The "So, why?" Podcast with Stepped Care Solutions
By Stepped Care Solutions
The views and opinions shared are those of the speakers and are not to be taken as medical advice and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Stepped Care Solutions.
From Scarcity to Capacity: Reframing Mental Health Systems
It is so important to reframe mental health and system narratives from a scarcity mindset to person-centric approaches focused on capacity.
On this episode of The “So, Why?” Podcast, Shauna Cronin, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Communications at Stepped Care Solutions, speaks with Lori Spadorcia, Senior Vice President, Public Affairs and Partnerships, Chief Strategy Officer, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), about how pivoting from approaches of “there is not enough” to those focused on re-aligning services and resources unlock new solutions.
Together, they explore ideas around rewriting the story of the system, and why abundance is not about “more” but about equity and better allocation.
Want to hear more about how the innovative Stepped Care 2.0 model supports communities to reframe, rethink, and redesign the delivery of mental health and substance use health systems? Check out previous episodes of The “So, Why?” Podcast on our website, YouTube channel, Spotify and your favourite podcast apps.
More information for this episode:
CAMH website: https://www.camh.ca/
Integrated Youth Services (IYS): https://iys-sij.org/
Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario: https://youthhubs.ca/about-youth-wellness-hubs-ontario
This episode’s guest:
Lori Spadorcia is a seasoned executive in strategy, communications and systems transformation. A thought leader with a demonstrated commitment to engaging partners and influencing public policy, Lori is dedicated to driving social change.
As CAMH’s Senior Vice-President, Public Affairs and Partnerships and Chief Strategy Officer, she leads cross-organization strategic initiatives including the academic health centre’s role in building more equitable mental health care and supports across Ontario. She has led the development and implementation of an ambitious strategic plan to redefine health, placing mental health at the centre of healthcare and including social determinants as key forces in the health and wellbeing of Canadians.
About CAMH:
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is Canada's largest mental health teaching hospital and one of the world's leading research centres in its field.
With a dedicated staff of more than 5,000 physicians, clinicians, researchers, educators and support staff, CAMH offers clinical care to nearly 40,000 clients each year. The organization conducts research, provides expert training to health care professionals and scientists, develops innovative health promotion and prevention strategies, and advocates on public policy issues at all levels of government.
From Individual Story to System Change: Mobilizing Mental Health Narratives Across the Spectrum
How do our stories shape both personal wellbeing and system change?
On this bonus episode of The “So, Why?” Podcast, recorded live during a fireside chat co-hosted by Unsinkable and Stepped Care Solutions (SCS), the panel explores how individual stories shape self-understanding and community healing and how narratives inform policy, care design, and population-level change.
Panelists include:
AnnMarie Churchill, President and Lead Executive Officer at SCS
Hailey Hechtman, Executive Director, Unsinkable
Joshua Bell, Unsinkable Champion and mental health advocate
and moderator Afreina Noor, Partnerships Lead, Unsinkable
Stepped Care Solutions is proud to partner with Unsinkable for a conversation that explores the full arc of mental health storytelling—from individual experience to systemic transformation.
Want to hear more about how the innovative Stepped Care 2.0 model supports communities to reframe, rethink, and redesign the delivery of mental health and substance use health systems? Check out previous episodes of The “So, Why?” Podcast on our website, YouTube channel, Spotify or your favourite podcast apps. https://steppedcaresolutions.com/mental-health-podcast/
More information:
Unsinkable website: https://www.weareunsinkable.com/
Resource Kit: (link to download)
Unsinkable @ Work: https://www.weareunsinkable.com/unsinkable-at-work
On the panel:
AnnMarie Churchill, President and Lead Executive Officer, Stepped Care Solutions
AnnMarie brings over 30 years of clinical and systems-level experience across healthcare, research, and community settings. She has led the implementation of Stepped Care 2.0®, including Wellness Together Canada, and specializes in trauma, anxiety, and resilience.
Hailey Hechtman, Executive Director of Unsinkable
Hailey is a mental health and social impact leader using storytelling to drive systemic change and reduce stigma. A 2025 LeadHer Award recipient, she has also received the King Charles III Coronation Medal and was named one of The Peak’s Emerging Leaders for 2024.
