Counselling
Cascadia is a full service counselling clinic established in 1995. Our experienced clinicians offer customized care to each individual, group participant, or family, by creating a safe and supportive environment. We provide education, tools and skills to address the presenting issues. Our team has diverse skills, we look to provide the best client/practitioner match, and we reinforce client strengths and support systems.
Specialties
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Cascadia receives regular referrals from community members, medical and mental health professionals, the court system, the Ministry of Children and Family Development, the Vancouver Island Crisis Line, lawyers, and school districts.
Complex Clinical Cases
Complex clinical cases are familial situations where there are numerous presenting issues in one or several family members. When this occurs, the assessment process includes creating individual and group baselines in the following areas: determinants of health, medical, psychological and lifestyle. Treatment planning isolates the necessary first steps and is implemented by our clinical team.
Family Counselling
Are you struggling in your familial relationships? Conflict between family members is natural. However, if these conflicts go unresolved for an extended period of time, the relationships can fracture. Often, this disconnect leads to estrangement where there is little or no contact. If family members want to address the concerns that led to the discord, then family therapy can help.
Family counselling can also assist families who want to be closer with each other. This includes but is not limited to couples, parents with their children, siblings and grandparent/grandchild relationships. Developing capacity for closeness builds strength so that the family is more able to weather adversity. Additionally, skills such as stress management, resiliency training, communication, conflict resolution, problem solving, and leadership development can greatly enhance the emotional environment of the family. The family therapy process can be one on one, in dyads, subgroups, and with the family as a whole including extended family members. As well, families facing transitions such as family illness, children moving out of the house, inheritance issues, etc. can greatly benefit from bringing in an outside resource.
Family counselling can also assist families who want to be closer with each other. This includes but is not limited to couples, parents with their children, siblings and grandparent/grandchild relationships. Developing capacity for closeness builds strength so that the family is more able to weather adversity. Additionally, skills such as stress management, resiliency training, communication, conflict resolution, problem solving, and leadership development can greatly enhance the emotional environment of the family. The family therapy process can be one on one, in dyads, subgroups, and with the family as a whole including extended family members. As well, families facing transitions such as family illness, children moving out of the house, inheritance issues, etc. can greatly benefit from bringing in an outside resource.
High Conflict Divorce
If your family is experiencing a high conflict divorce, where the child(ren) are resisting or refusing contact with one parent, our family counselling program can help. These cases often involve parental estrangement, parental alienation, or a combination of both.
Parental estrangement is a family condition that is characterised by gradual disaffection or detachment in a parent-child relationship. Estrangement follows multiple unacknowledged or unresolved conflicts between a parent and a child where there are hurt feelings including betrayal and disappointment, which ultimately cause the children to cut off contact. The stress of a high conflict divorce can lead parents to behave in ways that exaggerate the estrangement issues.
Parental alienation becomes apparent when a child rejects a parent when there is little or no justification to do so. In these cases there has been no abuse or neglect of the children by the targeted parent. The child’s behaviour to vilify the disfavoured parent (and often their family) occurs as a result of the conscious and unconscious behaviours of the favoured parent. When a child is irrationally choosing to have a relationship with only one parent, timely help is important, as the longer this condition is allowed to occur the more difficult it is to alter.
High conflict divorce counselling services assist families to establish healthy parent child relationships. Families participate by court order or consent order. Our therapeutic team has experience designing appropriate and customized treatment plans to address high conflict family dynamics.
Parental estrangement is a family condition that is characterised by gradual disaffection or detachment in a parent-child relationship. Estrangement follows multiple unacknowledged or unresolved conflicts between a parent and a child where there are hurt feelings including betrayal and disappointment, which ultimately cause the children to cut off contact. The stress of a high conflict divorce can lead parents to behave in ways that exaggerate the estrangement issues.
Parental alienation becomes apparent when a child rejects a parent when there is little or no justification to do so. In these cases there has been no abuse or neglect of the children by the targeted parent. The child’s behaviour to vilify the disfavoured parent (and often their family) occurs as a result of the conscious and unconscious behaviours of the favoured parent. When a child is irrationally choosing to have a relationship with only one parent, timely help is important, as the longer this condition is allowed to occur the more difficult it is to alter.
High conflict divorce counselling services assist families to establish healthy parent child relationships. Families participate by court order or consent order. Our therapeutic team has experience designing appropriate and customized treatment plans to address high conflict family dynamics.
High Conflict Divorce Counselling Program Services
- Comprehensive interviews of all family members.
- Thorough assessment identifying the factors contributing to the current family distress.
- The development of a needs based intervention plan that is best suited to the family's unique dynamics, condition, and circumstances.
- Counselling, education, support, and skill development.
- Coparenting, education, and planning.
- On-going monitoring and follow-ups as required.
Expected Outcomes
- Understanding of the multiple individual, relationship, and family dynamics causing the familial conflict.
- A planned intervention that will minimize the impact of parental issues on the children.
- Reduced family conflict, clearer boundaries, and increased balance among family members.
- Healthier relationship patterning between parents and children.
- Awareness, tools, and skills to maintain positive parent child relationships.
- Mitigation of short and long-term effects pertaining to child development and needs.
Community Based Mental Health
When families have members who are struggling with mental health issues, family counselling can be very helpful. Issues such as depression, anxiety, bipolar, and personality disorders can severely affect not only the individual, but the family as a whole. This is particularly true if a young person is struggling with their functioning such as self harming, isolating, excessive video gaming, poor school performance, etc. In these cases, it is often very challenging to access services and to coordinate service delivery. Cascadia’s team-based approach is a natural antidote to this, including being able to provide case management services. We regularly consult with medical, psychological, legal, and governmental professionals to fully understand the complexity of the situation and to provide a holistic and comprehensive treatment plan.
Please give us a call at 250-590-7050 or email us to see how we can be of service to you.
Please give us a call at 250-590-7050 or email us to see how we can be of service to you.