February marks Psychology month in British Columbia. The British Columbia Psychological Association (BCPA) has been sponsoring a free public presentation series on a range of topics from depression to anxiety, psychology and parenting. The BCPA and its members are committed to supporting the emotional health and psychological well-being of British Columbians. BCPA believes that all British Columbians deserve access to high-quality, clinically proven psychological care provided by Registered Psychologists.

The free public education programs aim is to raise awareness about the role psychology plays in our lives and within our communities. The talks are facilitated by registered Psychologists and the topics range from “How to cultivate a more passionate life, building a better brain, as well as memory-loss.”

“All Canadians, at some point in their lifetime, will be directly or indirectly affected by mental illness through a family member, friend or colleague, and many people do not know where or how to seek help”, says Dr. Douglas Cove, president of BC Psychological Association. “Psychology plays an important role in helping people find solutions to the challenges they face. We hope the free public presentation series will open a dialogue for people to explore the subject of their mental health.”

If you are a parent/care-giver or work with children, our role in our children’s lives plays an integral part in fostering our children’s mental well-being. Educational parenting workshops/seminars have tremendous learning outcomes and benefit not only the parents/caregivers but more importantly, the whole (physical, emotional, social) child.

On February, 23 from 7 to 8 p.m., Dr. Tina Wang and Dr. Pam Narang will be presenting a workshop for parents titled, “Getting a win-win with your child: Strategies to Resolve conflicts.”

This presentation will show parents/caregivers strategies on how to resolve conflicts to get a “win-win” outcome, all the while promoting their child’s and their own social and emotional skills. They  will use Ross Green’s Collaborative Problem Solving approach to show parents/caregivers how to consider their children’s developmental skills in understanding the meaning behind their behaviours.

Here is a list of the date and times of the remaining talks, including other parenting ones. The following talks are sponsored by the BCPA (in partnership with Vancouver Public Library)

Building a Better Brain

• When: Monday, February 16 from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
• Where: VPL Central Branch
• Who: Dr. Larrisa Mead-Wescott

Effective Coping Strategies for our Fast-Paced World

• When: Monday, February 16 from 7 to 8 p.m.
• Where: West Vancouver Public Library
• Who: Dr. Kristy Kowalyk

The Healthy Benefits of Connecting with Nature

• When: Tuesday, February 17 from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
• Where: VPL Central Branch
• Who: Dr. Nancy Prober

How to Cultivate a More Passionate Life

• When: Sunday, February 22 from 2:30 to 4 p.m.
• Where: VPL Central Branch
• Who: Dr. Patrick Myers

Collaborative Problem-Solving

• When: Monday, February 23 from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
• Where: VPL Central Branch
• Who: Dr. Tina Wang and Dr. Pam Narang

Imagine Empathy for Parents

• When: Monday, February 23 from 7 to 8:15 p.m.
• Where: Creekside Community Centre
• Who: Dr. Noah Susswein

You can find details about all the remaining talks at www.psychologists.bc.ca.

Also of note is the BCPA operates a province-wide free psychologist referral service. Patients can search for a Registered Psychologist by city, client type, area of practice, therapy method and language by visiting www.psychologistis.bc.ca/find_psychologists_full or by calling 1-800-730-0522 or 604-730-0522.

Image: Psychology via Shutterstock