Serene View Ranch PEI

11/05/2024

It is with sad hearts that we we say goodbye to one of Serene View Ranch’s strongest supporters. Dr Beck helped many of our clients with care, compassion and great empathy. The team at SVR offers our deepest condoléances to his family.

Share memories & support the family

07/04/2024

As we get into spring, let’s decide on how we see things in our life

11/02/2024

Check out the new space our friends from Stratford Occupational Therapy just moved in to. When we change our address, we will be even closer to each other on Myrtle Street.

So grateful for our collaboration over the years. Congratulations to Donna and the team!

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=362304116750436&set=a.111956195118564

We're thrilled to announce that Stratford Occupational Therapy has moved to a new location to better serve you!

Our new address will be 2 Myrtle Street in the Stratford Business Park, just down the road from our former location at 25 Myrtle Street. We're confident this new space will provide an even better experience for our valued clients.

Have questions about the move? Drop them in the comments below or send us a message, and we'll be happy to help! Feel free to visit our website to learn more about our services: www.StratfordOT.com.

Stay tuned for more updates as we settle into our new space. Thank you for your continued support—we couldn't do it without you!

19/01/2024

To all our valued clients of Serene View Ranch Psychological Services (SVR). It is hard to believe that we have been serving our PEI community for close to 10 years. For those who have been around for all of those years and even before then with Caroline, Barb and Alan (44 Grafton Charlottetown location), you have seen continued growth with SVR and the variety of mental health treatments that we offer. This has included expansions of the ranch and the opening of 25 Myrtle Street (3 years ago this summer).

Well, here we go again. As we continue to grow and develop our team in the evidence-based and trauma focused treatments for PTSD, complex trauma and many other areas of mental health services, SVR has decided to move our entire team under one roof to 8 Myrtle Street, Stratford in June, 2024. Please see the picture attached of the new office. SVR will be renting one part of the building, the top back part. The building has a private entrance for clients, an elevator, ample free parking and lovely offices with windows, air conditioning and a few group rooms.

We also have found a new location for our very important equine assisted psychotherapy programs and our 6 equine partners. Our equine specialist, Kristi Rockley, has a well appointed indoor arena and a separate group meeting room at her country location in the Suffolk area (12-15 minutes from downtown Charlottetown). All our equine programs will continue at Kristi’s ranch and we hope to see expansion of our popular equine programs once the herd is moved later this year (moving date yet to be determined).

As we prepare for this big move in June, we will be ensuring that we take every care possible to create a clinic that will be private, quiet, safe, welcoming and worthy of all the clients we serve. We will also be consulting with some clients in order to get opinions on the most crucial areas, such as the entrance, the waiting room and the group rooms.

Finally, we want you to know that this has not been an easy decision for Jim and I as owners of SVR. The property is very large, requires much care and as an aging couple, we needed to find a place where SVR can continue to grow and be at the same time, more manageable. All of us are feeling great sadness as we grieve the end to this chapter in our lives. The beautiful vistas, the horses being “right there”, our amazing walking trails and private grounds, will forever be in our hearts.

While the physical space at SVR will change, the caring and safe environment created by our dedicated staff will not. SVR will continue with our sought after individualized treatment, cutting edge and innovative approaches. We look forward to having you a part of this exciting new phase.

Caroline, Jim and the entire team of SVR

18/12/2023

Service Highlight - Music Therapy

“Music Therapy is the skillful use of music and musical elements by an accredited music therapist to promote, maintain, and restore mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Music has nonverbal, creative, structural, and emotional qualities. These are used in the therapeutic relationship to facilitate contact, interaction, self-awareness, learning, self-expression, communication, and personal development”. (Canadian Association for Music Therapy)

Through the therapeutic relationship in Music Therapy, trust is developed and helps to create a positive and non-threatening environment that is completely focused on a client’s needs and well-being. Music Therapy provides an outlet for personal expression and intellectual enlightenment. It fosters participation and involvement, allowing a client to feel a sense of accomplishment and increase their confidence. This then will help a client build the tools they need to help themselves throughout their life.

A significant amount of peer reviewed research of Music Therapy has proven to be a beneficial intervention for a wide variety of populations, such as (but not limited to) children and adults with Depression, Anxiety, Sleep Challenges, Stress, Mental Illness, Down Syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Neurological Impairments, Head Injuries, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Learning Disabilities, Fine and Gross Motor Delays, Social and Behavioral Challenges, and Speech Difficulties. Music Therapy is client focused, and the treatment plan, musical instruments, techniques and interventions used are based on the client’s needs.

Read more about our wonderful Music Therapists, Taylor Blackett and Megan Perry here: https://www.sereneviewranch.com/mental-health-team

If you’re unsure if your health insurance will cover Music Therapy, be sure to check out Our Benefits Eligibility Guide:https://www.sereneviewranch.com/_files/ugd/6bac9f_0754c1b655584305b643a58252b5504c.pdf

11/11/2023

Lest we forget.

