Following their successful pilot, the Red Spruce Mental Health Centre is ready for a new season of growth, with services moving full speed ahead in February of 2025 thanks to new funding.
The seed of the Red Spruce Mental Health Centre flourished in its initial pilot in 2024. Over a roughly four-month period, the Centre served 52 clients from the Annapolis Valley community in over 300 individual and group therapy sessions on campus, online, and at their community partner locations like The Red Door and The Portal.
Following the announcement of the reopening, Dr. Tanya Surette (Program Coordinator, M.Ed. Counselling Program) and Dr. Kelly Brenton (Clinical Coordinator, M.Ed. Counselling Program) say the response to the news has been "enthusiastic." The community has expressed "immense gratitude" that the Red Spruce is resuming their free services for people who otherwise do not have access to mental health care. And the team that runs the Centre is eager to get back to serving their community.
Budding counsellors with deep roots in social justice
The Centre is overseen by a consistent team, but the counsellors who serve in it will vary year over year. Because it operates as a key component of Acadia's M.Ed. Program in Counselling, clients who book a session, are supported by one of the interns in the program. One of the purposes of the Centre is to nurture budding practitioners with close and supportive supervision as they learn to provide counselling services.
Developing their professional roots in the environment of the Centre gives graduate students in Acadia's M.Ed. Counselling program invaluable experiential learning opportunities and addressing mental health care disparities for rural Nova Scotians without counselling access.
"Red Spruce has a bright future as a training centre for our M.Ed. Counselling students," says Kelly. "The students develop the skills and competencies to be therapeutic with others and centre an ethics of social justice from the beginning of their practices."
Essentially, it's symbiotic relationship. Through a community-care model, graduate students grow their skillset with hands-on learning experiences, and the community benefits from access to free mental health care.
While the core mandates of the Centre remain the same as they were during the pilot to fill the gap in mental healthcare and train M.Ed. students they are also branching off in new and notable directions.
A new face from across the Cabot Strait
One of the changes to the Centre is the addition of a new key team member. The coordinator of the Red Spruce Centre, Dr. Janis Dawson, is coming back to her home province of Nova Scotia fresh off 16 years of working in Newfoundland. During her time on The Rock, as it's affectionately known, she worked as a counsellor, clinical supervisor, and educator.
"The M.Ed. in Counselling program is thrilled to have Dr Janis Dawson join the team as a core faculty and the Red Spruce Coordinator," says Tanya. "Janis is committed to creating accessible opportunities for counselling and to supporting the success of graduate counselling students. We are looking forward to Janis supporting the thriving and growth of the Red Spruce Mental Health Centre and the counselling program."
While Janis is a woman of many talents you can catch her playing the violin or hitting the roller rink a unique skillset she's bringing with her to the centre is her expertise in One-at-a-Time Counselling (OAAT).
One-at-a-time counselling
Don't be fooled by the name. OAAT is not about having a one-time appointment, but about having a useful therapeutic conversation in the here and now. One that focused on a person's top-of-mind concern in that moment. At the end of the session, clients walk out with an increased sense of hopefulness and an idea of how they would like to move forward.
That isn't to say that that OAAT is OAD (one-and-done). Clients are welcome to return as many times as they need. OAAT is a client-driven model; it's up to the person seeking help to choose what to focus on when they come in. And then they decide if they would like to come back for additional sessions.
"Time is precious," says Janis, "and we want to make the most out of the moment when a person reaches out for help."
While OAAT at Red Spruce will operate on an appointment basis, clients won't have a long wait to see someone; sessions will be available within a couple days of the need being identified. That way, counsellors can address pressing issues right away.
Suited to our climate
The OAAT model is particularly well-suited to the needs of the community in rural areas like the Annapolis Valley where access is typically limited. "It reduces barriers and offers help right here, right now," explains Janis.
And as a training clinic, it's the ideal model to help students develop exactly the skillset they will need when they head out into the professional world. "OAAT provides an excellent training opportunity for our students to practice and hone their counselling skills in having effective and helpful therapeutic conversations while serving the needs of the community," explains Tanya.
The reality of a training clinic is that the clinicians M.Ed. students in this case will come and go, which is why OAAT is a natural fit for the Red Spruce. In this way, it is more about clients building a relationship with the Centre rather than with individual counsellors.
In full bloom
Kelly says that as it grows the goal of the Centre is to "become recognized by the community and our provincial health authority as a partner in meeting the needs of rural Nova Scotians." She hopes that they will branch further out into the community by engaging more partners as they continue to reduce barriers to accessing mental health care.
Like any tree in a forest The Red Spruce team can't, and doesn't, stand alone. Its success relies on a network of organizations working together to share valuable resources and provide support.
"Special thanks to the many organizations who have believed in this project and our vision and have supported us in this initiative," says Tanya. "Acadia University has been instrumental in getting our doors opened again by funding our Centre Coordinator. The Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia has also supported us two years in a row, both in our pilot and current year, to help us become established. We also want to thank our community partners and students for their investment in the Centre's success."
As the Red Spruce Centre grows from scrappy sapling to steady forest mainstay, they look forward to many years of fruitful practice.
