Our awards recognize outstanding leadership, lifetime contributions, innovation, research, and volunteer service in the field of clinical counselling and psychotherapy across British Columbia. Through these awards, we honour those who make a difference in advancing the wellbeing of individuals and communities throughout our province.
These are the awards that we’ve offered:
Distinguished Lifetime Contributions to Clinical Counselling and Psychotherapy
BCACC Impact Award for Mental Health Organizations
Volunteer Award
Clinical Supervisor Award
Distinguished Professional Contributions to Applied Research
Practitioners’ Award
Student of the Year Award
Joan Campbell Award
2025 Recipients
BCACC recognizes outstanding contributions to the counselling profession through our annual awards program. The 2025 recipients represent excellence in clinical practice, leadership, and dedication to advancing mental health care in British Columbia.
Allan Wade, PhD, RCC, CM
Distinguished Lifetime Contributions to the Profession Award.
Allan Wade, Ph.D., RCC, a long-standing member of the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors, was appointed to the Order of Canada for his pioneering work in developing response-based practice, a specialized approach to addressing violence. A therapist, researcher, author, and academic, Allan has worked extensively with victims and perpetrators of violent crimes, as well as with First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities across Canada. He also played a key role in developing City University’s Master of Counselling program.
Dr. David Hutton
Humanitarian Award
Dr. Dave Hutton holds an interdisciplinary doctorate from the University of Manitoba and has been engaged in emergency management and humanitarian work for more than 20 years. He currently serves as Director of Provincial Psychosocial Services with the Provincial Health Services Authority, supporting the mental health and resilience of communities across British Columbia impacted by emergencies. Internationally, Dave spent a decade with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and has participated in humanitarian missions around the world—most recently in Ukraine where he provided psychosocial care in response to the war. He is also the founder of the Grassroots Hero Foundation, which supports community volunteers in Ukraine to address the unmet needs of children, older adults, and others who might otherwise be left without assistance
Dr. Elder Roberta Price
Honorary Membership Award
Dr. Elder Roberta Price, of the Coast Salish (Snuneymuxw & Cowichan Nations), has spent more than 30 years dedicated to improving health and mental health in BC. She has shaped policy and practice through her roles as Elder in Residence with Vancouver Coastal Health’s Aboriginal Wellness Program, co-investigator in equity research at UBC, and leader in integrating Indigenous and Western health practices. Her work includes facilitating cultural safety training, guiding Indigenous healing practices in clinical settings, and advocating for healing, justice, and inclusion for Indigenous peoples across the province.
College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario
BCACC Impact Award for Mental Health Organization Award
Awarded for their collaborative and supportive partnership with BCACC—most notably by providing a letter of equivalency to the Canada Revenue Agency, ensuring RCCs were recognized as equivalent to RPs for tax purposes and removing the need for individual members to seek equivalency on their own. CRPO has also offered guidance on a potential grandparenting path into the new regulatory college and provided thoughtful review of BCACC’s standards of practice. Through their collegial sharing of knowledge, processes, and intellectual property, CRPO has helped strengthen the regulation and provision of mental health in BC.
Christopher Leckman
BCACC Student Member Award
Awarded for his measurable community contributions to the profession in the world of recovery and recognition from his Clinical Supervisors which have led to his appointment as a student leader.
Clinical Supervisors of the Year:
David Stewart
PhD, RCC-ACS
Dr. Evangeline Willms Thiessen, RCC-ACS
Janet White
RCC-ACS
Awarded for their leadership, collaboration, and sustained commitment to the creation of the RCC-ACS designation and the development of a clear path for clinicians in BC to train as clinical supervisors.
In 2020, they formed a task force to identify the need for qualified clinical supervisors and to explore how a designation program could support the profession. Each brought forward their own educational models for supervisor training and worked together to define the qualifications required to ensure competent, ethical supervision within the counselling community. Their efforts led to the establishment of the Clinical Supervision Committee, the creation of the Legacy Application Program, and the development of the RCC-ACS designation pathway. Their ongoing work continues to shape education, standards, and accessible routes for RCCs seeking to become approved clinical supervisors.
