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Vision Statement
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BC Families in Transition is the province’s premier agency for all family members facing change and challenges in their relationships. BCFIT’s professional staff combines current knowledge with training to provide a wide range of caring, timely, and effective services.
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Mission Statement
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BC Families in Transition helps children, youth, and adults manage the challenges of separation, divorce, or transition to a new family structure. Our highly qualified staff, working with other community agencies, provides information and practical and emotional support so people facing these challenges can make the decisions that are best for everyone. BCFIT believes all individuals can find ways to move forward in their lives when family relationships have changed or are changing.
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Executive Director
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Richard Routledge, M.A., R.C.C. - Executive Director
Richard is a registered clinical counsellor with over 20 years of experience in counselling, therapy, and community rehabilitation, largely focused on family communication and family violence issues. Since 1985 he has provided counselling and therapy for women, men, couples, teens, families, and groups. He is an adjunct faculty member of University of Victoria and City University, has a private counselling practice and conducts family therapy work for other organizations outside of BC Families in Transition. He has served throughout his career in various leadership capacities and has been a presenter and guest lecturer on topics such as post-traumatic stress, grief and recovery, family relationships, parenting, mental health, alcohol and drug addictions, sexual health issues, organizational behaviour, and conflict resolution. Richard serves on the University of Victoria’s School of Social Work Community/Practice Advisory Committee as well as the steering committee for the Association of Family Serving Agencies, and is a board member for the Victoria Family Violence Protection Society. He is passionate about developing innovative programs and services and joined BC Families in Transition in 2005.
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Staff
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Pam Rudy, B.Ed., Legal Support Services Coordinator
Pam has been a central pillar of BC Families in Transition ever since December 1986. Beginning in 1988 she has served as a legal advocate responsible for the agency’s Legal Support Services program. She enhances her professional training annually by participating in advocacy conferences sponsored by the Law Foundation of BC and the Legal Services Society. She provides clients and the public with information about legal rights, responsibilities, and options, attends Family Court, assists with court preparation, and offers other forms of practical and emotional support. Additionally, Pam was the agency’s acting executive director throughout most of 2003, all of 2004, and most of 2005. She has proven an invaluable ‘backbone’ for the organization throughout her many years of dedicated service and since 2007 she has supervised a team of three other legal advocates in the Legal Support Services program.
Raji Goel, Dip. Office Admin., Executive Assistant
Raji was born in Calgary and moved to Victoria in 1991. He volunteered for several agencies, contributing both his computer skills and his general office skills. He first joined BC Families in Transition in 1994 as a volunteer. His computer expertise and endless creativity is seen everywhere in our office, as well as on agency brochures, funding proposals, brochures, and handouts. In 1996 he pursued his Diploma in Office Administration. He graduated in the spring of 1997 and was hired in the fall as the agency's first paid secretary/receptionist. His role in the agency has grown over the years and he is now responsible for numerous tasks, including providing the public with general information and referrals, supervising volunteers in office reception, creating handouts, assisting the executive director with proposals and reports, and handling the agency’s bookkeeping.
Susan Farr (formerly Sue Duffy), M.Ed., R.C.C., Counsellor/Facilitator
Susan has worked with BC Families in Transition since 2005. She began with her practicum in the Counselling Psychology program at the University of Victoria, and then became a contract facilitator for the Caught in the Middle program. In 2005, the University of Victoria honoured her with a Blue and Gold Award for outstanding contributions to the community as a volunteer. Since then she has proven herself a vital and versatile staff member, serving as counsellor, program developer, and coordinator of multiple programs. She has an extensive background in community rehabilitation, including clinical work with high-risk youth and survivors of violence, and is most in her element when connecting with people. Currently her responsibility is specific to the Caught in the Middle program, sharing the coordination role with Jette Midtgaard.
Jette Midtgaard, M.Sc. (Clinical Psychology), Counsellor/Facilitator
Jette began with the agency as a clinical intern in February 2007, and was hired as a staff member 8 months later. She provides adult, couple, youth, and child counselling as well as group facilitation and program development for the agency. Together with Sue Duffy,” to “Together with Susan Farr (Sue Duffy), she handles the task of coordinating the Caught in the Middle program. In addition to her growing role with BCFIT, she works part-time at a youth detox facility. Previously she has worked at the Victoria Women’s Sexual Assault Centre as a crisis line support worker and has been part of the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART). She has also worked at CAFCA as an autism interventionist, and has recently applied for membership with the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors.
