Resources

Are you or someone you know in crisis? ...You probably know what to do, but just to remind you…reach out to someone you know, phone 911, go to your hospital emergency department, or contact a crisis line at:

  • BC Crisis Line: 604-872-3311 / Toll Free: 1-866-661-3311 / TTY: 1-866-872-0113
  • Senior’s Distress: 604-872-1234
  • 1-800-SUICIDE: 1-800-784-2433 https://crisiscentre.bc.ca
  • Mental Health Support Line: 310-6789 or 604 851 8855
  • Fraser Health Crisis Line: 604-951-8855 / 1-877-820-7444 (toll free) 24 hours/day, 7 days/week
  • Vancouver Coastal Distress Line: 604-872-3311 / 1-866-661-3311
  • Island Health Distress Line: 1-888-494-3888
  • Interior Health Distress Line: 1-888-353-2273
  • Norther Health Distress Line: 1-888-562-1214
  • Crisis Chat: www.youthinbc.com or www.crisiscentrechat.ca
  • Up to 30 years old? Chat at http://youthspace.ca OR Text to 778-783-0177 Responses 6pm and midnight
  • 6-18 years old? Fraser Health’s START Team (START; short term assessment response treatment) may be able to help if you are trying to find crisis help for a child/teen aged 6 to 18 years who is experiencing the rapid onset (in the past 2-4 weeks) of extreme mental health symptoms resulting in the child/teen being unable to participate in their typical daily activities or relationships.
  • Adult in Langley? Langley Mental Health Rapid Access Clinic for adults experiencing Mild to Moderate mental health conditions. Provides quick access to an appointment with a psychiatrist and nurse from your community mental health and substance use centre. The psychiatrist will provide your family doctor or nurse practitioner with recommendations for your treatment, medications and/or your diagnoses. Requires a referral from your family physician or nurse practitioner (brochure). Publicly Funded.
  • Adult in Surrey? Surrey Urgent Care Response Centre A central point of access for adults (19 years and older) in Surrey who are experiencing urgent mental health and substance use concerns and who voluntarily seek and require urgent care, but don’t require hospitalization. Self refer to a psychiatrist or counsellor for short term care. if you live in Surrey, just walk in until 7pm. If from somewhere else in Fraser Health, you can go after your local mental health location closes for the day (so after 4:30pm weekdays or anytime on weekends). Publicly Funded.
  • I just want a HANDOUT! Coping with suicidal thoughts information handout    Dr. Joti Samra, R.Psych. and Dr. Dan Bilsker, R.Psych. (Lead Authors; 2007), Consortium for Organizational Mental Health (COMH; www.comh.ca), Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC.
  • Is there a WEBSITE that can help?! Now Matters Now WEBSITE may be helpful if have suicidal thoughts and problems that feel unsolvable. It may help you hack your suffering!
  • What about an EMERGENCY EXERCISE?! While there are no magical ways to take away distress, there are some activities recommended for use when you just don’t know what else to do and you’re scared you might hurt yourself or use a substance and you can’t get yourself to call for help. NowMattersNow lists three steps you may find useful. I also like Mindfulness of current emotions, Soften, Soothe, Allow by Kristin Neff adds some self compassion, and Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Nurture (RAIN) by Tara Brach. Of course, it’s best to try these out before you’re really distressed but you’ll do that next time 🙂

General Resources

BC 211 – Nonprofit providing information and referral for community, government and social services in BC.  Non-profit.

Canadian Mental Health Association – Mental health information and listings of BC resources. Non-profit.

Disability Alliance BC: Providing support for those dealing with disabilities, including assistance completing applications for disability benefits. Non-profit.

First Nations Health Authority funding for mental health benefits. Publicly Funded.

Wellbeing, Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions Listings of mental health and substance use supports.

Low cost and group therapy options

ADHD help with Dr. Claire Sira: Be the Boss of Your Brain https://www.drclairesira.ca

Changeways clinic – Supervised Doctoral Student Services offered at reduced rates.

Langley Mental Health Fraser Health Mental Health and Substance Use Centres offer a range of self-referral services that provide support for people 19+ years of age who are experiencing mental illness and substance use problems in the community. Services available through the centres include assessment, treatment, individual and group therapy, referrals to supportive housing, residential programs and community support services, transition of care between services, older adult programs, crisis intervention and peer support. Publicly Funded. Find the Mental Health Centre for your location in Fraser Health here.

Moving Forward Family Services – offers reduced rate individual and group counselling for those who can not access public services or who need help affording services.

Maybe you’ve been trying to deal with psychosis and you just can’t get a handle on it. BC has a psychosis program that may help.

SFU Clinical Psychology Centre – Assessment and psychological treatment provided by Masters or Doctoral level graduate students in the Clinical Psychology Program.  Students are supervised by clinical faculty or community-based clinical associates. Reduced Rates.

UBC Psychology Clinic – Individual-based psychotherapy services are offered at the UBC Psychology Clinic between September and April. Waitlist is currently open for OCD group therapy. Clinical services are provided by graduate students from UBC’s doctoral programme in clinical psychology. Student clinicians are closely supervised by Registered Psychologists from the faculty and the community. Reduced Rates.

Self Help Websites

Anxiety Canada – Anxiety Canada (formerly Anxiety BC) is a non-profit organization, offering free information about anxiety. It has lots of great evidence-based, self-help resources, developed by psychologists.

Foundry BC offers virtual drop-in counselling sessions by voice, video, and chat to BC’s young people ages 12-24 and their care-givers. Free and confidential. Easy to access. No referral or assessment required. 1-833-308-6379) 

Kelty’s Key – A website created by Vancouver Coastal Health. Kelty’s Key is a free and confidential online cognitive behavioral therapy service that can provide you with the support you need to feel better. Publicly Funded.

Mood Gym – Moodgym is an online self-help program out of Australia. Designed to help users prevent and manage symptoms of depression and anxiety. It is like an interactive, online self-help book which teaches skills based on cognitive behaviour therapy. Small yearly cost.

Moving Forward Family Resources – Resource List including relaxation exercises in multiple languages.

Looking for articles on leading a meaningful life? Try Greater Good: The Science of a meaningful life.

Now Matters Now website may be helpful for you if have suicidal thoughts or urges to use substances and problems that feel unsolvable. It may help you hack your suffering!

Videos on psychological topics: How to be Miserable

My Person doesn’t want OCD treatment 🙁 What do I do??

There are books to help people better understand how to support a family members dealing with mental health issues, especially when the family member doesn’t see the problem. Some examples:

Financial help

I need help paying for my medication, rent or food! Financial difficulties can sometimes put you in a really bad position for housing and feeding yourself. Try these resources:

Canadian Veteran’s resources

Disability Resources

ADHD Assessments (just a handful of resources)

My caveat/disclaimer: These resources are not a substitute for professional advice. I have reviewed these resources, BUT I did not create them and do not continuously monitor them. I only include resources I believe to be reliable, but given the nature of the internet, these links or their information may be changed without my knowledge. …so, always read critically, consult with your healthcare provider before making changes to your healthcare plan…and, if you are in crisis, you probably already know to look for help (911, hospital emergency, crisis line 1-800-784-2433) and reach out to someone.