Joshua Bell, Unsinkable Champion
Joshua is a mental health advocate and community leader who brings both lived experience and national leadership to his work across organizations and initiatives. In 2025, he was awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal for his contributions to mental health and suicide prevention in Canada.
Afreina Noor, Partnerships Lead at Unsinkable
Afreina designs and facilitates national conversations, such as this one, under Unsinkable’s flagship program Unsinkable @ Work, that use storytelling as a tool for connection, stigma reduction, and systems change. Afreina is the host and moderator of this conversation.
About Unsinkable:
Unsinkable helps Canadians tell their mental health stories and create spaces where these stories become a lifeline for others. Through sharing personal experiences, Unsinkable fosters connection, reduces isolation, and offers hope.
The Power of Partnership and Policy: Building Thriving Mental Health Systems
How do we build partnerships across sectors and governments while working to position mental health and substance use health care as a public good—and public right?
On this episode of The “So, Why?” Podcast, Shauna Cronin, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Communications at Stepped Care Solutions, speaks with SM Sansouci, National Government Relations Lead at the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), about bridging the gap between high-level policy frameworks and on-the-ground, community-based care. Together, they explore the challenges and opportunities in moving from systems designed to manage illness to those that foster thriving and wellbeing across the population.
A key theme throughout the conversation is the importance of building shared intent—across organizations, governments, and funders—as a foundation for meaningful and sustainable system change.
More information for this episode:
CMHA website
Mental Health Week 2026 campaign details
CMHA campaign on funding mental health news release
This episode’s guest:
SM Sansouci is the Government Relations Lead with CMHA’s National Office. Her role is to influence federal public policy. This entails everything from organizing (Parliament) Hill Days, ghost writing op-eds, publishing research, and participating at consultative tables where decisions are being shaped.
Unlike many lobbyists who come from political staff roles, SM spent the first decade of her career as a researcher in the federal public service, working on the development of legislation and public programs. She brings that insider’s understanding of how government decisions are made to non-profit advocacy, where over the past ten years her work has helped strengthen early program iterations of the National Housing Strategy, cement a legislative right to housing, and secure the creation of a $500 million Youth Mental Health Fund.
About the CMHA:
The Canadian Mental Health Association is the largest provider of frontline community mental health and addiction services in Canada. Through a presence in more than 330 communities across every province and Yukon, CMHA provides services that help to prevent mental health problems and illnesses, and support recovery and resilience.
Want to hear more about how the innovative Stepped Care 2.0 model supports communities to reframe, rethink, and redesign the delivery of mental health and substance use health services? Check out previous episodes of The “So, Why?” Podcast on our website, YouTube channel, Spotify or your favourite podcast apps.
Transforming Campus Mental Health at UC Chile
This episode of The “So, Why?” Podcast features a conversation with María Paz Jana Le Bert, Director of Student Health and Wellness, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC Chile), on how UC Chile has been transforming its campus mental health system with person-centric approaches.
In conversation with Sarah Harte, Manager of Implementation and Service Delivery Strategy at Stepped Care Solutions, they explore how flexible and open access services have improved wellbeing for students, staff, and the broader post-secondary community.
Want to hear more about how the innovative Stepped Care 2.0 model supports communities to reframe, rethink, and redesign the delivery of mental health and substance use health services? Check out previous episodes of The “So, Why?” Podcast on our website, YouTube channel, Spotify or your favourite podcast apps: https://steppedcaresolutions.com/mental-health-podcast/
More information:
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile: https://www.uc.cl/
Okanagan Charter: An International Charter for Health Promoting Universities and Colleges: https://www.chpcn.ca/okanagan-charter
One-at-a-Time (OAAT) counselling and approach: https://steppedcaresolutions.com/one-at-a-time-approach/
This episode’s guest:
María Paz Jana Le Bert holds a Master's Degree in Clinical Psychology, with a focus on diagnosis and intervention techniques, and has worked as a clinical psychologist for youth and adults. For nearly two decades, María Paz has served in a variety of roles supporting the campus community’s mental health and wellbeing services and transformation.
About Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile:
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC Chile) is one of the oldest universities in Chile. It has five campuses, four of them in Santiago, more than 30,000 students across 18 faculties, and is recognized as one of the top universities in South America.
The Counselling Centre at UC Chile began implementing stepped care in 2020. After an initial demonstration of the Stepped Care 2.0 model, they scaled their implementation further, with an open access approach and One-at-a-Time counselling. UC Chile also shares outcomes of this work with other organisations and communities within Chile and across South America.
From Shelves to Services: Mobilizing Evidence to Transform Mental Health Systems
This episode of The “So, Why?” Podcast features a conversation with Michael Cooper, Vice President of Data & Partnerships at Mental Health Research Canada (MHRC), on how to mobilize evidence to transform mental health systems. In conversation with Shauna Cronin, VP of Strategic Partnerships and Communications at Stepped Care Solutions, they discuss how to shift approaches from simply publishing research in journals to a model where the findings are a central, dynamic part of the system design process itself.
More information at the Mental Health Research Canada website: https://www.mhrc.ca/
Out of the Shadows at Last: Transforming Mental Health, Mental Illness and Addiction Services in Canada (2006): https://mentalhealthcommission.ca/resource/out-of-the-shadows-at-last-transforming-mental-health-mental-illness-and-addiction-services-in-canada/
Want to hear more about how the innovative Stepped Care 2.0 model supports communities to reframe, rethink, and redesign the delivery of mental health and substance use health services through flexible, open access, recovery-focused approaches? Check out previous episodes of The “So, Why?” Podcast on our website, YouTube channel, Spotify and your favourite podcast apps.
This episode’s guest:
Michael Cooper is an experienced charity executive with over 16 years of experience in fund development, project management and government relations. Michael advocates for improving our understanding in detecting, treating and managing mental health issues. He has a strong focus on the utilization of data to inform policy and advance mental health care in Canada and currently oversees MHRC's large scale data project tracking the ongoing mental health of Canadians.
About Mental Health Research Canada:
MHRC is a non-governmental, registered national charity committed to making mental health research truly count for Canadians. With one in four Canadians impacted by mental health challenges, the gap between what people need and what’s accessible continues to grow. MHRC bridges this gap through: Population Data Collection, Analysis, and Rapid Reporting; Studentships and Fellowships; Supporting and Leading Innovative Solutions, partnering with likeminded organizations to address real-world, current mental health needs.
Peer Support: The Power of Community Connections
Connecting with people who genuinely understand your mental health and wellness journey can be a powerful step in recovery and care.
Peer support programs are a vital resource in mental health and substance use health care pathways. Whether through one-on-one conversations or in group settings, talking with people who have shared similar experiences can create a recovery-oriented community through a sense of validation and non-judgmental support. Peer support can also serve as a stepping stone to help individuals prepare for the next stages in their recovery and wellbeing.
This episode of The “So, Why?” Podcast features a conversation with Shaleen Jones, executive director of Eating Disorders Nova Scotia and founder of Body Peace Canada, on the transformative power of connection and the importance of accessible wellness services that meet care seekers where they are.
More information:
Stepped Care Solutions is now operating and delivering PeerOnCall – a mobile health platform designed for workforce peer support, built with input from public safety communities. Find out more at our website.
This episode’s guest:
Shaleen Jones has been an advocate, organizer, supporter, and all-round rabble rouser in the field of eating disorders for over twenty five years, holding leadership positions with community organizations across Canada. She is currently the executive director of Eating Disorders Nova Scotia, and founder of Body Peace Canada.
Having overcome an eating disorder, she is passionate about recovery, the transformative power of peer support, and creating sustainable, systematic changes across the sector. Shaleen was one of the first people trained to provide peer support for those with eating disorders in Canada, and earned her Peer Support Certification from Peer Support Canada in 2015.
Shaleen has been recognized for her work with multiple community and mental health awards, and she currently serves as a member of the Government of Canada’s Ministerial Advisory Council on Mental Health, the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s Hallway Group, Quality Mental Health Care Network, and the E-Mental Health Collaborative.
