Family Mental Health Program Coordinator
The Family Education and Support Centre Maple Ridge
Nominator Comments:
Karin was instrumental in introducing the Mental Wellness Parenting Program into the community of Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows and then into various communities around the Lower Mainland including Langley, Abbotsford and Agassiz/Hope. Work is taking place to introduce the program in Tri-Cities and Surrey.
Karin worked with her early ideas to improve services to parents living with depression or anxiety. She contributed to this creative adaptation of existing programs to blend both parenting support and cognitive behavioural therapy group in such a way that the program addresses a gap in services. Parents who might not normally attend a psycho-educational program or a support group are able to meet with other parents living with mental illness and learn how to parent while taking care of their own health. This innovative program has been followed through from conception to regionalization, in large part, due to Karin’s ongoing commitment to the program.
