I gave the following members statement in the Nova Scotia legislature on March 6, 2024:
Speaker, in the absence of a truly universal mental health care program in Nova Scotia, accessing timely and affordable or free mental health care is a significant challenge for Nova Scotians -a challenge that is being alleviated in part by a not-for-profit in Dartmouth, the Couch of HOPE. In 2020, when founding counsellor Michelle Labine and her colleagues noticed that their sliding-scale counselling spots were all full, it became clear that more radical action was required. At the same time, Michelle’s group practice was hearing from Master’s of Counselling students who needed clinical practicum hours, and that’s when Couch of HOPE was born. Clients dealing with stress, anxiety, depression, addiction, trauma, relationship issues, grief, life transitions, and more meet with a counselling therapist intern who is supported by a practicum supervisor and professor. In 2023, Michelle was named the United Way Invisible Champion for her work with Couch of HOPE. Recently, Couch of HOPE partnered with the North Grove to offer appointments to people there on site.
I ask the House to join me in expressing my deep gratitude to Michelle and the whole Couch of HOPE team for doing their part in making mental health care truly accessible in Nova Scotia.