One-at-a-Time Helping Conversations: Moments in Time
Moments in time can each hold incredible opportunities to make a difference for someone’s mental health and wellbeing. People experience interactions every day with the system that when optimized and prepared for can be moments of support and positive change.
Single-session therapy (SST), sometimes called One-at-a-Time Therapy (OAAT), has been around for some time. It has been steadily gaining attention among providers and service delivery systems. SST can have tremendous impacts in different contexts with proven waitlist reductions and positive outcomes for many people. It is based on the assumption that something helpful can happen in one interaction.
SST is an important approach because many people can only attend, or want to attend one session. In fact, research shows the most common number of therapy sessions attended is one session. If a person will only engage once and may never come back for another session, it becomes really important that the one session they have is helpful. One-at-a-Time Therapy provides an effective option for people seeking support to address their concerns in the moment. Borrowing from this approach, One-at-a-Time Thinking has been identified as a core component of SC2.0; this thinking considers that every encounter across the mental health system is an opportunity for a person to have a helpful experience and address their immediate concerns.
This episode features Dr. Heather Hair who practiced for many years as an Approved Supervisor of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy. Dr. Hair’s interest in learning led to a tenured faculty appointment and administrative positions with a Canadian university. Dr. Hair’s multi-decade work with children, youth, adults, and families began as a child care worker in open and secure treatment facilities for adolescents. Subsequently, she worked as a registered family
therapist at an Ontario inner city children’s mental health centre where she co-created and coordinated the Brief Therapy Services and developed and supervised the Brief Therapy Community Externship.
For over 25 years, Dr. Hair has been developing and providing skills training workshops on one-at-a-time counselling conversations/single session therapy and practice focused supervision as well as program consultation to providers of mental health, social, and community services as well as faith communities. Her academic and professional interests include effective practice with children, youth, and families; supervision and staff training; the intersection of practice and social justice; the social construction of knowledge and meaning; and the qualities of helping conversations that encourage hope, change, and growth.
Single Session Therapy: Helping People Now
Single-session therapy (SST), sometimes called One-at-a-Time Therapy (OAAT), has been around for some time. It has been steadily gaining attention among providers and service delivery systems. SST can have tremendous impacts in different contexts with proven waitlist reductions and positive outcomes for many people. It is based on the assumption that something helpful can happen in one interaction.
SST is an important approach because many people can only attend, or want to attend one session. In fact, research shows the most common number of therapy sessions attended is one session. If a person will only engage once and may never come back for another session, it becomes really important that the one session they have is helpful. One-at-a-Time Therapy provides an effective option for people seeking support to address their concerns in the moment. Borrowing from this approach, One-at-a-Time Thinking has been identified as a core component of SC2.0; this thinking considers that every encounter across the mental health system is an opportunity for a person to have a helpful experience and address their immediate concerns.
This episode features Dr. Windy Dryden, Emeritus Professor of Psychotherapeutic Studies at Goldsmiths University of London. He is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and has authored or edited over 275 books. His current interests are in single-session and very brief interventions within a therapy and coaching context. Relevant publications include: Single-Session Therapy: 100 Key Points and Techniques’ (Routledge, 2019) which outlines the theoretical underpinnings and practical applications of the single-session mindset and The Single-Session Counselling Primer: Principles and Practice (PCCS Books, 2020) which is a comprehensive introduction to SST for counsellors.
His book, Very Brief Therapeutic Conversations (Routledge, 2018) is focused on work he has done conducting live demonstrations of therapy/coaching in front of an audience that last 30 minutes or less. He has done more than 800 such demonstrations all over the world.
His goal is to disseminate SST, or what he refers to as ONEplus Therapy, with the hope that it might help provide help at the point of need within the NHS. His latest book is Dryden, W. (2024). ONEplus Therapy and Common Emotional Problems (Onlinevents, 2024).
