Wood's Homes Blog

I love to learn.

I’m often curious about what it means to be successful, and I enjoy researching and reading about many philosophical figures, doctrines, and religions that explore the way human beings think and find meaning in their lives.

At 23, I started to fully embrace the importance of my mental health, and working at Wood’s Homes two years later complimented this embrace.

I took on the role of Communications Co-ordinator for Wood’s Homes about five years ago. That’s a fair length of time, but one that pales in comparison to many of my colleagues, some of whom have been here 10, 15, 20 and even 30 years dedicating their professional lives to improving the lives of thousands of struggling youth and families. In the long run, I’m fully aware that five years really isn’t a long time, but early in one’s career, I think it’s one of those numbers you hit and then reflect on a bit. 

Working with young people who struggle with their mental health can be challenging. And to fully commit to the work, counsellors, clinicians and all those with vital roles in mental health treatment need to be able to turn their skillset inward, focusing on themselves when it's time to re-engage with life outside of Work. I call this loving detachment. 

When I completed my undergraduate degree, I was excited to see what the world had to offer and passionate about my love for psychology. I knew that getting right into a master’s program would be a difficult task to do while working full-time, but I was determined to push myself and not waste any time. I began my journey in a Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology program and was lucky enough to be hired as a Family Support Counsellor with Wood’s Homes Family Support Network.

It’s been 12 weeks since I stepped inside my makeshift home office. I’m keeping a calendar and marking it with X’s, and maybe you have been too. I’ve limited my social media exposure because honestly, it was hard enough to manage the reality of what is going on in the world without having to also manage conspiracy theories and the vitriol of what I can only describe as (in)human selfishness taken to the extreme. For some reason, I kept thinking of Dicken’s famous opening, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”  And indeed, if we look closely for the good in this, I think we might find some (granted, we might have to look really hard).

Wood’s Homes Lethbridge Emergency Youth Shelter (now known as THE CORE) first opened its doors in 2003, as a place to support young people who needed a safe place to stay and support with basic needs. Youth come to the shelter for various reasons, with the biggest being family conflict, which often results from past trauma, mental health, sexual orientation or gender identity, or substance use, among other things. Wood’s Homes’ Youth and Family Counsellors work with youth and their families to provide mediation and access to resources in an effort to help youth return to the family home with a more stable relationship.

As manager of Wood’s Homes Community Resource Team, I often engage with other mental health professionals in the non-profit sector. We work collaboratively to provide much needed mental health services, and support the well-being of families and individuals in our city. It’s an aspect of my job that I really enjoy.

Of course, in our pre-COVID-19 world, this meant shaking hands, face-to-face interactions with parents, students and professionals from other agencies. It also meant working in an array of settings – schools, community events, resource fairs – to present on topics relating to mental health that I am passionate about as a clinician.

In July 2018, Wood’s Homes Street Services moved into their new location at our Inglewood Campus, bringing programs that used to operate in different locations together to create a ‘one-stop-shop’ now known as the EXIT Youth Hub. Here, street-involved youth are provided access to basic needs, as well as mental health counselling, employment and housing supports, medical attention and connections all sorts of resources that can assist them in their drive for a brighter future.

‘Monsters’ are real for most of the families and youth in our care. Their monsters are with them in the night – and sometimes, even in the day – hiding in the shadows, under their beds and in their dreams.

The youth and families who access our programs are all looking for something similar – safety from their monsters. It’s a simple feeling that many families struggle to achieve, sometimes for generations. Through the addictions program, I’ve had the opportunity to connect with many youth and families who are unsure about what they’re actually seeking from me. In the end, it almost always comes down to safety – more specifically, safety while using (harm reduction), safety in conversations and safety in sobriety.

Why is it so easy for we, as human beings, to talk about a broken arm and so difficult to talk about a broken heart?

Many of us who have been in the business of caring for and helping children and their families for years would say we have come a long way with understanding and accepting our ‘mental or emotional health’, while many others would say we still have a long way to go.