Psychosocial Rehabilitation British Columbia
Psychosocial Rehabilitation promotes resilience, personal recovery, full community integration, and a sense of purpose and meaning for those living with any mental health or substance use concern.
PSR BC is a provincial chapter of PSR Canada that embodies the national organization’s Vision, Mission, Principles, Values, and Ethics.
Our Purpose
PSR BC is a provincial leader in transforming the mental health and substance use sector. We are an association of individuals and organizations working to promote the principles and practices of evidence-based psychosocial rehabilitation in British Columbia through practice standards, education, quality outcome measures, advocacy, and public policy.
PSR BC is committed to engaging in meaningful collaborative partnerships with people with lived experience and their families.
PSR BC is registered under the BC Societies Act with the following purpose:
- To promote and support the development of psychosocial rehabilitation practices and services for persons who experience mental health or substance use concerns.
- To promote the concept and role of psychosocial rehabilitation as a primary modality in providing mental health services.
- To encourage and facilitate communication, increased understanding, and research through accessible and recognized mechanisms for knowledge transfer.
- To exercise leadership and encourage the development of improved concepts, methods, and best practices to serve persons who experience mental health or substance use concerns. This includes training personnel involved in such activities.
- To encourage and facilitate improved communication, coordination and continuity, and accountability of services provided to persons who experience mental illness or substance use, especially concerning client transitions between acute care and community mental health programs and services.
To exercise leadership by working alongside individuals with lived experience to inform policymakers and the public of the relevant service needs and best practices related to supporting individuals’ psychosocial needs.
Core Principles And Values
- Every recovery journey begins with hope. Everyone has potential.
- Culture and diversity are valued and supported.
- Individuals direct their choices in life through meaningful partnerships and informed and shared decision-making.
- Our role is to shine a light on people’s strengths, gifts and abilities.
- Person-centred recognizes that people are experts on themselves.
- Living fully within communities builds citizenship, responsibilities, opportunity and belonging.
- Self-determination and empowerment are encouraged and respected.
- Trusting relationships are foundations to recovery and well-being: family, friends, and peer support.
- Holistic services support all aspects of life, including work, education, leisure, living skills, and intellectual, emotional, and spiritual health and wellness.
- Everyone is unique. Each person has their own path and, therefore, their own wellness plan.
- Services are evidence-based, promising, and emerging best practices that produce evaluation outcomes congruent with personal recovery. Quality improvement and program evaluation actively involve persons receiving services.
- Services are accessible and integrated.
Educational Conferences and Developments
- PSR BC has regularly offered annual or bi-annual education conferences in BC
- Mindfulness
- The Now and the Future, Advancing Practice in Psychosocial Rehabilitation 2014
- Schizophrenia – exploring non-pharmacological approaches
- Building on Hope
- Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Recovery – Making it Real 2016
- Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Recovery – Getting Back to PSR 2022
- Getting Back to PSR, A Special Education Day for Peers 2022
- PSR BC hosted the World Association of Psychosocial Rehabilitation Conference, which was attended by 300 people from across Canada in 2004
- PSR BC supported the cognitive remediation work and first conference – 2020 – ABCR – education, training and funding for training and implementation across BC
- PSR BC has been a strong supporter of BC PSR Advanced Practice – co-supporting educational events (see psyrehab.ca website)
- PSR BC collaborated with PSR Canada for multiple education events, such as developing the PSR Canada online Library and 3 editions of our competencies
- PSR BC will be hosting the International World Association of Psychosocial Rehabilitation Congress in the fall of 2025
Historical Background
- 1983 clubhouse programs were run in BC by New View Society and at Stepping Stones in 1988
- 1987 Assertive Community Treatment program at Riverview Hospital. ACT teams were set up in Victoria using an interdisciplinary team approach.
- In May 1992, the IAPSRS Conference in Oakland approved BC as the 22nd chapter of IAPSRS.
- 1997 Vancouver hosted an IAPSRS conference which was only the 2nd time that such a Conference was held outside the USA . Over 1500 people attended.
- 2004 PSR BC hosted a national conference that 300 people from across Canada attended.
- 2021 Worked in partnership with other organizations (BC Schizophrenia Society, Ministry of Health, UBC, Psychosocial Rehabilitation Advanced Practice, BC Health Authorities) towards the establishment of Cognitive Remediation BC Educational Conferences and Developments