The Overview

Vancouver Island Counselling Centre for Immigrants and Refugees

VICCIR's - The Vancouver Island Counselling Centre for Immigrants & Refugees - principal activity is to provide mental health counselling to immigrants and refugees living on Vancouver Island.

VICCIR was founded in 2015 by Adrienne Carter and Linda McLagan. In more than fifteen years of service abroad as a psychotherapist, trainer and supervisor, Adrienne Carter witnessed the devastating effects of displacement and trauma on the human spirit. Upon return to her Victoria home, Carter was determined to create a safe haven for those immigrants and refugees on Vancouver Island who had lived similar experiences in their countries of origin and were suffering the impact of trauma. The organization has grown substantially over the last 10 years and continues on it's mandate of offering mental health services to immigrants and refugees who have suffered war, displacement, torture or other traumatic situations.

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VICCIR's Mandate

VICCIR's core vision revolves around supporting immigrants and refugees through culturally sensitive and trauma-informed counselling, enabling individuals and families to thrive emotionally, socially, and culturally in their new environment.

VICCIR's Programs & Services

VICCIR has developed a unique approach to therapy. The primary components of this model are:

- A client-centred approach to treatment. Decisions are made based on the needs of the client and other family members rather than which resources (counselling modalities, availability, time) are available at the time.

- Clients are matched with the counsellor who best suits their needs and may work with more than one counsellor.

- Trained clinical interpreters are available to enable the client to use their mother tongue if preferred.

- A team approach is taken, with a group of counsellors and interpreters often working with a whole family. Team members work in close communication with each other.

- Clients are seen as individuals, couples, with individual family members and as a whole family. This includes a significant number of children and teens who are referred to VICCIR from schools.

- Clients of all ages, genders and ethnicities are welcomed with no limitation placed upon them because of immigration status or length of time lived in Canada.

- Different therapeutic modalities are offered simultaneously to individuals, couples and families, according to their unique individual situations and needs.

- No limit is placed on the number of therapy sessions and clients are able to return or continue their therapy over an extended period of time.

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Subscribe & Support VICCIR

For every VICCIR BCause Box ordered, we'll donate partial proceeds towards their Core Mental Health Programs.

While VICCIR is occasionally funded through grants, we cannot rely on such an inconstant funding source. As such, our fundraising efforts are ongoing. All funding is used to further the prime mandate of VICCIR - offering essential mental health services to the immigration & refugee communities on Vancouver Island.

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