Hazel Loewen, M.A., R.C.C., Counsellor/Facilitator
Hazel began her connection to the counselling field as a volunteer at sexual assault centres in W\innipeg and Edmonton. For over 16 years she has worked as a trauma specialist in the area of sexualized violence and abusive relationships. Her keen personal and professional interests in parenting led her to become involved in teaching parenting education courses. She wrote her thesis on the experience of mothering for childhood sexual abuse survivors, facilitated groups for mothers whose children witnessed violence, and took training and supervision in family therapy. Hazel also branched out into the addictions counselling field and provided individual, couple, and group counselling for 7 years at an outpatient addiction agency. It was during this time that she began developing her leadership skills by providing clinical supervision and becoming involved in program development. Hazel has also worked as a public education coordinator in developing, writing, and delivering educational workshops, as well as presentations and seminars to the community in the areas of sexualized violence and mental health awareness. Most recently, she has trained in meditation and incorporates this perspective into her practice. Hazel is a member of the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors and joined BC Families in Transition as a clinical intern in February 2007, before being hired part-time in October of that year.
John Ricker, M.A., R.C.C., Counsellor/Facilitator
John joined BC Families in Transition as a clinical intern in September 2007, initially working with adults and couples and later also working with children and youth as well as providing program coordination. He completed his master's degree in counselling at Bastyr University in Seattle, focusing on systemic approaches to family therapy. Concurrently he fulfilled a practicum at Citizen's Counselling Centre in Victoria and pursued further studies in somatic experiencing and integrated body psychotherapy. He has taught yoga and meditation for many years, and has also lived and worked in diverse parts of the world including New Zealand, Peru, and both the Arctic and Antarctic regions. He has recently applied for membership with the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors.
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Contractors
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Barbara Green, M.A. - Facilitator
Barbara has worked in human services for over 26 years, both in Canada and in Europe. She graduated from the University of Victoria with a B.A. in Human and Social Development and later from Royal Roads University with an M.A. in Leadership and Training. She is also a certified addictions counsellor. For most of her professional life she has served as a counsellor and group facilitator, and her clients have included children in care, youth at risk, families in crisis, couples, and inmates. Her first love is group facilitation with topics including addictions, parenting, anger management, behaviour change, money management, and life skills. Barbara has been an enthusiastic facilitator in the Parenting with a New Partner program for 2.5 years, and in the Building Healthy Relationships workshop series for 2 years.
Donnarose Law, B.A., B.Ed. - Facilitator
Donnarose graduated from Simon Fraser University with a B.A. in Psychology and a Bachelor’s degree in Education. She has more than 26 years of experience in youth and family work, and has been an important member of the team at BC Families in Transition for 11 years. She was as a staff member for most of this time, serving as a counsellor, group facilitator, and coordinator of programs including Evolutions, Caught in the Middle, and a Step-Parenting program. For the last few years she has worked on a contract basis, facilitating Parenting After Separation and both the children’s and the parents’ segments of Caught in the Middle. Prior to joining BC Families in Transition she facilitated single-parent groups for the Single Parent Resource Centre.
Helen Lennie, M.Ed., C.C.C. - Facilitator
Helen has a master’s degree from the University of Victoria in counselling psychology. She has over 25 years of experience in counselling, teaching, and personal growth work. While living in Los Angeles, she presented workshops on Adlerian perspectives on the parenting process. She has since been working in Victoria as a private practitioner, parent educator, and practicum supervisor, as well as a counsellor and teacher at elementary and middle schools. She has diverse experience in workshop facilitation, including in the areas of human development, conflict resolution, self-esteem, anger management, problem-solving, drug and alcohol education. Helen has worked with BC Families in Transition as a group facilitator for 7 years and is passionate about supporting families through transition.
Laura Luz, M.A., F.R.M., Comprehensive Mediator, Member of B.C. Mediator Roster - Legal Support Services
Laura joined BC Families in Transition in 2007 as a contractor in the Legal Support Services program. Prior to this, for 14 years she assisted and supported families in the B.C. Ministry of Children and Family Development’s child-protection system. During those years she participated in community boards and served as educator, spokesperson, and writer, as well as providing support for practitioners working with children and adults. In her final 7 years with MCFD she worked extensively with behaviourally challenging youth, young offenders, and the youth justice system. In 2003 she completed a masters degree in Organizational Leadership and Training at Royal Roads University. She then completed two certificate programs in Conflict Resolution and Mediation at the Institute of Conflict Analysis and Management. After a practicum she certified as a national Family Relations Mediator (FRM) with Family Mediation Canada and also as a Child Protection Mediator at Seneca College in Toronto. She was accepted in 2007 to the BC Family Mediation Roster, and is currently pursuing full certification as a Comprehensive Mediator. Outside of BC Families in Transition she uses her conflict resolution skills in training, consulting, coaching, mediation, and program development.