For more information on the work of Dr. Windy Dryden and for links to his books please visit: https://www.windydryden.com/
Expanding Access to Support for Student Wellbeing on Campus
Student mental health in a postsecondary context is an important topic. There has been a lot of work done to explore how to support diverse students to be well including the Post Secondary Standard and the Okanagan Charter. It can be a challenging time for people with a variety of stressors affecting them in different ways across diverse student populations. Today we are joined by Jeff Agate, the Associate Director of Student Support Services at Algonquin College in Ottawa for a conversation about the evolution of supporting Student wellbeing at Algonquin College. Increasingly holistic in their approach, the priority is on students having access to a range of supports to help them take care of their own wellbeing and get help when they need it.
Check out Algonquin College's student mental health and wellness webpage.
Learn more about our work and the SC2.0 model: steppedcaresolutions.com
Shifting Mindsets in Italy with a Single Session Approach
The OAAT Series:
Single-session therapy (SST), sometimes called one-at-a-Time therapy, has been around for a while. It has been steadily gaining attention among providers and service delivery systems. SST can have tremendous impacts in different contexts, with proven waitlist reductions and positive outcomes for many people. It is based on the assumption that something helpful can happen in one interaction.
The thing is, SST is an important approach because many people can only attend or want to attend one session. In fact, research shows the most common number of therapy sessions attended is one session. If a person will only engage once and may never come back for another session, it becomes really important that the one session they have is helpful. One-at-a-Time Therapy provides an effective option for people seeking support to address their concerns in the moment. Borrowing from this approach, One-at-a-Time Thinking has been identified as a core component of SC2.0; this thinking considers that every encounter across the mental health system is an opportunity for a person to have a helpful experience and address their immediate concerns.
As a part of our “So, Why” Podcast, we will embark on a mini-series to explore different perspectives on implementing One-at-a-Time Therapy. We will learn from various practitioners how this method can be used in different contexts. OAAT may not fit every situation, but it is a fantastic option that can be helpful in many ways.
About this episode:
Going beyond a methodology, Single Session Therapy is a mindset that counsellors can learn and embrace. This mindset puts a focus on supporting people in the moment and recognizing and building on their strengths. In Italy, the Italian Center for Single Session Therapy is working toward shifting the mindsets of counsellors across the country to be able to offer a person-centric approach that recognizes professionals do not have all the wisdom, but people often know what is best for them.
Today, we are joined by Dr. Flavio Cannistrà, a psychologist based in Rome, Italy. He is the founder and co-director of the Italian Center for Single Session Therapy and the ICNOS Institute, an international postgraduate training institute specializing in strategic and systemic brief psychotherapies. His publications include Single Session Therapy: Principles and Practices and Brief Therapy Conversations.
For more information about the upcoming conference: https://www.singlesessiontherapies.com/single-session-therapy-symposium/
For more information about Stepped Care Solutions: steppecaresolutions.com
For access to virtual mental health resources: wellnesstogether.ca
Tackling waitlists to improve access to support
As a part of a CIHR grant, the province of New Brunswick embarked on the implementation of SC2.0 in 2019. The provincial implementation began with implementing OAAT across the province. The impacts were evident. With decreased waitlists and both positive client and provider feedback, the province of New Brunswick is well on their way to creating a person-centric open-access mental health, addictions and substance use health system.
Today we are joined by Bernie Goguen, the Director of Adult Services at New Brunswick’s Department of Health where he is working on various projects focused on improving the continuum of care in Addiction and Mental Health Services. Bernie is a psychologist with over 30 years of experience helping individuals with substance use and mental health issues. He is a graduate of Saint Thomas and Carleton Universities and worked for several years in Provincial and Federal correctional services. He has held various management positions with Horizon Health Network’s Addiction and Mental Health Services, including a Detoxification Treatment Unit, an Opioid Replacement Treatment Program and Community Mental Health Services.
Fostering flexibility to create a supportive system in NWT
Like many other provinces and territories, the Northwest Territories had one pathway for people seeking support for their mental health. Recognizing that people have diverse needs and their journeys are not always linear, the territory explored a new way of doing things to help more people get the support they need when needed. Drawn to its intuitive approach, in 2020, NWT made the decision to start implementing Stepped Care 2.0. The transformation began, and the system started to shift. There are now multiple ways of accessing different types of care with minimal barriers, allowing for quick access.
