Our services are for all individuals whether you have a disability or not—our service philosophy is the same—to help you overcome barriers in finding employment. Career Counsellors/Vocational Rehabilitation Consultants help people navigate work, education, learning and life transition. A Vocational Rehabilitation Counsellor provides additional services such as mental health counselling as part of their practice. Therefore, depending on the customer’s needs, the goals are numerous:

• First time entry into the work force
• Retention within an occupation
• Return to pre-disability occupation
• Mental health concerns associated with employment barriers
• Career change
• Volunteer placement
• Post-Secondary Education Planning
• Post-retirement career counselling
• Post-pandemic job search counselling
• And many others….

• Unemployment
• Underemployment
• Job dissatisfaction
• Mid-career change
• Mental and physical health concerns due to your occupation
• Mental health concerns due to excessive changes in the workplace
• Adjusting/returning to work post-covid
• Desire to contribute more for one’s community
• Illness, injury and disability adjustment
• Insomnia
• Chronic pain
• Stress/anxiety/depression about remaining at work or returning to work after prolonged absence

The end result is equal access to employment opportunities and one’s community.

Your first session will consist of talking to the consultant about why you have sought help and learning what the consultant has to offer. There is an intake interview and perhaps forms to fill out to understand your interest, abilities, work values, learning styles and personality type to guide us in decision making. Through exploration discussions, we learn to understand your fit to employment prospects or potential. As a result of the discussions and assessments, the client and consultant are then better able to target and understand strengths and challenges going forward. Once the client has narrowed down their occupational interests, an action plan is developed and job search assistance and skill development begins to achieve client goals.

A Vocational Rehabilitation Counsellor provides career counselling with the addition of mental health counselling as part of their services. Clients arrive often lacking sleep, are anxious and stressed, experiencing metal health issues and dysregulation. Providing mental health therapy for stress management, insomnia, chronic pain, anxiety and depression to name a few conditions, helps encourage movement towards occupational choices, preparation for job search and interview success to result in goal achievement.

We specialize in working from a trauma informed perspective, relationships grow out of mutual respect, acceptance and trust which allows the client to relax their thought patterns and reposition themselves in a more open and safe space to allow acceptance of ideas and forward movement on matters of concern.

We are hands-on and action-focused as we are committed to ensuring you reach your employment goals. We will advocate and if need be mediate for you and connect you to community resources.

Various conceptual framework can be used to view types of career-related concerns:

• Trait-Factor, Theory-personality match to occupation
• Person-Environment Fit: congruence between environment and personality
• Learning Theory: not one career, but several as long as you are willing to learn
• Social Cognitive Career Theory-assist with developing self-efficacy
• Cognitive Information Processing Approach: how people make career decisions and use problem solving skills in career decisions

Evidence-based intervention/counselling techniques used to assist with mental health concerns:

• Motivational Interviewing
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
• Narrative Therapy
• Strengths Based
• Person-Centered
• Brief Solution Focused
• Mindfulness
• Compassion
• Regulation
• Trauma Focused

Vocational Rehabilitation is a set of services offered to individuals with mental or physical disabilities to overcome barriers to accessing, maintaining or returning to employment or other occupation. The services assists individuals to attain skills, resources, attitudes and expectation needed to compete in the interview process, get and keep employment. The services includes assessment, evaluation and identification of persons who are experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, vocational disability. We develop and execute vocational rehabilitation and return-to-work plans with the purpose to achieve vocational and avocational outcomes. As professionals working with persons with disabilities, we value independence and integration.

The Vocational Rehabilitation history is rich in both Canada and the United States; there is not one person in particular who can be credited, but many who devoted their lives to supporting individuals experiencing vocational challenges to overcome barriers and achieve their personal goals.

Vocational Rehabilitation services are used in many sectors such as vocational rehabilitation, employment training, college career guidance, workers’ compensation, personal injury, family and insurance law to name a few. This diversity of multidisciplinary origins only enhances the Vocational Rehabilitation Professionals eclectic skill set when assisting our clients to overcome health and employment barriers and live life fully. It is true that the Vocational Rehabilitation Profession is built on the best of theories, science and best practices of many fields.

With that said, if any one person is to be named, it is appropriate to call on Frank Parsons-social reformer (1854-1908). He is known as the father of Vocational Guidance or modern career counselling and is credited with the trait and factor theory. He believed that one must use accurate occupational information and essential job skills to compare with a client’s worker traits. Another equally important contributor is John Holland-Psychologist (1919-2008), who worked on Parsons theories and promoted that personality types suited different careers.

• College of Vocational Rehabilitation Professionals
• Vocational Rehabilitation Association of Canada
• Career Professionals of Canadian
• Manitoba Association for Career Development
• Certified Professional and Human Resources
• Pacific Coast University (NIDMAR)