Family Enrichment Centre encourages positive change

 Scattered throughout psychologist Josie McKechnie’s comfortable office are various memorabilia from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.

McKechnie, the executive director of the Family Enrichment Centre of Sudbury, said she loves The Wizard of Oz because it’s a great metaphor for her line of work.

In order to “journey home to the self,” or achieve mental recovery, you need wisdom, heart and courage, just like characters in the movie - the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion, she said.

“We also all have a Glenda the Good Witch side and a Wicked Witch side,” McKechnie said. “We have to integrate those parts of ourselves - the shadow and the light.”

McKechnie and her staff spend their days providing counselling in a number of areas, including anxiety, depression, stress management, co-dependency, addictions, bereavement, trauma, abuse and couple counselling.

“The benefit of seeking counselling is that you have an objective, other person who can hear your story, and maybe hear it in a way that you can’t, and give you some direction about where you’re blocked, need to make some changes, and how to do that,” she said.

“If people could figure it out, they wouldn’t need us. If you could figure out what’s going on, and make the positive changes in your life, you don’t need to go and see a counsellor.”

The Family Enrichment Centre of Sudbury, located at 30 St. Anne Rd., has its origins as a Roman Catholic Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie organization founded in 1982, called the Spiritual and Human Growth Ministry.

However, the centre was re-founded in 1994 as an independent charitable organization. It is now funded by fees paid by users, employment assistance programs, private insurance, fundraising and grants.

Although endorsed by the diocese, the centre no longer receives funds from the church.

Because the Family Enrichment Centre is a charity, it has a sliding fee scale based on the income of the client or whether or not they have insurance.

McKechnie said her organization is ideal for lower-income individuals who cannot afford to visit a private-practice psychologist, who typically have higher fees.

In 2009, almost 24 per cent of the centre’s clients were those with low incomes.

Counselling services funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care are available in Sudbury, but wait times are typically longer at these services, McKechnie said.

Although it varies depending on the type of service needed, she said the centre’s wait times are approximately three or four weeks.

Beyond counselling for mental health issues, the centre also provides a variety of courses, including marriage preparation, reconstituted/blended families, communication and conflict resolution, first time and expecting parents and anger management.

McKechnie said she especially enjoys participating in the marriage preparation workshops.

In order to be married in the Catholic church, couples are required to take the weekend workshop, so many of those taking the course are Catholic, she said.

However, people of all faiths are welcome to take the course, McKechnie said.

“The people who take the course find it very helpful,” she said. “There is some research that shows that couples who invest time to do premarital work have a greater satisfaction in their marriage in the first five years, and they’re more likely to stay together.”

Among the topics covered in the course are readiness and expectations of marriage, communication and conflict resolution skills, sexuality and spousal love, family issues and cohabitation, money management, marriage as a lifetime commitment and parenting and family planning.

McKechnie said that occasionally, after taking the course, couples decide that they’re not ready to get married.

While the centre does receive grants from a few foundations, it relies heavily on fundraising, she said.

On March 5, all of the profits from a performance of The Love List at the Sudbury Theatre Centre will go towards the centre, McKechnie said. The organization was able to purchase all of the tickets for the performance at a reduced cost, and is selling them back at a profit.

To purchase a ticket to the March 5 performance of The Love List or to learn more about the services provided by the centre, phone 670-0606, e-mail [email protected]  or go to www.familyenrichmentcentre.ca.