The newly released report Partnering Together for Person- and Family-Centric Care in partnership with the Government of the Northwest Territories, the Mental Health Commission of Canada and Stepped Care Solutions, highlights the impact of these changes. The outcomes match the excitement of those who have been a part of it, including a 79% reduction in wait times for mental wellness counselling.
Today we are joined by Carly Straker, Manager of Systems Quality and Integration in Mental Wellness and Addictions Recovery with the Government of the NWT. Carly was born and raised on the traditional territory of the Yellowknives Dene in Yellowknife,
NWT. She is a mama to a little one who is total sunlight. Carly has a master’s degree in clinical social work and has spent two decades working, advocating, learning, and leading in various front-line, operational, and system-level capacities within mental wellness and substance use health, trauma, crisis and emergency response, and more - with children, youth, adults and families in both urban and rural settings across Canada. With a passion for whole health, she also coaches weightlifting, children’s sports and spends as much time as she can in nature with her daughter, friends, and family, recognizing the invaluable impacts of these connections. While working in her current role with the Government of the NWT, Carly has led system change through the championing of recovery-oriented, person- and family-centric care and the recent implementation of the Stepped Care 2.0 model, which includes various eMental health initiatives, key training and orientation programs, an Advisory Group of individuals from across the territory with lived and living expertise, communications, continuous monitoring, and more.
For more information about Mental Wellness and Addictions Recovery in Northwest Territories, visit their site: https://www.hss.gov.nt.ca/en/services/mental-wellness-and-addictions-recovery
Peer Support: A Valuable Approach to Promoting Wellbeing
Peer Support is an integral part of effective, person-centric, recovery-oriented mental health, substance use and addictions systems. With a unique ability to empathize with people seeking support for their mental health, substance use health or addictions concerns, peer support offers incredible value across the system to enhance the well-being of people and communities. Peer supporters play a major role in proactive approaches, meaningful workshops and groups, and can support navigation throughout the system as well as provide crucial support to people accessing acute services and programs.
Learn more about Stepped Care Solutions: steppedcaresolutions.com
Learn more about Lifewise NL (formerly CHANNAL): https://lifewisenl.ca/
Want to talk to a peer supporter?
Lifewise Warmline (available 10:00am - 12:00am (NST) daily): (EN) 1-855-753-2560 (FR) 1-833-753-5460
Wellness Together Canada Warmline (available 3:00pm - 7:00pm (EST) 7 days a week): 1-888-768-2488
Supporting Substance Use Health Throughout the System
Achieving a vision of wellbeing everywhere may seem lofty, but there are so many amazing people and organizations that work throughout systems that are making it happen. The complexities of life often create situations, feelings and responses that are difficult for us to truly understand. Substance use has traditionally held a lot of stigma within systems and also on individual and personal levels. Putting people first is an important part of moving toward wellness, and acknowledging and including substance use health in supporting people’s wellbeing through access to diverse options to care includes treating people in a respectful and helpful manner.
Today we are joined by Gord Garner, the Vice President of Strategic Partnerships of the Community Addictions Peer Support Association (CAPSA). He is a national public speaker and educator on Systems Stigma and trainer on Person First Language. At the time of this Podcast, he is living well with his own substance use disorder. He is dedicated to removing stigma barriers and enabling policy writers, academics, researchers and people with personal experience with Substance Use Health issues to make systems-level changes to improve the health outcomes of people living in Canada who use(d) substances. He advocates that all policies and regulations need to be reviewed through the lens of increased life security and Substance Use Health outcomes by using an All People, All Pathways TM model. All of his work is informed by his 38 years of active addiction and by those who helped him. He believes compassion is a practice and he is practicing.
You can access All People, All Pathways Programming through Wellness Together Canada
For more information on Stepped Care 2.0 please visit us at https://steppedcaresolutions.com
Recovery-oriented practice that supports hope and wellness in mental health systems
Recovery in SC2.0 is conceptualized as a diverse set of principles, values, and practices that aim to empower people experiencing mental health challenges along with their families and communities. This term Recovery for our purposes is intended to capture a deeply personal journey that looks different for each person and is guided by choice, preference, and readiness. It recognizes that there is no end-point and that there can be ups and downs that look and feel different in each person’s journey. In this podcast, we will explore the concept of recovery and recovery orientation as it relates to mental health.
