Welcome! We are now operating as catherineandduaneokane.com, so if you're looking for current events and more information about our cutting-edge Transformative Group Process, head over there.
From 1998-2024, Clearmind International Institute Inc., founded by Catherine and Duane O'Kane, offered in-person and online professional training, personal growth workshops, and leadership development. This page remains active as a record for graduates of our counsellor training program and those researching the content of our diploma program.
If you need to make direct contact, request information with our current facilitators, workshop producers or ambassadors they are listed below:
Catherine O’Kane/ Facilitator/ info@catherineandduaneokane.com
Duane O’Kane/ Facilitator/ info@catherineandduaneokane.com
Michelle Glenn/ General Administrator and Project Coordinator/ michglenn.cdok@gmail.com
Client Services/ info@catherineandduaneokane.com
Craig Wanless/ Facilitator/ craigwanless.cdok@gmail.com
UK Team:
Neil Renton/ General Manager - UK/ neilrenton.cdok@gmail.com
Jacquie Fisher/ Ambassador - UK/ jacquiefisher.cdok@gmail.com
Kerrie-lee Barr/ Producer - Liverpool/ kerrieleebarr.cdok@gmail.com
Johanna Sole-Polli/ Producer - Surrey/ johannasolepolli.cdok@gmail.com
Ireland Team:
Neil Renton/ Ambassador – Ireland/ neilrenton.cdok@gmail.com
PRACTITIONERS TRAINING: 2005-2024
Clearmind International Institute Inc. announced that we would no longer offer our counsellor training program in the spring of 2020. The last cohort in our program is completed in the spring of 2024. The page on the program supports our outstanding graduates and those seeking information on their education. The program we offered adjusted over time to meet the required competencies of the counselling profession. This page is an accurate reflection of the last iteration of our program. Our 3-year trauma-informed Diploma program was grounded in established psychotherapy, including positive and transpersonal psychology and systemic, experiential, relational, and humanistic approaches.
The Course Outline and Policies provide detailed information on our unique experiential learning model.
YEAR 1:
The program's first year focussed on self-awareness, which is the vital foundation for relationship skills. To be a good counsellor, you must know how your identity, beliefs, and values were formed and be personally familiar with the emotional territory you will explore with your future clients.
The first-year curriculum included Human Development, Attachment, and Systems Theory. Students engaged in creative learning activities and emotional processes designed to foster cognitive and emotional self-awareness. Exercises included writing an autobiography, completing a family of origin study, and presenting a genogram. For a sample overview of classes and readings for year one from the final cohort, please see PRAC 1 Curriculum Overview.
YEAR 2:
The second year of the program shifted to the interpersonal dynamic and learning the foundational skills of psychotherapy. Admission into the program's second year required successful completion of the program's first year, as well as an undergraduate degree or the equivalent by Prior Learning Assessment Recognition (PLAR).
Year 2 focused intensely on the theory and practice of the experiential and relational schools of therapy that are the foundation for lasting change. These include, but are not limited to, Person-Centred, Gestalt, Existential, AEDP, ACT, Psychodrama, Buddhist/Mindfulness, Transpersonal and Somatic approaches. From the systemic context established in year 1, students learned to navigate relationally with each other and clients, learning how to use self safely and effectively in the therapeutic context. For a sample overview of classes and readings for year 2, please see our PRAC 2 Curriculum Overview.
YEAR 3:
PRAC 3 integrated and expanded on previous learning in trauma-informed practice and multi-cultural counselling and offered specific training in group therapy and leadership skills. The bulk of the 400-hour Counselling Practicum occurred in this final year of the program. Students benefited from a minimum of 70 hours of professional supervision, allowing them to hone their skills responsibly under experienced Counsellors.
For a sample overview of classes and readings for year 3, please see our PRAC 3 Curriculum Overview.
ACCREDITATIONS
Clearmind International Institute Inc. was designated by the Private Training Institutions Branch of the Ministry for Advanced Education in BC (#03151). Clearmind International Institute Inc. also had an Education Quality Assurance designation. The National Council of Integrative Psychotherapists also accredited the program in the UK. These applied while the program was active, and we are no longer designated or accredited as an institution under these governing bodies. Upon completing our program, students qualified to apply for registration in Canada and the United Kingdom. In Canada, graduates could apply with the Association of Cooperative Counselling Therapists (ACCT) or the Canadian Professional Counsellor's Association (CPCA) as 'Registered Therapeutic or Professional Counsellors and will receive a Diploma in' Transpersonal Counselling Psychology'. UK graduates can apply to the National Council of Integrated Psychotherapists (NCIP).
Accessing Student Records:
The Private Training Institutions Branch of the Ministry for Advanced Education in BC (PTIB) retains student and graduate records. These records include transcripts diplomas (if awarded), and may also contain student contracts. Students (those who left the institute with an ‘Incomplete’ status) and Graduates (those who left the institute with a ‘Credential’ status) can send an email to PTIB@gov.bc.ca to access their records.
The student / graduate will need to provide the following information:
PTIB’s reference to Clearmind International’s identification number: 03151
Their name, first and last name
The approximate date they last attended or graduated
There is no charge to access these records through PTIB. Please note that because our registered instution is closed, this is the only place to access student records, and contracts, transcripts and diplomas are the only records available.