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Drop in counselling available at no fee

The solution-focused therapy aproach means people might only need a single session
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The Golden Family Center has introduced drop in counselling in Golden.

Every Wednesday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., four single counselling sessions are available on a first-come, first-seen basis. The family centre provides the space, and Liza Hindmarch is available for people to speak to when they may need it most.

Often, there are wait lists to see counsellors and therapists, but the Golden Family Center aims to bridge a needed gap in the community.

Adults who are struggling through anything in life can visit the drop in counselling centre to speak with a trained professional.

Hindmarch specializes in teaching children with severe emotional and behavioural problems. She studied homeopathy, the emotional freedom technique, phychosomatic therapy, family systemic constellation work, and counselling. She launched Munay Holistics Life Coaching, where she currently works out of Nourish Clinic.

“I feel very blessed to be doing the work I love and am passionate about at the Golden Family Center,” Hindmarch said.

Drop in counselling has proven very successful in other municipalities in Canada. The service takes a solution-focused therapy approach, which means people often only need a single session to help identify issues, build on strengths, and find strategies for life’s challenges.

“Part of the interest we had stemmed from realizing that we were getting more and more intakes in general. Just not being able to quite meet the demands, and finding sometimes when people are able to come into the intake program… there is a waitlist,” said Golden Family Center executive director Helena Oosthoek. “It’s not really intended to replace more traditional counselling, it’s just there is some research out there showing that, for some people, getting something right when they need it can help some people to carry on their own and they can always come back for traditional counselling or another drop in session down the road.”

The service is free and no appointment is needed. A counselling session is about 1.5 hours long.

People will be helped on a first-come first-seen basis. No appointments are booked in advance, people can just drop-in on the day and register for a time slot. Session times are at 9 and 11 a.m., and 1:30 and 3:30 p.m.

“ It is great to know that financial constraints no longer limit people’s ability to access the tools I have in my tool bag. They can come to the Drop-In Clinic for free.

“I love helping people heal themselves. All my work is born out of the knowledge that we all already have within us everything we need to heal, grow and transform ourselves.

“My role is simply to remind people of what they already know, to gently guide them back into reconnection with their own inner wisdom and solutions,” Hindmarch said.

The Golden Family Center is to be found on the second floor of the Patlar building 421 9th Avenue N.