Here is a list of ceremonies, services and gatherings across the Island: https://tinyurl.com/3r472u4w

09/11/2023

For Indigenous Veterans Day, the Town of Stratford unveiled a new panel sharing the story of Mi'kmaq sisters Rachael and Blanche Thomas' contributions to WWII.

Read the full story here: https://ow.ly/t5Ak50Q5Esg

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=727294359432094&set=pcb.727294402765423

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 8, 2023 Today the Town of Stratford unveiled a fourth interpretive panel in a series commemorating wartime acts of significance. The latest interpretive panel tells the wartime story two Mi’kmaq sisters from Stratford, then Southport, who both enlisted during the Se...

07/11/2023

Service Highlight - Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a core part of our philosophy and approach at SVR. Many of our clinicians incorporate the principles of mindfulness into the service(s) they offer.

We also have specific mindfulness programming available. Our main program is MBSR or Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction. MBSR is an intensive 8-week, once weekly, group program developed by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn and associates at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in 1979. It is now an internationally acclaimed program with a growing body of research supporting its potential benefits for a variety of populations.

Mindfulness at the Serene View Ranch was introduced by Psychologist, Barb Jones, who continues to be a mindfulness consultant to the staff at the Ranch.

Susana Rutherford has taken over the reins (got to love a good horse pun!), who brings over six years of experience in mental health and addictions to SVR. Susana has completed training in Dialectical Behavioural Therapy, and courses through National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioural Medicine as well as Training for Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness and MMCTP.

For more on MBSR read on here: https://www.sereneviewranch.com/m

To learn more about our amazing staff click here: https://www.sereneviewranch.com/our-team

02/11/2023

Serene View Ranch will be at the Holistic Wellness Market at the Stratford Town Hall Gym on Saturday, November 4th, from 12-4pm. This market will highlight over 20 local vendors who offer goods and services pertaining to holistic wellness – but not just for people, but pets too! All are welcome. $2 admission - bring cash. For more information, visit mysticowl.ca/holistic-wellness-market.

25/10/2023

More photos and memories shared with the best colleagues around! Wish we were able to get photos of everyone who attended. We are so grateful and fortunate we can take the time and grow individually as well as a team.

https://www.facebook.com/centregoeland provides a beautiful backdrop and our guest, Dr. Michael Yellow Bird shared some insightful findings from his work on Neurodecolonization, which he describes “involves combining mindfulness approaches with traditional and contemporary secular and sacred contemplative practices to replace negative patterns of thought, emotion and behavior with healthy, productive ones.” More on this here: https://www.indigenousmindfulness.com/about

04/10/2023

Service Highlight - Biofeedback

Biofeedback is a way to help clients develop greater awareness and ability to regulate their physiological functioning by using signals from their own bodies with the goal of improving their well-being, health, and performance. Biofeedback helps in retraining the nervous system to produce more helpful responses in the long term.

Common modalities of biofeedback include:
1. Respiratory: measuring rate and pattern of breathing
2. Cardiovascular: measuring heart rate, heart rate variability, and blood volume pulse
3. Neuromuscular: measuring muscle tension with surface electromyography
4. Skin Conductance: measuring eccrine sweat gland activity
5. Peripheral skin temperature: measuring finger and/or toe temperature

Clients who may benefit include those suffering from:
1. PTSD
2. Chronic Stress
3. Panic Disorder
4. Generalized Anxiety Disorder
5. Headaches (migraine and tension headaches, but not cluster headaches)
6. Chronic Pain
7. Difficulty sleeping

Clients with the following concerns are not likely to benefit from biofeedback:
1. Psychotic illness
2. Inability to develop sensory awareness
3. Lack of motivation
4. Unable to attend to process
5. Unable to complete home practice
6. Cluster Headaches

During a typical biofeedback session:
- sensors are placed on specific areas of the client’s body depending on the type of response being measured
- the sensors are connected to a device that provides visual or audio feedback on clients physiological responses
- Therapist guides client through various exercises that may include visualization, meditation, breathing etc.
- homework will be assigned between each session

Each session is about one hour and you can expect the full treatment to include at least ten weekly sessions. Check out our Benefits Eligibility Guide to see if you may be covered under your insurance.https://www.sereneviewranch.com/_files/ugd/6bac9f_0754c1b655584305b643a58252b5504c.pdf

Here is a video explaining Biofeedback further: https://youtu.be/4Sin4QR4cwo?si=6Vo3C-vowDyXItkI

Also read more about our wonderful clinicians Taylor, Lydia and Megan here: https://www.sereneviewranch.com/mental-health-team

30/09/2023