Distinguished Professional Contributions
to Applied Research Award Recipients
Meg Kapil, PhD, RCC-ACS
Dr. Meg Kapil has made a significant applied research contribution through her doctoral work integrating stress optimization and self-regulated learning into counselling practice and educational settings.
Learn more about Meg’s work:
As principal investigator, she developed a new theoretical framework linking stress regulation, coping self-efficacy, and learning management to student flourishing, and created practical tools such as the Academic Well-Being Scale and the Stress Stories Project, which has been piloted with students in BC schools. Her research offers counsellors concrete strategies to reframe stress, support mental health, and enhance student success, and has already led to publications, conference presentations, curriculum development, and professional training. Through the integration of theory and practice, her work is shaping new approaches to student well-being and strengthening the profession’s capacity to respond to emerging needs.
Rhett-Lawson Mohajer, PsyD, RP, RCC
Rhett-Lawson Mohajer has made a meaningful applied research contribution through his phenomenological study examining how musical improvisation transforms psychological experience and supports therapeutic change.
Learn more about his work:
Drawing on his dual background as a musician and psychotherapist, he designed and led original research exploring how playing instruments influences personality structure, emotional processing, and attachment-related meaning. His work engaged participants across multiple countries and cultural contexts, offering clinicians new insight into music as a relational and expressive pathway for healing. Through international publication and knowledge-sharing, his research is expanding the field’s understanding of how creative practice can deepen therapeutic work and inform counselling approaches.
Practitioner of the Year Recipients:
Constance Lynn Hummel, RCC
Constance Lynn Hummel, RCC-ACS is widely recognized for her ethical leadership and meaningful contributions to the counselling profession over the past 15 years.
She co-authored the Suicide Prevention, Intervention & Postvention Initiative for the BC Government, has served on Adler University’s Research Ethics Board for 15 years, and has been an active member of BCACC’s Editorial and Education Advisory Committee for nearly a decade.
Learn more about her work:
Hundreds of clinicians have benefited from her work as Co-Founder of the award-winning Westland Academy of Clinical Sex Therapy and as Founder of The Business of Helping, where she has provided clinical leadership, private-practice training, and strategic guidance.
In her private practice, she supports leaders in high-pressure roles whose wellness influences broader organizational and community systems. Her blend of clinical intensives with leadership and peak-performance coaching extends her impact across the leaders and institutions she serves province-wide.
Mary Klovance, RCC
Mary Klovance exemplifies excellence in client care through her founding and leadership of the Neurodiversity Family Centre and her affirming, trauma-informed support of neurodivergent individuals and families. She is deeply committed to ethical, client-centred practice and actively promotes neurodiversity-affirming approaches through her education, training, and advocacy work.
Learn more about her work:
Mary extends her impact beyond the therapy room through workshops and systemic change initiatives in schools, workplaces, and community settings.
As a board member with the Institute of Neurodiversity Canada and the Accessibility Advisory Committee for School District 61, and as an educator, supervisor, and mentor, she strengthens the profession by shaping inclusive practices and supporting the next generation of counsellors. Her work continues to expand access, shift systems, and inspire more responsive, affirming approaches to care.
Shelly Dean, PhD, RCC
Shelly Dean has devoted more than three decades to counselling, advocacy, and community service, offering responsive, dignity-based support to individuals, families, and organizations across British Columbia and the Yukon. Her work alongside Indigenous communities is grounded in cultural respect and systemic awareness, and she is widely sought after for her leadership in areas such as violence prevention, sexualized assault response, child welfare reporting, and social justice.
Learn more about her work:
With expertise spanning youth and family support, language and relational practice, organizational development, and equity-focused systemic change, she brings both compassion and clarity to complex contexts. As a counsellor, consultant, supervisor, author, and mentor, she advances ethical standards and strengthens the profession through education, collaboration, and practice-based leadership.
Volunteers of the Year Recipients
Awarded for their longstanding volunteer commitment to BCACC
Jane Goransen-Coleman
1999 – 2025 – and beyond!
Kevin McMullen
2005 – 2025.
Kathy Lauriente
2002 – 2025.
