Practitioner’s Corner

By Sahri Woods Baum, Centre for Student Development and Counselling, Ryerson Polytechnic University; and a member of the Contact Point board

As a counsellor working in a university counselling service, I am very excited about Contact Point, which allows career counsellors across Canada, and in fact worldwide, to access up-to-date information and exchange ideas and information almost instantaneously.

I know that often in my practice I have questions regarding what resources might be most useful in working with particular types of clients or with clients who are facing certain unique problems or difficulties. It’s encouraging to know that there is a Resource Centre that provides annotated bibliographies of materials which can be easily accessed via a keyword search.

From a professional development perspective, I’m often aware of the larger conferences taking place in different parts of Canada; however, I find it harder to locate local P.D. offerings. The Professional Development area is a wonderful arena for discovering information about regional opportunities which may be shorter and more affordable than many of the conferences.

One of the major advantages of this site is the Discussion Forum, which gives counsellors a chance to pose questions to colleagues and get feedback on a range of topics of interest to many practitioners. It’s exciting to think I have the chance to tap into, on a daily basis, some of the creative ways my colleagues are dealing with career-related issues.

I’m very proud to have been involved as a board member in the development of Contact Point. I encourage all my colleagues working within the post-secondary setting to make use of the site and contribute to its on-going development by taking an active role in on-line discussions.