Wood's Homes Blog
Safe for now: How to help someone at risk of suicide
September 10 is World Suicide Prevention Day. This year’s theme is ‘Creating Hope Through Action’. To empower people to take action to prevent suicide, our Crisis Counselling Team at Eastside Community Mental Health Services has written the following blog post on how to help someone at risk of suicide. If you or someone you care about needs help, call 403-299-9699.
Integrating the voices of youth into clinical approaches: What young people can teach us about our mental health interventions
We recently recognized Mental Health Week and Child and Youth Mental Health Day this month, and we can’t think of a better thing to talk about than how youth can be part of the solution to improving our systems of support and intervention. Recently, we’ve been fortunate to have had the opportunity to work together with an incredible group of graduate students and youth co-researchers (all co-authors on this blog post) to consider approaches to clinical work with youth.
How to change your own mind
Reflective practice is a cornerstone of social work practice. In short, reflective practice is an iterative process whereby the individual reflects on their work (and the work of their team), critically evaluates it (the good, the bad, and the ugly), and incorporates the subsequent learnings into their future work.
February is Psychology Month
The goal of Psychology Month is to raise awareness of the role that psychology plays in our lives, our schools, our communities and our employment. It provides a good opportunity for public education and promotion of the profession. Mental health professionals come in all shapes and sizes. At Wood’s Homes, treatment and support teams include a range of interdisciplinary professionals – social workers, psychologists, counsellors, youth and family counsellors, pediatricians, psychiatrists, nurses, occupational therapists, creative arts therapists and on and on.
2022 Blues: Why it’s still important to press the reset button on a game that hasn’t changed
As our new year began, there were a lot of grumblings about how the clock was moving forward but we were all still locked in time. Sayings like, ‘2022 = 2020, too’, were both true and a little demoralizing. I have written before that Blue Monday isn’t real, but if you are feeling a little less excited about 2022, I think that it is worth talking about.
A Season of Faith: Why trust is everything
As the latest variant Omicron looms large over our festive season, we are all facing difficult decisions about trust and about social gatherings, which is heavily layered in conversations about vaccination. Don’t worry, this isn’t a blog about getting vaccinated, but rather one that looks at the complicated relationships we have with our friends, family and ultimately news sources and government about who or what we trust when it comes to our safety.
Is it wrong to ‘lie’ to your kids about Santa?
One of the glories of living with teenagers is the interesting conversations you can have around the holiday table. Last year, it was all about the morality of telling kids that there is a Santa Claus when (spoiler alert) there isn’t one. It started with one of the oldest declaring that her future children would not be told that Santa is real, because “that’s just a huge lie”. This was of course followed by the other kids talking about what they used to believe and how it felt to find out.
Driving Change Together
It’s National Addictions Awareness Week. This year’s theme, Driving Change Together, encourages everyone to reassess the way they think about substance use. As we acknowledge how addiction impacts families and communities, let’s not forget the experience of the client. Everyone deserves a future free from addiction.
The Power of Peer Mentorship
Peer mentorship is grounded in the belief that hope and support is the starting point for enhancing wellbeing. Although everyone’s experience and journey is unique, our Peer Mentors at Wood’s Homes cultivate an environment of inclusion and belonging, inspire hope, and demonstrate the potential for success while relating to the challenges and stigma associated with mental illness and/or substance abuse.
A Visit to Capitol Hill
Recently, I paid my first visit to Capitol Hill, a program that works with children under 12. This home in the community is a short-term safe refuge for these little ones who are behaviourally at-risk and have broken down or are at risk of breaking down their current caregiver placements.
Clients and staff respond: What are you thankful for?
Thanksgiving is a time when many of us reflect on what we’re most thankful for. It reminds us of how special and beautiful our lives are even when we are faced with challenging and stressful situations. We often look for coping tools to get through tough times, and being thankful is especially important in the midst of a pandemic when the world around us is unpredictable. At Wood’s Homes, the joy of working with children, youth and families, the support we receive from our loyal and generous community tops our list.
Pearls of Wisdom
Parents experience tremendous amounts of stress when their children are facing mental health challenges and are often unclear on where to start or who to talk to. Although we are fortunate to have a number of mental health support services available, families continue to struggle alone as the fragmented nature of the mental health system makes it challenging to obtain the information and supports needed.