Meet our Child and Youth Counsellors
The Hand to Hand team of Jill Thompson and James Cairns are Child and Youth Counsellors with collectively over 35 years of work experience.
We have previously worked in many different settings and with a variety of client groups, including hospital mental health units and therapeutic residential mental health and addiction programs, and with children and youth residing in homeless shelters, youth involved in the criminal justice system, and Indigenous youth in Northern communities.
In our previous work we have supported youth with the highest severity of behavioural, social and emotional difficulties.
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A Child and Youth Counsellor (CYC) is a professional educated in a 3-year College Program with a minimum of 1500 hours of direct training experience working with youth.
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Unlike many other professionals working with youth, a CYC will directly work with the youth and their family in their own environment, and while engaging in their own activities.
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CYCs emphasize the growth and development of the youth as a whole person.
They believe the youth and families they encounter are doing the best they can, and work with their existing strengths and abilities to get to the next step.
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The main focus of a CYC is creating and nurturing a caring, therapeutic relationship with the youth and their family, and they are flexible and individualized in how they will find this connection.
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The Hand to Hand team of Jill Thompson and James Cairns are Child and Youth Counsellors with collectively over 35 years of work experience.