I came into my profession purely by accident! I was in the middle of a program to become a Veterinary doctor as I had a passion then to work with “big dogs”. I was required to do a couple of Psychology courses, which I excelled to my pleasant surprise! The comments of my then psychology Professor made a deep impact when she asked me to consider “working with people”. I made that switch many years ago and I have not regretted it at all.
Having the drive to be the best in my profession, I have worked in many fields generally considered quite difficult such as mental health, addiction, homelessness, adult relationship issues and domestic violence. I draw a lot of my framework for counselling from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Solution-Focussed Counselling, Logotherapy, Narrative Therapy and Christian counselling. As my approach to counselling is quite eclectic, I also use skills, tools and techniques from a Strength-based approach, Gestalt therapy and Rationale Emotive Therapy too to aid clients in their journey of change.
I have obtained my Master’s in Social Work from McGill University, Montreal and am a registered Social Worker with the BC College of Social Workers and the BC Association of Social Workers. Previously, I had worked in Calgary, Alberta as a Registered Social Worker with many groups of clients, who faced many different challenges in their lives.
I am also an approved counsellor with Crime Victims Assistance Program and I hope to bring my experience, training and skills into the area of domestic abuse, with both offenders and victims.
Apart from memberships in the above-mentioned organizations, I am a proud member of the Surrey Board of Trade.
Bernard Jacob