Happy Anniversary To Tacit!
Hi Everyone,
This week’s “Dear Tacit” is going to be a little different – we hope you don’t mind. It’s kind of a special month for us and we wanted to share it with you because of the incredible support and encouragement you have all given us over this past decade!
This month, Tacit Knowledge is celebrating our 10th year of providing mental health support to the many different communities that we serve. And that means it has been 8 years of having our “Dear Tacit” articles highlighted in newspapers (both online and in print) all across Canada (and occasionally, even in the United States!)!
Wow – I cannot believe how these years have flown by. My son and I moved to Beaumont when he was so young! He was just starting grade 7 and was thrilled with the idea that he could learn to play basketball LOL (He is 23 years old now – actively works as a firefighter with the Beaumont Fire Department and with Forestry – and he still plays basketball, every chance he gets!). The move was a huge change for us. But this amazing community took us in and helped us feel like we were “home”.
About a year after we started setting down some roots, Tacit Knowledge was born. At first, it was just me, working part-time in the evenings and on weekends, after I came home from my regular day-job. I began by providing 1:1 and couples counselling, for teens and adults. And by providing Mental Health Professional Development Training sessions for agencies/organizations that worked with the public (based on the decades of experience/training I had had throughout my career – I have been doing this work for 34 years now, can you believe it?).
The desire for mental health services in Beaumont was strong – people knew they wanted to find ways to feel happier and healthier. But the stigma was also strong, and people sometimes felt deterred from reaching out. The fact that Tacit’s main office is in my home seemed to create a sense of comfort for many of our clients, especially 10 years ago. It helps protect people’s privacy as they reach out for the support they are wanting. And people came from all sorts of neighbouring areas (Leduc, New Sarepta, Devon, Thorsby, Pigeon Lake, Wetaskiwin, St Albert, Sherwood Park, Edmonton, etc).
Very quickly, Tacit grew bigger. I was embraced by some incredible helping organizations around town, and the counselling services expanded. Tacit was able to start offering free group programs and workshops, often in partnership with these other businesses that had already been working so hard in support of this community (FCSS and the Library, just to name a couple). I felt it was important to give back some of the encouragement I had been shown when I first arrived. And so, I also approached La Nouvelle Beaumont News with an offer to write a monthly mental wellness article, designed to feature free resources and psycho-educational information that could be a benefit to anyone. The paper very graciously accepted.
And Tacit grew some more. Our monthly mental wellness newspaper articles became weekly segments – and “Dear Tacit” was created. People who read the articles started writing in with their questions – I cannot tell you what an amazing connection that has always been for me! Our articles come from the needs of the community, and reflect the issues that matter the most to our readers. It’s a privilege to be able to “speak” to everyone every week, as we pay respect to the worries and fears that surround many different types of mental health issues. I am so proud of the ways that the readers beat back the stigma that surrounds these kinds of conversations!
And Tacit kept growing. We are now a team of 7 – soon to be 8! Our team includes 4 (soon to be 5) very experienced, well educated and well trained, mental health therapists who continue to provide therapy to many teens/adults from Beaumont and the outlying communities. We also continue to offer Mental Wellness Workshops and Support Programs every month – almost always free – and available to everyone (not just the residents of Beaumont). We facilitate (in-person and virtual) Training sessions for workplace teams in all sort of different fields, all of which have been approved for Continuing Education Credits by the Canadian Professional Counsellors Association. And with the help of our amazing NF Team, we started providing Neurofeedback Training/Therapy options almost 2 years ago, giving people with all sorts of challenges (anxiety, depression, PTSD, headaches, sleep challenges, ADHD, focus/concentration problems, etc) a chance to regain their emotional and mental wellness, without the need for traditional talk-therapy.
When Tacit opened its doors 10 years ago, we made a promise to ensure that the people in our community would be supported in their mental health needs, regardless of their financial situation. And in partnership with MANY different organizations now, we continue to honour this commitment. 30-40% of ALL of our Tacit services are offered at probono and/or deeply subsidized rates, every month. If we cannot help someone who reaches out to us (because this does happen at times – especially when people call for services that we simply do not offer), we make a point to offer recommendations for trusted therapists that we know will be able to meet their needs. We never want to leave anyone hanging!
Tacit is so deeply grateful and appreciative of all of you who have invited us to come into your lives, in one manner or another. You have allowed us to walk beside you as you have journeyed down your own mental wellness paths. And the trips we have taken together have truly touched our hearts. We plan to be here for another 10 years, for all of the people who grace us with a small part of their lives. If there is ever anything we can do to support you, your family or your workplace, we hope you will reach out to talk to us more.
Thank you everyone! No matter where you live or what paper you are reading this from, keep writing in to us with your “Dear Tacit” questions (they always stay anonymous) and help us make this weekly feature everything that you would like it to be. We look forward to being able to connect with you all!
Take care!
Do you have a question you would like us to address? Please feel free to reach out to us at counsellors@tacitknows.com. Your answer will be provided confidentially.
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