Mental Health & Wellbeing
General Mental Wellbeing:
Kids Help Phone: Kids Help Phone is Canada’s only 24/7 national support service. They offer professional counselling, information and referrals and volunteer-led, text-based support to young people in both English and French. Whether by phone, text or through our website, you can connect with them whenever you want, however you want. The service is completely confidential — you don’t even have to tell them your name if you don’t want to. Need help now (24 hours)? Dial 1-800-668-6868 or Text 686868 or visit Urgent Help.
Crisis Centre BC: Immediate access to barrier-free, non-judgemental, confidential support and follow-up through 24/7 phone lines and online services.
BC Bereavement Helpline: This is a non-profit, free, and confidential service that connects the public to grief support services within the province of BC.
Sea to Sky Safety Net: A local resource for mental health and substance use support services.
ERASE: erase=expect respect & a safe education. ERASE is a government of British Columbia strategy with the goal of building safe and caring school communities. This includes empowering students, parents, educators and community partners who support them to get help with challenges, report concerns to schools, and learn about complex issues facing students.
Family Smart: FamilySmart® comes alongside young people and families to provide support, navigation assistance and information and then invites them and professionals to come alongside each other to learn with and from each other to enhance the quality of experiences and services for child and youth mental health. Squamish’s Parent in Residence, who can provide support, can be reached at [email protected] (Phone # 604 878 3400)
Family Smart PiR (Parent in Residence) Brochure: Parents in Residence are available to provide peer support to all families living in BC and to CASA families in Edmonton, Alberta. We work in the community and on-site at BC Children’s Hospital’s Kelty Mental Health Resource Centre, at Surrey Memorial’s Child & Adolescent Psychiatric Stabilization Unit (CAPSU) and at CASA.
Foundry BC, BC Children's Hospital: Foundry supports young people aged 12-24 and their families with easy access to care. Whether a young person needs support for anxiety or depression, wants to see a family doctor or is struggling with a stressful situation, we will help them get the services they need. Foundry makes it easy for young people to find youth-friendly, welcoming and appropriate services – by simply walking into their local Foundry centre, accessing Foundry’s virtual services, or exploring the tools and resources online at foundrybc.ca. Foundry reaches young people earlier – before their health concerns have a severe impact on their health and well-being. Access virtual services through the new Foundry BC App.
Kelty’s Key: Kelty's Key is your source for online therapy. Get tailored treatment from an online therapist, or work on your own with our self-help resources. With Kelty's Key, getting the help you need is flexible and accessible. We are publicly funded by Vancouver Coastal Health, making all our services 100% free.
Kelty Mental Health: If you are concerned about your child or a child you care for, the BC Children's Kelty Mental Health Resource Centre has resources to support you. You will find information on key topics that parents and caregivers often have questions about. This includes some first steps you can take if you are concerned about your child, how to navigate through the different options for treatment and support in BC, information on different medications for mental health challenges and how to connect with a parent-peer support worker at the Kelty Centre. Whether it's information, tools, or a listening ear you are looking for, the Kelty Centre is there to help.
Mental Health Foundations: Offers some good resources and videos for parents and guardians.
Mental Health and Substance Use Language Guide and Companion Webinar: The ministry has partnered with the BC Children’s Hospital to develop a mental health and substance use language guide: Language Matters! An Introductory Guide for Understanding Mental Health and Substance Use: A Resource for Educators and School Communities. This guide aims to further build capacity in the broader education system to understand common mental health and substance use concepts and terms. A companion webinar is also available, which provides more information on the guide, including the development process, key mental health and well-being concepts, and ideas for how it can be used in school communities.
SaferSchools Together: The goal of Safer Schools Together (SST) is to help schools and law enforcement agencies throughout North America minimize and manage their risks of youth violence with reliable, professional training. Check out parent/caregiver resources here.
TeenMentalHealth.org: A guide for parents and educators out of UBC.
Vancouver Coastal Health: Child and Youth Mental Health: Child and Youth Mental Health Services provide free-of-charge assessment, treatment, consultation, therapy and parent education for children and youth experiencing mental health challenges. Services are available to children and youth who live in the areas served by Vancouver Coastal Health and may include nurses, counsellors, occupational therapists, physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, rehabilitation therapists, social workers and support staff.
Wellness Together Canada: Wellness Together Canada provides an online portal that allows Canadians to access self-assessment, self-directed e-mental health tools, peer support and live counselling by telephone, video and text.
Physical Wellbeing:
DASH – Dedicated Action for School Health is a not-for-profit society committed to promoting, supporting and facilitating the creation of healthy school communities in BC.
ParticpACTION - Resources to help families stay active.
Mood & Anxiety:
Anxiety Canada – Offers information and self-help regarding anxiety.
Bounce Back – A Canadian Mental Health online skill-building program for adults and youth (15+) to manage mood and anxiety.
HealthyMindsBC- To help support learning across environments, several fun and practical EASE lessons have been adapted for use by parents and caregivers to help children manage worries and anxiety at home.
Parent's Guide to Teen Depression - A guide on how you can recognize the signs and symptoms and best help your child.
After Hours Resources:
BC Mental Health Support • 310-6789
Kids Help Phone -Need help now (24 hours)? Dial 1-800-668-6868 or Text 686868 or visit Urgent Help
Suicide Help Line – 1-800-SUICIDE • 1-800-784-2433 (24 hours)
Online Service for Adults • www.CrisisCentreChat.ca
Online Service for Youth • www.YouthinBC.
ADHD & Parenting Resources:
ADHD Psycho-Ed Videos by Russell Barkley
Confident Parents Thriving Kids: Offers telephone coaching to parents
Rolling With ADHD: Online strategies for parenting a child with ADHD