Introducing the Counselling Program’s New Stepped Care Model
Starting Fall 2019, Cameray Child and Family Services began a process of exploring how the Counselling Program could incorporate a Stepped Care Model to best serve the population in Burnaby and New Westminster. That process began with listening to the feedback of both past and present clients, researching the effectiveness of Stepped Care Models, and reaching out to other local agencies that were also making the transition to this model of care. What became clear is that expanding our counselling services to incorporate group therapy as part of the Stepped Care Model would not only alleviate some of the issues our clients were facing such as long wait lists, but would also offer an incredibly effective therapy for certain presenting issues.
We began implementation of the new program model this summer. The experience of the clients as they are referred to and begin their services in Cameray’s Counselling Program will stay much the same. The referrals are still open to the community to be submitted by telephone, email, or fax, and the client will be contacted for an intake session as soon as possible. Our counsellors will then facilitate an intake session, which will the give them the information they need to make recommendations for the most therapeutically beneficial next steps for the client and their family. Those next steps may include group, individual, and/or family therapy. Cameray will run the first series of groups starting in October 2020 (see attached list of groups for 2020-2021). All of these groups will be offered virtually, in order to maintain the safety of both clients and staff during the Covid-19 pandemic. We will continue to gather feedback, evaluate effectiveness, and monitor outcomes throughout this shift to a Stepped Care Model.
We appreciate your patience during this transition, and welcome any feedback you might have about our services. Should you have any further comments, concerns, or inquiries, please do not hesitate to contact us.