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 .
PSRBC is a provincial chapter of PSR/RPS Canada and embodies the national Vision, Mission, Principles, Values and Ethics of PSR/RPS Canada.
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 provision of 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 the training of 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 with regard to client transitions between acute care and community mental health programs and services.
To exercise leadership by working alongside individuals with lived experience to inform policy makers 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 is valued and supported.
- Individuals direct their choices in life through meaningful partnerships, 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 about 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, peer support.
- Holistic services support all aspects of life. work, education, leisure, living skills, intellectual, emotional and spiritual health and wellness.
- Everyone is unique. Each person has their own path, 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 involves 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 World Association of Psychosocial Rehabilitation Conference which was attended by 300 people from across Canada 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 on-line Library and 3 editions of our competencies
PSR BC will be hosting 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.
- May 1992 approval was obtained at the IAPSRS Conference in Oakland for BC to become 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 which was attended by 300 people from across Canada.
- 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
To download bylaws, click here Contact: psrbc@psrrpscanada.ca
Executive Officers
Co President - Janet Burden
Co President - Tracy Adams
Secretary - Susan Boyce
Treasurer - Lyn Heinemann
Directors At Large
Stephany Berinstein
Heather Boyes
Dr. Regina Casey
Dr. John Higenbottam
Pam Rees
Matt Wenger
PSR BC Executive Officers
Janet Burden - Co President
Janet Burden is the Executive Director of Stepping Stone Community Services Society and West Fraser Housing in Langley, B.C. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Adult Education and has worked in the mental health field for over 24 years.
She is committed to the practice of psychosocial rehabilitation with a focus on recovery. She has a strong philosophy of working collaboratively in the community to promote community integration and improve services for people living with mental health issues.
Tracy Adams - Co President
Susan Boyce - Secretary
A Douglas College PSR graduate, Susan Boyce, is a mental health and addictions worker from Vancouver British Columbia where her work includes facilitating peer groups in CBT based recovery and wellness programs.
Susan brings her passion for community, communication and stigma-busting to her work with the PSRBC Board.
Lyn Heinemann - Treasurer
Lyn has been working in the mental health and addictions field for over 15 years in a range of roles that include clinical leadership, program development and implementation, research, administration, and direct service delivery. She is a registered Occupational Therapist with a Master’s of Science in Occupational Therapy and is currently working as Director of Recovery and Innovation at Canadian Mental Health Association, Vancouver-Fraser.
Lyn is passionate about community-based PSR services, particularly the role of evidence based non-profit service delivery within the broader health care context and increasing access to care for individuals who experience multiple barriers.
PSR BC Directors
Heather Boyes
Heather has a passion for rehabilitation and recovery and has worked in mental health leadership
roles in British Columbia for the past 35 years, most recently with Interior Health. Heather is a
recently retired Occupational Therapist with a Master's Degree in Leadership.
Heather has supported initiatives and participated on projects, committees and boards for CAOT,
BSCOT, COTBC and UBC School of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy. Heather
has been a member of PSR Canada since establishment.
Throughout her career Heather has embraced opportunities to promote hope, empowerment and
recovery with individuals, teams, and organizations.
Dr. Regina Casey
Dr. Regina Casey coordinates the psychosocial rehabilitation graduate program at Douglas College and manages the BC Advanced Practice website for mental health practice knowledge decimation (psyrehab.ca).
She is a Clinical Assoc. prof at UBC in the school of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy and has worked in MH practice for over 2 decades.
Her current research Interests include- understanding how to implement Recovery-oriented PSR practice in Canada and how to integrate Social Business and recovery-oriented self-directed care approaches in low and middle-income settings.
Stephany Berenstein
Stephany Berinstein has been working in the field of mental health for close to 15 years in clinical and leadership roles, with a specific focus on vocational rehabilitation and supporting the development and implementation of psychosocial rehabilitation (PSR) programs. She is a registered Occupational Therapist with a Master’s of Science in Occupational Therapy, as well as a certified Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy facilitator through the Centre for Mindfulness Studies. She is currently working as the Director of Recovery and Integration at the Canadian Mental Health Association, BC Division, as well as teaches PSR Best & Promising Practices within the Douglas College psychosocial rehabilitation graduate program.
Stephany is passionate about PSR services, mindfulness based interventions, and advancing the access to evidenced-based mental health services to communities across the province.
Matthew Wenger
Dr. John Higenbottam
Dr. John Higenbottam is a neuropsychologist who, for most of his career, has held senior clinical management positions in the British Columbia health care system, including Vice President, Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre, Vice President, BC Rehab and Vice President, Riverview Hospital.
John is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, UBC and teaches in the medical undergraduate and psychiatry residency programs. He is also the Editor in Chief of the Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health and President of the BC Brain Injury Alliance which funds community services for people with brain injury.
John is a former Chair, Psychosocial Rehabilitation Canada and former Co-Chair, Canadian Alliance for Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH) which is Canada’s major alliance of 18 mental health professional and stakeholder organizations.
John’s major clinical and research interests focus on effective, community based systems and services for people with serious mental illness and complex care needs.
Pam Rees
Pam has over 20 years of experience working in Mental Health and started her career in Vancouver, BC. After completing two years of post-secondary in the social sciences, focusing on psychology, she moved to the Registered Psychiatric Nursing program. While completing the RPN program at Douglas College, she worked as a life skill worker in many psychiatric group homes settings as well as Venture, a short-stay step up/step down facility. Following graduation in 1999, she worked as an RPN at both St. Paul’s Hospital and Venture. Moving to the Okanagan in 2001 to work for IHA-Community MH, she has provided leadership for several teams including: Seniors MH, Adult MH, Adolescent Psychiatry, Intensive Case Management and Mental Health Emergency Services. Currently she is the team leader at Cara Centre, a Psychosocial Rehabilitation Facility, under Tertiary Mental Health, where clients come to recover, rebuild and reintegrate into their home communities. She is committed to promoting recovery, self- determination and learning by building sustainable relationships with community partners and service providers.