Improve life by improving relationships. That is the vision of the Maplewoods Centre for Family Therapy and Child Psychology, a leading clinic and therapy training centre at the University of Guelph.
This fall, new master’s programs dedicated to individual and family therapy are underway at the centre, joining the well-established clinical child and adolescent psychology program.
U of G graduate students have begun working with their first clients in the new graduate training programs, which launched earlier this year and are helping to respond to the community’s increased demand for mental health care.
As the centre works to develop the next generation of mental health care practitioners, graduate students are putting hundreds of hours into working with real-world clients and learning how to help people live more authentic and fulfilling lives.
Helping people ‘live their most genuine self’
Though the Maplewoods Centre offers psychotherapy for all ages, it also specializes in child and adolescent psychology and provides a unique relational approach to clinical training.
Here, students learn to work with clients while considering the effect of larger social influences, as Maplewoods co-directors Kevin VanDerZwet Stafford and Dr. Tamara Berman explain.
Berman gives an example:
“If we see a child with a diagnosis of ADHD, we’ll work with parents to make the home environment easier for the child,” she says.
“We’ll recommend classroom strategies that suit the child’s learning style and individual needs. We’ll also suggest suitable extracurricular activities to boost their self-esteem, academic performance and relationships. Because this isn’t just a person with a diagnosis; this is a person living in a community.”
The centre’s ultimate goal, Stafford adds, is to help people, clients and trainees alike, realize their potential.
“We see clients as experts in their own lives,” Stafford says. “We help them access those resources inside themselves that allow them to live their most genuine self. That’s what I want clients to walk away with, and that’s ultimately how I want our students to help.”
Evolved psychotherapy training draws on over 30-year history
As Stafford explains, the training program offered to graduate students is unlike any other in the province.
Students learn the latest research-supported methods of assessment and therapy. Their work is overseen by highly experienced supervisors, faculty and staff to truly hone their skills and ensure that clients are well looked after.
While many schools in Ontario offer psychotherapy programs, Stafford notes the Maplewoods Centre’s psychotherapy programs are distinguished for providing all the requirements for students to become licensed as part of the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario.
Hundreds of hours of clinical experience must be completed by students, with an additional draw being that students do not have to search for their own clinical placements.
The U of G centre is also considered a leader among the seven similar programs across the country, Stafford says.
“We produce a student who is job-ready by the end of their training,” he says.
The newly designed centre and its expanded programs come at a critical time of mental health care demand for both Guelph and the province, adds Stafford.
“The crisis of mental health predated the COVID-19 pandemic, and the pandemic simply exacerbated it,” Stafford says. “At the same time, there is much less stigma around seeking mental health help, especially for youth, who come to the community wanting to know the resources available. The Maplewoods Centre can support them.”
A report from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health notes one in two Canadians have or will have a mental health illness by the age of 40. The World Health Organization says this crisis is a “wake-up call” for countries to increase mental health support.
Maplewoods Centre responds to community needs
Helping to address this gap, Maplewoods is one of the few centres in the province offering training in couples, family and relational therapy. It was established in 2021, when two U of G training clinics merged to better respond to the community’s needs. Both former clinics provided affordable counselling and psychological services for over 30 years.
The newly evolved psychotherapy training program began in spring 2024 and uses this 30-year history to adapt to current regulatory needs and address pressing topics like neurodiversity, gender, sexuality and more.
“Our clinicians-in-training are very dedicated and motivated people,” Stafford says, explaining that the new centre provides services that are inclusive to all identities and all types of individuals, families and relationships. “We are committed to making our services accessible to the community, and our sliding scale fee system helps provide services at affordable rates.”