Jacqueline Nikolejsin, M.Ed., R.C.C. Facilitator
Jacqueline completed her counselling psychology degree at the University of Victoria and first joined the agency as a clinical intern in January 2007. She now works full-time as the elementary school counsellor for Pacific Christian School, and serves as a contractor with BC Families in Transition in the Caught in the Middle program. She is keenly interested in issues pertaining to disabilities and their role in family life, and has several years of field experience in this area. Early in her internship she proposed a new group program focusing on these issues, and it is hoped she will facilitate such a group in the coming year. Some of her other professional involvements have included Victoria Hospice Society, Island Pastoral Services Association, and William Head Institution.
Sandra Teiffel, B.A., Dip.Ed., Front-Line Intake Worker
Sandra is a retired school counsellor/teacher with 32 years experience at both the junior high and middle school levels. Apart from working with students, parents and staff on a wide variety of issues she networked with community agencies and sat on the board of a local therapy agency. During her career she has worked with both First Nations and Indo-Canadian communities, and was involved with one of the first Anti-racism workshops in the BC school system. Over the years she has attended many workshops on social issues, one of which lead to the establishment of a Peer Counselling Program. Sandra began as a volunteer with our agency in September 2006.
Laurie Truant, M.A., R.C.C.
Laurie is a registered clinical counsellor with more than 9 years of varied experience including addictions counselling, lifeskills counselling, and clinical work with adolescents and adults with eating disorders. She has practiced individual and group therapy with diverse client groups, designed and facilitated psycho-educational groups for adolescents and adults, and presented psychological workshops to the public. She has been working as a clinical intern with BC Families in Transition since January 2007.
Marie-Christine White - Legal Support Services (including Legal Support Hotline)
Marie-Christine has worked with the agency for 11 years—4 as a volunteer and 7 as a contractor—all in Legal Support Services. She now operates the agency’s toll-free Legal Support Hotline, providing consultation to the public in both English and French. In addition to her certificate in Business Administration from the University of Victoria, she completed a leadership-training program with Leadership Victoria. While taking this course, she had a vision for a community outreach program and, together with her team, implemented a program called “Squeals on Wheels” for young mothers. Between 2002 and 2006 she registered her mediation company and provided family mediation services for families in transition. Her employment history includes public relations and administration, and she has volunteered in numerous capacities including as a supervisor and facilitator with Rainbows and as an organizer for a 55+ group. In 2006 she volunteered in Uganda by raising funds to build a kitchen in an orphanage. She recently completed training as a facilitator for a financial-planning workshop, and during the last year she co-facilitated many of our “Parenting After Separation” workshops.
Douglas Woodall, M.A., M.S.W. - Legal Support Services
Douglas earned a master’s degree in social work at McGill University in 1970, specializing in policy planning, community development, and administration. He has a certificate in Advanced Child Custody Mediation form the Haynes Mediation Institute of New York. He has completed diverse coursework in child and family welfare, public welfare, family mediation, arbitration, federal and provincial administrative law, advocacy, counselling and psychology, treatment issues in working with perpetrators of violence, intervention skills in multicultural group conflicts, curriculum design, etc. Some highlights of his career include co-founding the Victoria Family Violence Project and serving as its first Board chair, co-founding the Association of Family Serving Agencies of Victoria, and co-founding the group that evolved into the Women Against Violence in Relationships Coordinating Committee. He worked for many years as a social worker, district supervisor, and regional training coordinator for the BC Government before moving to the Law Centre Victoria where he was employed as a social worker and paralegal for 18 years. Doug volunteered with BC Families in Transition in 2005-2006, and in 2007 become a member of the agency’s Legal Support Services team.
Lionel Zelnicker, M.A., M.S.W. - Facilitator
Lionel graduated from McGill University in 1970 with an M.S.W. specializing in group-work practice. Since then he has served in a wide variety of family-service organizations, both in Canada and abroad. His major responsibilities have included individual and family therapy, group therapy, management, and supervision of professional social-work and child-care staff. In the last 16 years he has worked in private practice specializing in group therapy and providing various types of counselling, as well as training professional staff at various agencies in group-work methods and supervising graduate-level practicum students. He has served as a contractor with BC Families in Transition for 11 years, facilitating Parenting After Separation, Evolutions, and Caught in the Middle as well as training new facilitators.
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Board of Directors
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Bruce McGuigan, M.A. – President
Paul MacRae, M.A. – Vice-President
Susan Belford, M.A. – Secretary
Ken D’Sa, B.Comm. – Treasurer
Michelle Winkel, M.A., A.T.R., M.F.T. – Director
Melinda Budgell, M.Ed. – Director
June Preston, M.S.W. – Director
Greg Hatton, B.A. - Director
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A proud to be a member of:
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Vision