New! Wellness Counselling Program
March 27, 2015
Refugee claimants arriving in Canada often struggle with mental wellbeing, simply because they have and continue to encounter significant stressors and trauma.
Kinbrace recently launched its Wellness Counselling Program under the direction of Erin Pearce to support the mental wellbeing of Kinbrace residents. Erin has a Masters in Social Work focusing on refugee mental health and is our newest staff member working in the role of Wellness Counsellor.
The Wellness Counselling Program offers comprehensive mental health programming to complement Kinbrace’s community-based model. The goal is to create a holistic program that enables refugee claimants to thrive in the Canadian context. Refugee claimants are vulnerable to acute mental health challenges associated with journeys of migration. These migratory stressors are exacerbated in Canada by the refugee claim process, limited medical coverage, language barriers, a lack of culturally appropriate services, and fast-dwindling trauma counseling options.
Our hope is that this program will provide the space to support and learn from refugees, by journeying with them through their profound experiences of exile and resilience.