COUNSELLING & WELLNESS: Professional Integration Labs

Each semester, we host six (6) Counselling & Wellness Professional Integration Labs scheduled outside of regularly scheduled class hours. As we have two statutory holidays in the semester, several of our online Counselling & Wellness Professional Integration labs will serve as attendance Professional Integration Labs. Attendance at these labs will supplement missed attendance in Full-time Counselling and Wellness courses that are affected by statutory holidays. See relevant holidays and designated lab dates below:

August 3rd - BC Day

September 7th - Labour Day

2-hour 15-minute Lab dates (Professional Integration labs provide 0.5 class attendance):

• Wednesday, July 22nd, from 2:00-4:15 pm (Elective)
• Friday, July 24th, from 2:00-4:15 pm (Elective)
• Wednesday, August 5th, from 2:00-4:15 pm (Professional Integration)
• Friday, August 7th, from 2:00-4:15 pm (Professional Integration)
• Wednesday, September 9th, from 2:00-4:15 pm (Professional Integration)
• Friday, September 11th, from 2:00-4:15 pm (Professional Integration)

All Times in Pacific Daylight Time (Vancouver)

To understand our Attendance Policy & Professional Integration Lab offerings, please see the Student Hub on Moodle.

About this event

Rhodes semesters move quickly, often with very little downtime in between. Students have shared that this pace makes it harder to fully absorb and integrate everything they’re learning - the theory, the skills, and the personal growth that shape them into confident and integrated, professional helpers.

To support this, we now offer Professional Integration (PI) Labs outside of regularly scheduled classes. These sessions provide intentional space to meet with peers in your program stream/semester, reflect on your experiences, and connect the dots between coursework, your personal journey, and your professional development in the coaching, counselling, and wellness fields.

Where a statutory holiday interrupts/affects a regularly scheduled class day, Professional Integration Labs will be assigned to "make-up" for attendance for the affected course.

What to Expect

Facilitators will:

• Create a reflective and supportive space to pause from the pace of coursework.
• Invite you to step back and integrate your learning across classes and personal experiences.
• Encourage dialogue and connection, rather than content review.
• Help you link insights to your personal and professional growth.
• Support you in seeing the bigger picture of your development as a practitioner.

How They Work

Format: 6 Counselling & Wellness PI Labs offered intermittently throughout each semester. For courses affected by a stat holiday, PI make-up Labs will be scheduled within 1–2 weeks after each statutory holiday. Attendance: Labs count toward attendance in each student's course impacted by statutory holidays (April 3, April 6, and May 18). There are specific make-up labs assigned to count towards attendance for each statutory holiday (each providing 0.5 attendance time for the 'missed' class day).

Why Join?

PI Labs go beyond attendance! They are a chance to:

• Network with students from other cohorts who may become future colleagues or referral partners.
• Exchange perspectives and practice professionalism, empathy, and peer support.
• Build community and form long-lasting friendships and professional connections.

Each lab is two hours & 15 minutes long. Students can attend any or all sessions. Each lab is structured but also features organic space to address individual student needs.

Students can expect each lab to be facilitated with the following approximate schedule: Welcome & Framing • Briefly introduce the purpose of the lab: a space to integrate classroom learning into professional identity. • Acknowledge that participants are from different cohorts and stages; emphasize that the session is about shared themes relevant to all practitioners. • Invite each student to share (in 1–2 sentences) what they hope to get from today’s lab.

Mini-Lesson / Concept Spotlight • Facilitator introduces a universal theme relevant to professional life. • Keep the teaching brief, focusing on: o Core concept (theory or skill) o Professional relevance (why it matters in practice) o Reflective prompt (how it connects to students’ current stage of training)

Guided Reflection • Students individually write or journal in response to reflection questions connected to the mini-lesson. • Prompts should allow students to ground the concept in their own experience, regardless of training stage.

Group Engagement • Options: o Large group dialogue: Facilitator facilitates an open discussion of student reflections. o Small group breakout: Students share insights with 2–3 peers, then return to the full group. o Skill practice: If appropriate, students pair up and practice a short counselling skill connected to the theme.

Integration & Application • Facilitator helps students identify: o How today’s theme shows up in their coursework and client/practice work. o One specific action, mindset shift, or experiment they want to try before their next class.

Closing • Round of final reflections: “One takeaway I’m leaving with is...” • Facilitator thanks and reminds participants that labs are an ongoing space for integration, and encourages ongoing reflection.

Dates:

• WEDNESDAY, July 22nd, 2:00 PM - 4:15 PM PT This lab is an elective and does not count towards attendance professional Integration.
• FRIDAY, July 24th, 2:00 PM - 4:15 PM PT This lab is an elective and does not count towards attendance professional Integration.
• WEDNESDAY, August 5th, 2:00 PM - 4:15 PM PT This lab is for 2 hrs 15 mins professional Integration for the Monday, August 3rd missed class, due to the statutory holiday when there is no class.
• FRIDAY, August 7th, 2:00 PM - 4:15 PM PT This lab is for 2 hrs 15 mins professional Integration for the Monday, August 3rd missed class, due to the statutory holiday when there is no class.
• WEDNESDAY, September 9th, 2:00 PM - 4:15 PM PT This lab is for 2 hrs 15 mins professional Integration for the Monday, September 7th missed class, due to the statutory holiday when there is no class.
• FRIDAY, September 11th, 2:00 PM - 4:15 PM PT This lab is for 2 hrs 15 mins professional Integration for the Monday, September 7th missed class, due to the statutory holiday when there is no class.

REGISTRATION:

Registration is required and closes 15 minutes before the start of the event. Ticket Tailor will send the event Zoom link upon registration and 3 days/1 day/10 minutes before the session.

WHO CAN ATTEND:

Rhodes students enrolled in our Life Coach Diploma program, Wellness Counsellor Diploma program, Professional Counsellor Diploma program, part-time Life Skills Coaching Certificate program, full-time Life Coaching certificate program, Professional Integrative Nutrition Diploma program, and Northern Indigenous Counselling Diploma program. Students who are currently in their Counselling/Wellness semesters. Students who have passed these semesters are also eligible to attend.