Today we are joined by Janis Campbell who currently serves as Stepped Care Solutions Recovery-Oriented Practice Lead. Drawing from the diversity of her experiences as a helping professional, service user, and scholar-practitioner, Janis brings a unique lens to her visionary leadership in recovery and SC 2.0. Prior to her current role, Janis facilitated client and community focus groups for the SC2.0 E-Mental Health Demonstration project and worked as a Research Assistant for the Canadian Institute of Health Research project investigating the digitization of SC 2.0 in three Atlantic Canadian provinces. She is currently a Doctor of Education Candidate at Western University, specializing in mental health leadership in higher education. She has expertise in the provision of counselling services within the SC2.0 model and has led the development and implementation of wellness and peer support programming in post-secondary and community settings. Janis is a counselling professional, clinical supervisor, and sessional instructor for Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Faculty of Education Counselling Psychology Program. She is also the Newfoundland and Labrador Director for the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA) National Board.
Codesigning for Success: Developing Equitable Systems Together
When we think about co-design in approaching mental health systems development and change we can think of it as an iterative process of bringing together a variety of people with a diverse range of perspectives, interests, and expertise. These different people might be involved in the implementation of systems change or an approach like SC2.0 or they can be those who are affected by system change. Their knowledge and experiences with system interactions are crucial to collaboratively developing an effective, meaningful, and relevant system of care.
Our speaker for this episode is Marion Cooper. Marion is a clinical social worker and mental health and addictions leader who has worked in the community sector in various positions for nearly 30 years. In addition to her role with Stepped Care Solutions, Marion is the Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) for Manitoba and Winnipeg. Just prior to joining Stepped Care Solutions, Marion served as the Executive Lead for Strategic Partnerships with the CMHA National Office. Marion currently serves on the Mental Health Promotion Expert Working Group for the International Union for Health Promotion (IUHP) and the Public Health Council Leaders with the International Institute for Mental Health Leadership (IIMHL). Marion is passionate about recovery, social justice, system transformation, co-design, and innovation to advance mental health and well-being for the entire population.
For more information about our work: https://steppedcaresolutions.com/about-us/
To access the Wellness Together Canada Portal: https://www.wellnesstogether.ca/en-CA
Synergy: Exploring what lies beyond Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
In this podcast, we will explore the intentional efforts of Stepped Care 2.0 (SC2.0), infusing social justice into the fabric of its client-centric model of practice and challenges/barriers that impact diversity, equity and inclusion.
- Synergy is defined as interconnectedness, interdependence or cooperation or simply put - the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
- Synergy goes beyond the boundaries of diversity, equity and inclusion and be a constant reminder of humanity’s connectedness.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Gillian Berry, a published author and a licensed clinical social worker with over 35 years of experience as an educator and practitioner. She has overseen the counselling and psychological services at George Washington University, leading a multi-disciplinary team of mental health professionals through the implementation of the SC2.0 approach to service delivery. She is currently the Vice-President of Culture and Diversity at Stepped Care Solutions.
For more information about SC2.0 please visit www.steppedcaresolutions.com
For further resources visit: https://linktr.ee/thesowhypodcast
Navigating Virtual Options to Support Mental Wellness with Dr. AnnMarie Churchill
Mental health and wellness along with things like self-care have become commonplace topics on social media, the news and in other online sources. We talk more openly about self-care and wellness at work, at school and in our families. All great things to reducing stigma around mental health problems and making sure people who need help can get it.
It does however present some challenges in effectively navigating the mental health and addictions system. There are so many apps, sites, and tools available to us both online and in our communities as well. Some come at a cost, some are free, how do we know which ones are reliable and which ones are effective?
According to an evaluation of mental health application published in May of 2021 by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in the United States, there are growing concerns over data sharing and clinical safety. A study on Assessment of the Data Sharing and Privacy Practices of Smartphone Apps for Depression and Smoking Cessation published in April 2019 on JAMA network open found that out of 36 top-ranked apps for smoking cessation and depression, 29 sent data to Facebook or Google, but only 12 apps mentioned this in their privacy policy. Another study of 61 mental health apps which was published in May of 2019 in the International Journal of law and psychiatry, found that 41% of the apps did not have a privacy policy at all.
