Congratulations! If you are reading this you have been identified as someone who is motivated, caring, curious, and loves to work with others. This document is the start of a conversation about a one-year associate position called the Launchpad Fellowship (LF).

Launchpad Fellowship

LF is a fellowship for new graduates of a master’s level counselling program who are interested in an intensive year of experience, education, consultation, supervision, and support as they begin their career as a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) in British Columbia. The ideal candidate for this fellowship is someone who desires to launch their own private practice and is eager to do so in a way that allows them a year-long period of guided work in a collaborative manner with a group of established psychotherapists.

A Supported Path to Private Practice

Starting a private counselling practice can be a daunting and isolating endeavor to take on immediately after gaining registration. Becoming an Associate at an established clinic can deal with many of these issues effectively, however, clinics will also require you to work specific times, require a signed non-compete clause, charge a large portion of your session fee, and withhold any clients from following you should you ever want to leave the clinic.

With the Launchpad Fellowship, we design wrap-around support based on your individual needs and hopes for your practice, build a full roster of clients for you within months rather than the years it typically requires, and encourage you to keep all of your clients at the end of the year.

Why

Our deepest desire at Launchpad is to help foster excellent counselling therapy in the Vancouver area. Our goal in designing this fellowship is to create a one-year program that will:

• ●  serve a wide range of clients in the best way possible

• ●  enable a new RCC to have a year in which to learn, grow a full caseload, and

  engage with all aspects of being an RCC with the support of experienced mentor colleagues

• ●  allow the Launchpad Partners1 to share their knowledge, experience, and joy in the art of counselling therapy

• ●  create a program in which all participants— the LF, Launchpad Partners, and clients—all benefit

• ●  equip the LF to begin their private practice with a full caseload of clients and ongoing, trusted collegial relationships

  How

  During the year the fellow will serve as a counselling associate in a contract manner2. In return the fellow will receive a robust hourly rate, weekly consultation, monthly supervision, and access to on-call support. The fellow will also receive opportunities for continuing education through consultation and in more formal settings during the year.

  Requirements

• ●  Master’s Degree in Counselling Psychology (or related) including comprehensive ethical examinations and supervised clinical practicum

• ●  Current registration with applicable regulatory body (e.g. RCC with the BCACC)

• ●  Professional liability insurance

• ●  Business license

• ●  GST registration

• ●  Functional website

• ●  Office space or ability to conduct out-of-office counselling sessions via telehealth

• ●  Willingness to do a minimum of 20 hours of direct client sessions per week

  Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• ●  Desire to work collaboratively

• ●  Ability to conduct non-manualized, client-centered therapy

• ●  Orientation towards social justice and harm reduction

• ●  Commitment to ethical practice including supervision, consultation, and self-care

• ●  Ability to build your caseload and referral network via good practice

• ●  Commitment to professional development

• ●  Willingness to exercise sliding scale and pro bono options for professional

  practice

  1 The Launchpad Partners are a professional yet casual and collaborative team with high standards and drive. We are dedicated to what we do and encourage our Fellow towards personal leadership and professional development. We offer competitive payment and aim for our Fellow to be equipped to be successful in private practice.
  2 Although it will be in a contract manner and we will have things in writing, this contract will be built on and dependent on mutual trust.

If you’ve read this far and you’re still interested, contact us to set up a meeting. We’ll buy the coffees.