Our Story

Founded in 2023 in response to the growing awareness of the unmet mental health needs of rural Nova Scotians, and specifically the Annapolis Valley, Red Spruce Mental Health Centre is a community-serving counselling centre run through the M.Ed. Counselling Program at Acadia University. Red Spruce offers free counselling services to individuals ages 13 and up who do not otherwise have access to mental health care. Our highly skilled graduate interns provide all services at the Centre under supervision, including individual, group, and couples counselling, while strengthening their competencies and development as counselling professionals.

Red Spruce Mental Health Centre is named after the red spruce tree, which has long been a symbol of Nova Scotia as its provincial tree and speaks to the province’s landscapes & public spaces. The red spruce tree also represents Nova Scotia’s quietly determined people and their ability to thrive under any condition. It makes for a fitting symbol for the Centre, as Red Spruce Mental Health Centre will become central to the communities it serves, supporting individuals towards their resiliency, and speaks to the land it calls home.

Our Mission

Our mission is to provide world-class counselling, consultation, and educational services committed to culturally responsive and socially just practices. We aim to provide accessible, affordable, and responsive services to individuals, groups, couples, and families while simultaneously promoting the development of leaders in the counselling profession.

Our Vision

Our vision is to be a national model for equitable and transformative counselling, counsellor education, and research, providing services to our communities and partnerships across the Annapolis Valley.

At Red Spruce Mental Health Centre, we believe

  • Universal health care must include mental health care and wellness.
  • Access to high-quality mental health care services should be equitable.
  • Counselling services should aim to support individuals and interrupt systems that interfere with equity and well-being.
  • Graduate counselling students learn best when there is a balance between theory and practice, under close and supportive supervision.
  • Cultivating a commitment to social justice in counselling leaders begins at pre-service.
  • Counsellor educators are responsible for contributing to the profession's knowledge through engaging in outcome and evidence-based research to inform best practices in our profession.

 

As a free community-serving mental health centre, we value

  • People with their unique histories and intersectional identities.
  • Equity, diversity, and inclusion through providing accessible mental health and wellness services.
  • Social justice and anti-oppressive practices through partnerships that promote wellness and access for underrepresented and underserved groups.
  • Humility, through an ongoing commitment to a reflective process of curiosity, critical assessment, and lifelong learning about the impact of systems of oppression, privilege, and power.
  • Responsiveness, ensuring Red Spruce Mental Health Centre stays reflective of the needs and changes in our communities and profession through strong community partnerships and a commitment to ongoing research and exploration.

Research at Red Spruce

As a site for teaching and counsellor development, the Red Spruce team is also active in research at the Centre. This research explores how the Centre can improve and respond to the mental health needs of the Annapolis Valley and the developmental needs of graduate counselling students. In addition, research at Red Spruce aims to understand better the mental health experiences of Nova Scotians and barriers to receiving and benefiting from counselling and wellness services. This research is undertaken with the highest ethics of care. All data and information obtained is de-identified and securely handled and stored, with confidentiality as the top priority. Clients at Red Spruce are seen as collaborators in our research and research studies, and findings will be regularly shared on our website. While all clients accessing the Centre will be invited to participate in this research, they are not required to do so, and services will not be impacted should research participation not be of interest. All research at Red Spruce has received Research Ethics Board approval and is overseen by Dr. Tanya Surette, Program Coordinator of the M.Ed. Counselling Program. Any research questions can be directed to her at tanya.surette@acadiau.ca or the chair of Acadia’s Research Ethics Board, Dr. Stephen Maitzen, at stephen.maitzen@acadiau.ca.