In addition to an increase in online resources and supports, we are increasingly becoming aware that there are a number of informal ways to support our mental health which can include things like meditation, prayer, yoga, exercise, nature, among others. Knowing what might be most helpful and effective in each unique situation could seem like an overwhelming task.
In this episode, we will explore navigating the options with these considerations in mind. We are joined by Dr. AnnMarie Churchill who has over 25 years of experience in direct clinical practice in community, hospital, research and post-secondary mental health systems. AnnMarie is the Executive Director of Stepped Care Solutions and has worked as the lead clinical trainer and consultant on the SC2.0 Demonstration Project in Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as SC2.0 implementations in the Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia and post-secondary institutions across North America.
In addition to this role, AnnMarie is a clinical consultant on the Canadian Institute of Health Research grant to implement and evaluate the digitization of Stepped Care, a research fellow in SC2.0 at the Memorial University of Newfoundland and is leading Stepped Care Solutions in their role as a representative partner on the Government of Canada’s mental health response to COVID through the Wellness Together Canada portal. AnnMarie is co-author of the book Person-centered diagnosis and treatment in mental health.
Learn more about:
Getting Help for our Mental Health with Dr. Peter Cornish
In this episode we are joined by Dr. Peter Cornish to discuss the barriers to accessing mental health support and some ideas for overcoming them.
Background:
A 2020 research article by Moroz et al.(2020) highlights the need for increased access to Mental Health and Addiction Services in Canada along with some of the barriers people face when accessing support for their mental health. In 2018, an estimated 5.3 million Canadians reported they needed support for their mental health in the previous year, of these, 1.2 million people reported having their needs met only partially (22%) and 1.1 million people (21%) reported their needs remained fully unmet. (Mental Health Care Needs, 2018, 2019).
Some documented barriers to accessing mental health and addictions services in Canada are:
Not knowing where to go for help (Mental Health Care Needs, 2018, 2019)
Long wait times (Mental Health in the Balance: Ending the Health Care Disparity in Canada, 2021)
Shortage of accessible mental health professionals (Mental Health Care Needs, 2018, 2019)
Lack of mental health service integration and government oversight (Mental Health in the Balance: Ending the Health Care Disparity in Canada, 2021)
Culture and language barriers (Mental Health Care Needs, 2018, 2019)
Concerns about stigma (Knaak et al., 2017)
Inequities due to geography or demographics (eg, rural communities, and Indigenous populations) (Mental Health Care Needs, 2018, 2019)
Cost (Mental Health in the Balance: Ending the Health Care Disparity in Canada, 2021)
When looking internationally, a recent Forbes article reports that across ten countries surveyed, an average of 58% of people experiencing a mental health problem or illness didn't seek help for clinical-level mental health challenges (Nietzel, 2021). The percentages varied from country to country and ranged from 45% not seeking professional help in the U.S and Australia to 81% not doing so in Nigeria (Nietzel, 2021).
Reasons for not seeking professional help the responses included:
- preference for self-help (36%)
- lack of knowledge of what kind of help to seek or where to get it (34%);
- lack of confidence in mental health treatment (28%),
- stigma or fear of not wanting people to know (22%);
- lack of affordability (17%).
(Nietzel, 2021)
This episode's speaker, Dr. Peter Cornish, is founder of the Stepped Care 2.0 (SC2.0) methodology and current president of Stepped Care Solutions. He has provided mental health system consultation and on-site training to over 250 organizations across North and South America. He is an Honorary Research Professor at Memorial University and Director of Counselling and Psychological Services at the University of California, Berkley. He is also a Principal Investigator for a CIHR “Transitions in Care” research grant aimed at digitizing and evaluating SC2.0 in 3 Canadian provinces.
Links to relevant Resources
Note: During the episode, the term "privileged minority" was intended to mean that many of our practices have been designed through a Eurocentric lens which often overrepresents the views of a White-identified, more privileged segment of society. This segment represents only a minority of the world population.