The Art of Motivational Interviewing

One of the newest psychological tools a clinical counsellor has to offer a client today is Motivational Interviewing (MI). The best definition of MI is a simple one. In a book written by William Miller and Stephen Rollnick called Motivational Interviewing: Helping...

What are Life Skills?

“Life skills are abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enable humans to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of life.[1] The concept is also called psychosocial competency.[2] The subject varies greatly depending on social norms and community...

A Future for Youth: A Plan of Action

One of the specialized population groups that employment services works more closely with are youth. Traditionally, Canada’s youth have had a tougher time finding work because of a lack of experience that goes with being new to the labour market. In BC, the...

Housing and Housing First

Piers was fortunate to administer the Specialized Community Assistance Program in Kelowna for seven years.  This program was designed to work directly with the “absolute homeless”, that is, people who were actually sleeping on our streets. The foundation of our...

The Canadian Story

The name ‘Canada’ comes from the St. Lawrence Iroquoian word, “kanata”, meaning a village, or settlement. What better name for this land whose defining objective is to build a community of people from ‘sea to sea’. With Canada being one of the largest immigrant...