified rewards of their work, they described many physical, emotional, and mental health struggles they encountered, because of their employment. They also identified supports that promoted their wellbeing in the work.

The following is a synthesis of the literature focused on ways of supporting healthy grieving in children and a related children’s book based on the findings. I have produced a book on grieving that is intended to be used by caregivers and educators to support bereaved children. The support strategies that are discussed here and reflected in the book Dragonfly Dance include ideas from traditional therapeutic approaches, expressive arts, pet therapy, grief camps, adventure therapy, and group therapy. The tasks of grieving are also described through selected literature. Dragonfly Dance incorporates many of the known activities that support transition through grief.

This project will examine the emerging literature related to the coronavirus disease pandemic, its potential effects on the mental health of children and factors promoting resilience in this population. The culmination of this work will be a series of interventions utilizing bibliotherapy to help foster resilience in children. These interventions are intended to be used by school counsellors, mental health professionals, teachers or parents, as well as with small groups or large groups of children. The project will be divided into five sections with each section focusing on a principle that helps promote resilience in children following a mass trauma. Each section will consist of an explanation of the principle, a book choice, interventions that could be initiated by a mental health professional, a teacher, or a parent followed by an annotated bibliography of additional books that could be utilized to support this principle.

Nature-based therapy is a therapeutic lens that utilizes nature as a co-therapist. This approach addresses the disconnect between land and people, a disconnect that negatively impacts the mental health of many of those seeking mental health services. Consequently, this approach is now considered an effective treatment for youth and is used as a standalone approach or integrated with cognitive behavioural therapy, gestalt, or group therapy. In either case, this nature-based lens provides a bridge between traditional Indigenous practices and Western psychology. My project highlights various activities and ideas in order to incorporate nature into one’s practice as a therapist, specifically within a northern context. Information regarding benefits, ethical concerns and various types of nature-based therapy will be discussed and guide the development of the manual. The guidebook will assist those interested in nature therapy by creating a place where tangible and realistic ideas for how to incorporate it into practice are located.

In today’s fast-paced world of technology, new innovations are created constantly. Due to the prevalence of these new technologies being regularly introduced into workplaces, making the implementation easier for end-users will help ease the implementation process itself. This research focused on the relationship between University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) employees and the implementation of the Banner 9 upgrade to UNBC’s ERP, specifically by answering the following questions: how do UNBC Banner users feel about the implementation, what themes were prevalent in the implementation, and what suggestions and recommendations can be made to mitigate resistance and lessen the difficulty of future implementations? Surveys and interviews were used to collect data. Via participant responses, the following suggestions were derived from the themes discovered: hold regular and themed training workshops, increase transparency regarding the implementation, provide IT department demonstrations, and have documentation more accessible to users.

Volunteer firefighters have limited up-to-date training and awareness in applied coping skills and trauma informed practice (TIP). Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) has been a standard of practice within emergency services — including fire rescue services — for decades in Northern British Columbia. With new developments in TIP, I suggest we can further improve volunteer firefighters’ wellness by exploring specific coping strategies. The purpose of this endeavour was to interview volunteer firefighters, explore their experiences, and better understand their coping styles and approaches to managing stress related to the work. In the exploration of critical incident coping skills, a qualitative methodology and thematic analysis was applied. This study adds to the current literature on work-related coping, and hopefully increases awareness of best practices for psychological safety and wellness of volunteer firefighters in Northern British Columbia.

Developing high school curriculums that promote positive mental health by fostering connection and meaning is an important undertaking. This project explores the role that Nature Therapy and trauma informed practice can play in guiding curriculum development. To do this the contextual realities the Learning Support Center at Prince George Secondary School are explored and a brief literature review on the topics of Nature Therapy and adolescent based Trauma counselling is completed. The final component of this project is the completion of a School District 57 Board Authorized Course Template that integrates elements of Nature Therapy, trauma informed practice and school connectedness with curricular content.

The purpose of this project is to provide a handbook for classroom and special education teachers. This handbook is to assist teachers helping their students with ASD to develop reading comprehension skills. This project begins with background information regarding ASD and prevalence rates for ASD along with a discussion about reading comprehension. A literature review outlines the difficulties students with ASD have with reading comprehension and examines the specific areas with which students struggle. An outline of how the project is structured is given and finally a handbook is presented that outlines strategies for teachers to use for each area of deficit which students may encounter. The handbook provides a variety of strategies for each area identified.

Clinical supervision has been identified as a key component in combatting attrition in the human services field. Unfortunately, clinical supervision is not utilized in its full breadth, leaving workers to continuously suffer the consequences of cumulative stress from their complex work. This project is a result of a review of the literature on clinical supervision. The literature has indicated that clinical supervision is an essential tool for supporting workers to manage the emotional and psychological workplace hazards that they frequently encounter. The literature has identified three functions of clinical supervision and highlights that the administrative function is the one most often used.

Counsellor identity development is a unique and challenging journey which involves both academic training and personal formation. Research shows that who the counsellor is, personally and interpersonally, is of greater impact in the therapeutic alliance than theory or technique. The counsellor's ongoing individual work on self, experiences in life, and growth in self-awareness, empathy, and compassion are important tasks as the counsellor moves from a novice counsellor to a master therapist. This thesis is meant to add to the body of research on counsellor identity development following the progression of a counsellor in training through this process. Evocative autoethnography was utilized to provide a deeply personal perspective of the process and change that occurred. It was found that spirituality, creativity, and play, as well as the integration of emotional, mental, and somatic parts of self were essential elements of this transformational journey of becoming.