The Peoples’ Counselling Clinic

The Peoples' Counselling Clinic is a registered non-profit, community based, pro-bono mental health clinic that provides direct services and public education focused on issues of trauma, race, sex and gender. We work with under-served populations including victims and perpetrators of sexual and intimate partner violence using a forensic mental health approach to practice. We have partnered with various Justice and community agencies to offer assessment, counselling, and case management services to people of all genders, although our focus has been on male-identified individuals. The Peoples' Clinic, in partnership with the African Nova Scotian Decade for People of African Descent Coalition, supported the development of the African Nova Scotian Justice Institute, which now manages the intake and assignment of Impact of Race and Culture Assessments for the courts of Nova Scotia. We also conduct parental capacity assessments on contract with the Department of Community Services Child Welfare Service.

A free, community based, "teaching clinic", the Peoples' Counselling Clinic was established as an outgrowth of the private practice of our Director Emeritus Robert Wright. The clinic became a non-profit in 2017. Robert turned over leadership of the clinic to our current Executive Director, James Dubé in 2024. Services are delivered by counselling professionals and students in a professional, supervised environment. Priority clients of the clinic are hard to serve, multi-problemed, often street affected individuals whose needs are currently being underserved by other systems and programmes. As a low-barrier, culturally competent and queer friendly space, the Clinic often provides services to racialized, queer, and marginalized clients.

We offer counselling services in a wide range of areas, including: Trauma, including complex trauma stemming from severe abuse, neglect, racial violence, and other adverse childhood experiences; Patterns of abuse in relationships, including counselling for people involved in criminal Justice processes; Family of origin, attachment, and development; Sexual behaviour problems. We provide a confidential, supportive and safe space to help people heal and grow.

The clinic's links to public safety considerations are several: We employ and train forensic clinicians to work in the context of the intersection of law and mental health; our staff are experts in sexual and domestic violence; we regularly consult and train in prevention of crime and treatment of the harm caused by criminal behaviour.

The programs we offer include:

-ManTalk, group therapy for male-identified victims of sexual abuse

-Inside Out, group therapy for male-identified individuals who are at risk of harming others in various ways

-Free counselling clinic, a low-barrier mental health clinic focused on various issues

-Forensic assessment and treatment services, offered to various community partners when requested (including Child Welfare, The Halifax Refugee Clinic, Family and Criminal Courts)

-Focused programming offered to Black community members and agencies serving people of African descent

-Wellness groups and individual therapy for Halifax Domestic Violence Court Programme participants