Harrison & Lambert
Nestled on a quiet street next to the Collingwood General and Marine Hospital, a quaint, red-brick home provides a safe haven for people of all ages seeking qualified counselling and therapy services. Harrison & Lambert, whose motto is Healthy Families Build Healthy Futures, recently landed on the local social work scene specializing in private, confidential practice for individuals and families.
The two people behind the new name and new business are Sarah Harrison-Cragg and Meaghan Lambert, two thirty-something professionals who have formed a creative partnership dedicated to the emotional well-being of the people they serve: children/adolescents, adults and families.
“We are here to assist people in their desires to work through life and family issues and to meet their true potential,” explains Ms. Harrison-Cragg, who has a Master of Social Work (MSW) degree from Wilfrid Laurier University and has worked with children and adults in a variety of settings including mental health, child welfare, the education system, the justice system, adult residential settings and shelters. Ms. Lambert holds a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree and she has worked with children and adults in mental health, addictions, residential treatment homes, the justice system, HIV/AIDS, shelters, and child welfare. Both therapists are registered social workers with the Ontario College of Social Workers. Combined, they share almost 20 years of experience in the social work field, a profession helping individuals, families, groups and communities to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Registered Social Workers (RSWs) specialize in resolving interpersonal relationship problems.
Statistics Canada estimates that more than 2.6 million people in Canada have a mental illness. Depression affects up to 3,000,000 Canadians. Of those, only 25% are diagnosed and 6% are properly treated. Respondents to a recent Ipsos-Reid and Warren Shepell survey identified that the top two contributors to absenteeism and/or health costs in the workplace are depression/anxiety/other mental health disorder (66%) and stress (60%). A 2001 Health Canada report described mental health as a $14 billion health issue in Canada before including the cost of absence from work, long-term disability plans, or untreated illness.
The broad spectrum of counselling offered by Harrison & Lambert encompasses individual therapy for behavioural and emotional disturbances (sadness, personal loss, stress, anxiety, depressed state); marital and family therapy; play and art therapy for working through children’s struggles; assisting adolescents coping with mental health issues; coping with loss through separation, bereavement, life-cycle changes, adoption, and infertility; dealing with alcohol, drug and other substance abuse; and assisting parents with alternative parenting strategies.
The main purposes of therapy are to ease the problems that brought people to treatment; to help them to function better with others; to cope with stress; and to enhance personal growth (confidence, self-esteem, enjoyment).
Harrison & Lambert is centrally-located at 78 Moberly Street in Collingwood. Their offices provide a private, nurturing and soothing environment for counselling services, whether it’s for individual, or family/group appointments.
Soft-spoken, down-to-earth and personable, Ms. Harrison-Cragg has worked continuously with children and adults in a variety of settings, including children’s mental health, during the past decade. Ms. Lambert has also worked with children and adults, including mental health and addictions. “We are solutions-focused,” says Ms. Harrison-Cragg. “We build upon a person’s strengths.”
“As therapists, we are known for our honesty, warmth and sensitivity which we top off with our enduring spirit of humour,” explains Ms. Harrison-Cragg. “Our clients have expressed that they find this combination extraordinarily effective.” For further information, contact Harrison & Lambert at (705) 441-5504, email harrisonlambert@yahoo.ca .
So, who needs therapy?
- people who value their emotional well-being
- people who want to live life to the fullest
- people who want to learn alternative ways to solve problems
- people who want to learn more about themselves
- people who realize that it is okay to look for help in dealing with issues that are too difficult to deal with on their own
- people just like you!
