Awards & Recognition
Parry Sound Founders Circle Award Finalist, 2024
Sound Youth Counselling is proud to have been selected as a finalist again for the Parry Sound Area Founders Circle Award.
If successful, this award will help us implement tools to better support youth and families in our community by increasing: service accessibility with a system navigation program and live chats; counselling capacity; and community education services.
An In-Depth Look at SYC
Learn more about us and our practice in this documentary-style short film by the talented 705blackfly.com.
A special thanks to Terry-Lynn Stevens for sharing her story and support from the Doc Rob Fund.
Parry Sound Founders Circle Award Finalist, 2022
Sound Youth Counselling is proud to have been selected as a finalist for the Parry Sound Founders Circle Award.
The Parry Sound Area Founders Circle are community leaders, entrepreneurs, and business leaders who have invested funds as prizes to be awarded to individuals or groups with innovative ideas that will help improve the local economy throughout the District of Parry Sound.
Parry Sound mental health symposium's speaker to talk resilience, which isn't innate
by Sarah Bissonette
Parry Sound North Star
February 2, 2024
The upcoming Parry Sound mental health symposium's keynote speaker will speak to resilience.
Michael Ungar argues resilience isn’t innate in those who seem to overcome obstacles against all odds, or in children simply due to their youth.
According to Sound Youth Counselling owner Colleen McLean, “it has little to do about an individual’s own abilities or characteristics.”
“But, what resilience is an individuals ability to … find what they need and figure out how to get it,” McLean added. “People who are resilient are the ones who were (in part) well connected, they had community support, they had access to resources. They felt greater belonging and felt connection to their culture.”
The symposium is being put on by Sound Youth Counselling and the Doc Rob Fund.
Podcast:
Beyond headlines - youth mental health
interview by Sabina Hooper, 705blackfly.com
with Colleen McLean, SYC
aired April 29, 2023
Teens 'not required to follow what general teens do': Parry Sound's Sound Youth Counselling webinars on youth mental health
by Sarah Bissonette
Parry Sound North Star
May 6, 2023
Teens in Crisis is a free webinar by Sound Youth Counselling. It is part of a four-part teen mental health series covering anxiety, depression and suicide. The series, said educational facilitator Jess Golle, will tackle common myths about those years and show parents and caregivers how to support their individual teenagers.
The series will help parents and caregivers see their teen not through the lens of stereotypes, or a stagnate checklist of possible signs and symptoms, but for their individuality.
Youth-centred counselling services hopes to expand supports for Parry Sound youth
by Taylor Clark
Parry Sound North Star
August 11, 2022
After providing services to the community for over a year, Sound Youth Counselling has been nominated for the Parry Sound Area Chamber of Commerce Growth and Innovation Award.
Counsellors and owners Colleen McLean and Brittany Novak opened the youth-centred practice in March 2021 with the hopes to fill some of the gaps for youth seeking mental health services in the area, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Need for Parry Sound youth mental health support highlighted by COVID-19 pandemic
by Stephannie Johnson
Parry Sound North Star
October 12, 2021
The global pandemic highlighted an existing need within the district — a place for youth-focused support services in the mental health field.
One young person recently sought counselling, because they said they tend to keep emotions bottled up. The teen's identity is being withheld to protect their privacy.
“Counselling has helped me open up and talk about things,” they said. “It has also helped me deal with the things that led me to counselling in the first place, like how to avoid unnecessary arguments, how to deal with the outcome of arguments, how to have your inner voice heard — in a calm state — all of these things have helped me so much.”