Clinical Support Services
.png) About Vanessa Curry, R.S.W. - Clinical Support Services Lead Educational Background My background is in Social Work, I completed my Bachelor of Arts in Social Development Studies and received a Bachelor of Social Work, all through the University of Waterloo. Work Experience Through my education I received a student placement at Interfaith Counselling Center where I learned many important counselling skills, facilitated groups, including the Caregiver Support group here at HopeSpring. I was also able learn many different therapy styles such as play therapy, emotion regulated therapy and CBT. Not only through my placement did I develop these skills, but through various work experiences. Personal Story Through my work experience I’ve had that ability to work with children who are affected by cancer through a summer camp program called CampFire Circle. I have also worked in other various projects with children in developing and facilitating programming. For many years I have also dedicated my time to working with individuals with developmental delays, whether it is through running group programming or providing one-on-one support. I also bring a personal perspective as when I was 16, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Disease. My diagnosis turned me into who I am today and continues to be my motivation to help others. I want to be able to give back and help prevent the obstacles that no family should ever have to go through when being impacted by cancer. My experience is what drives me to work with HopeSpring in order to help eliminate obstacles, provide easy and accessible support, and increase awareness. Fun Facts A little bit more about myself, when I am not working, I have a love for art, specifically painting. I have more recently picked up a love for crocheting and all of my Christmas presents this year were all hand-made crocheted items like a blanket, coasters, or slippers. When I am not indoors painting or crocheting you can find me outside either camping, hiking, or anything adventurous, I am always up for a good challenge. | Vanessa's Role at HopeSpring My role here at HopeSpring will be focused on providing a clinical input on programming, oversight of support groups and peer support groups, and building community connections. Through my role I will also be overseeing and developing children’s programming, as well as, providing emergency mental health support counselling. I will also be responsible for supervising new student placements at HopeSpring that fall under clinical and social worker fields. How can I reach Vanessa? The best way to contact me is through my email clinicalsupportservices@hopespring.ca, please feel free to contact me about anything and I will assist you in any way I can or connect you to the right people.  | BLOG C-A-N-C-E-R by Vanessa Curry R.S.W. clinicalsupportservices@hopespring.ca What does cancer mean? What is the definition? Can you define it with simply one word? Scary… no that’s not the right word Controlling… maybe?… no… I think controlling is what defines me…. Moving on. Life-Alternating… I think I just made that one word by adding ‘-‘ …. Let’s, try google, google always knows the answer.  Google did not understand what I asked. I’m pretty sure there is no way of making “something evil or malignant that spreads destructively” one word… Something-evil-or-malignant-that-spreads-destructively This is useless. I don’t want to classify it as anything, I feel like by doing that it gives it too much power. Cancer is just something that people can get and it sucks. Cancer is like quick sand, it happens very fast and unexpectedly, once you start sinking you start panicking, and it feels like there is no why out. But there is … I think, hold up here comes another google search. Look at that you can! And all you have to do is… lay in the mud…? Ok so let’s apply this to cancer,  Step one: relax don’t let the diagnosis control you Step Two: lay down accept, learn more about the diagnosis Step Three: Start swimming Don’t forget to keep living Quicksand can make you think “that’s it, I’m stuck here forever” just like Cancer can. But the key is to remember that this is still your life, you still have the power to not let it control everything. And remember to just keep swimming.  |
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