SMAHOO Change Clinic was founded in August 2009 by its Clinical Director & Clinical Supervisor, Shirvington Hannays. This website is a virtual online Outpatient Telehealth clinic for addiction counselling, and relapse prevention planning or rescue. He has a proven track record working with youth and adults using REBT (Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy) techniques to achieve measurable recovery and sustained behavioural change. Rebranded on April 30th, 2022 as a virtual online Multimedia TeleHealth #RElapseREScue prevention and Mind wellness Self-Care portal.

He credits his work with at-risk populations on the streets and in homeless shelters, daily residential client life-skills training; treatment and relapse prevention planning; weekly addiction counselling; and case management for his decision to specialize in Relapse prevention and rescue. That led to his development of a culturally sensitive therapeutic approach to substance Abuse or Dependency treatment based on Music Therapy, and Narrative Therapy (#smtTherapy) “SMAHOO Musical Theatre Therapy”; and his signature #smahooBITS “SMAHOO Brief Intervention Therapies”; and #RElapseRESCue “How to Rescue Your Self from a Relapse”.

He enhanced his clinical knowledge and skill-sets as an Addiction and Community service work instructor at several private colleges and clinical supervision and motivational harm reduction coaching for longer sustained sobriety, harm reduction; and co-occurring mental illnesses stabilization. Building on his diverse case assessment, intervention, counselling, and case management experience using:

1. CBT, REBT, DBT, ACT and, CRA treatment counselling approaches and modalities.
2. Motivational interviewing to motivate pre-contemplating and contemplating clients to move beyond ambivalence to change readiness in the short term.

Change Readiness:-

He understood that one of the main reasons for and barriers to sustained behavioural change, recovery, abstinence, sober living or safer harm reduction practices is the lack of readiness to change or motivation to change coupled with no assessment and coaching of the client regarding their stage of change and the most appropriate motivation to change support and counselling needed for that individual as against one size fit all in a traditional residential or outpatient treatment programming for group treatment facilitation.

Therefore, he encourages and advocates for pre-treatment change readiness and

1. Individualized Change readiness coaching and counselling sessions for each person considering treatment and behavioural change.
2. This often is also the case for those challenged by mental illness or mental/emotional distress.

Continuum of Care after active residential or supervised treatment:-

Since studies suggest most lapse and/or relapse in recovery, sober living, harm reduction or mental health wellness management because of a lack of planning or little planning for the potential lapse or relapse.

Sober Living or Harm Reduction:-

The clinic follows the biopsychosocial model of treatment and recovery with the CRA voucher framework for client accountability, self-motivation, and commitment to recovery, for community-based holistic wellness recovery and new behaviours re-enforcement. However, still grounded in a client-centred model of treatment approach and philosophy, and your treatment plan is developed according to the specifics of your case; as well as individualized Relapse prevention, and After-treatment plans.

Mental illness Treatment and Continuum of Care:-

Using a client-centred model of treatment approach and philosophy, coaching and counselling are approached by understanding that mental health wellness is on a spectrum. Needing continuous and mindful practices, especially when in treatment, counselling or recovery for a mental illness or distress diagnosis. Thus always personalized and customized to the client’s treatment, relapse prevention, and continuum of care planning.

These lead to the innovation of the new and innovative “SMAHOO Change Clinic – ‘Online MINDwellness SPA Experience” exclusive subscription-based portal. Besides its new name, the online Clinic will now be an enhanced virtual Telehealth portal and offline community outreach Day Mind-wellness relapse prevention services. Offering LIVE and On-Demand Multimedia SelfCARE Edu-Therapies, online Life-Skills courses, that were soft-launched on April 30th, 2022. As an innovative Canadian alternative for BetterHelp.com, TalkSpace.com and the varying models of Virtual online Counselling services.