Counselling Services

Counsellor Profile - Jan DeFehr

Contact Info:
To book an appointment: 204.786.9231
Office Hours: Mondays through Fridays, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm.
Office Phone: 204.786.9379
Rm: 1AO9B
Email: jn.defehr@uwinnipeg.ca

Education:

• Ph.D., University of Tilburg, Social & Behavioral Sciences, Tilburg, The Netherlands
• M.S.W., University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba
• B.A., University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba
• A.R.C.T., Piano Performance, University of Toronto Conservatory of Music
  

Philosophy of Practice:

Throughout time and across culture, people have met together to address their concerns through conversation—in fields, kitchens, offices, bars, back alleys.  Blues singer Lucinda Williams is so right, “there’s something about what happens when we talk.”

When we talk, and when we listen and really hear one another, we cannot remain the same. When we tell our stories, wrestle with our difficulties, when we reflect and respond, we invite new realities into our lives. New possibilities emerge in our shared search for practical understanding. Talk is action, and talk furthers action. There’s something about what happens when we talk.

My approach to practice is dialogic and collaborative, based on compassion and respect (see Harlene Anderson’s work & other scholars & practitioners such as John Shotter, Jaakko Seikkula, Lynn Hoffman, Tom Andersen, Kenneth Gergen, Sheila McNamee, Tom Strong, Dan Wulff, Sally St. George). Rather than imposing labels, advice, or ready-made treatment strategies, I find it is most useful to honour and nurture the unique ‘local’ wisdom and expertise each student offers. Together we find ways to go on. Advocacy is also an important part of my work as I aim to challenge systemic barriers that exclude and marginalize persons and communities.

Personal interests:

Running, swimming, piano, the arts, Winnipeg Folk Festival, vegetarian cuisine, eco-sustainability, community activism.

A quote I keep close by:

• “I want to beg you, as much as I can, dear sir, to be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.” – Rainer Maria Rilke

 Music I’m enjoying these days:

• The National
• The Wailin’ Jennys
• Marie-Pierre Arthur
• J.S. Bach Two-Part Inventions for Piano
• Chopin Etudes
• My daughters’ cello & classical guitar

Employment Overview:

2010 – Present	Counsellor, Student Services, University of Winnipeg.
2000 – 2010	Counsellor, Klinic Community Drop-In Program, 545 Broadway Ave. Counsellor, Klinic Community Health Centre Post-Trauma Program, 871 Portage Ave
2009	Sessional Instructor, Counselling Theory: Collaborative Premises & Practices, University of Winnipeg.
2008	Sessional Instructor, Counselling Theory: Collaborative Premises &  Practices, University of Manitoba, Inner City Social Work Program.
2008 – 2011	Counsellor, Private Practice, Department of Justice, Compensation for Victims of Crime Program
2001	Sessional Instructor, Counselling Theory: Collaborative Premises & Practices, Red River College.
1999	Group and Individual Counsellor, (term) Evolve Program, Klinic Community Health Centre, 871 Portage Ave.
1991 – 1993	Juvenile Counsellor, Manitoba Youth Centre.

Affiliations:

• Taos Institute Associate
• Honourary Faculty, Houston Galveston Institute

Clinical & Research Interests:

• Social determinants of health and well-being.     
  
• Navigating times of crisis; suicide prevention; collaborative risk assessment.
• Bettering refugee & immigrant experience in Canada.
• Promoting indigenous social inquiry in social science research and clinical practice.
• Promoting inclusion, diversity, justice, and belonging on campus, and beyond.
• Discourse analysis and critical thinking in the social sciences.
• Collaborative clinical evaluation.  
• Master’s thesis focused on domestic violence and hospital emergency policy change.
• Doctoral research focused on reciprocity & mutual influence in collaborative clinical practice.
• Post-doctoral qualitative research project explores newcomer experience of Canadian Social Service practitioner attitudes.
  

Selected Publications:

• DeFehr, J. (2008). Transforming encounters and interactions: A dialogical inquiry into the influence of Collaborative therapy in the lives of its practitioners. Published doctoral dissertation, Tilburg University, the Netherlands.
  
  
• DeFehr, J, Adan, O., Barros, C., Rodriguez, S., Wai, S. (in press). Newcomers’ experience of practitioner stance in social work practices with immigrants and refugees: A call for not-knowing. 1-12 pages. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, United Kingdom.
  
  
• DeFehr J., Adan, O., Barros, C., Rodriguez, S., Wai, S. (2012) ‘Not-Knowing’ and ‘assumption’ in Canadian social services for refugees and immigrants: A conversational inquiry into practitioner stance. International Journal of Collaborative Practices  3(1), 2012: 75-88.
  
  
• DeFehr J., Adan, O., Barros, C., Rodriguez, S., Wai, S. (2012) El ‘no saber” y ‘asumir’ en los servicios sociales para refugiados e inmigrantes en Canadá: Una investigación conversacional sobre la postura del terapeuta. International Journal of Collaborative Practices 3(1), 2012: 89-103.

Selected local and international presentations:

• Beyond Methodologically-Driven Social Research: Facilitating Collaborative Social Inquiry Indigenous to its Participants. Skype workshop presentation with Cynthia Loreto Sosa Infante, at international conference: Enriching Collaborative Practices Across Cultural Borders: Constructing Alternatives in Psychotherapy, Education, Community & Organization Development and Research Practices. Merida, Mexico, March 21, 2012.
  
  
• Work & Life Balance. Presentation for The Canadian Community Economic Development Network. Winnipeg, MB, March 14, 2012.
  
  
• Generating Understanding Through Mutual Responsivity: Inviting Dialogic Practitioner Methods of Social Inquiry into Academic Social Science Research. Workshop for the 1st International Conference on Dialogical Practices. Helsinki, Finland, Sept. 22-24, 2011.
  
  
• Three-Part Lecture Series. 1. Developing Sustainable Practices in Counselling & Family Therapy 2. Listening as Speech 3. Situationally-Driven Social Inquiry. Visiting Scholar Series.  For faculty and graduate students at The Kanankil Institute, Merida, Mexico. February 23-25, 2011.
  
  
• Newcomers’ Experience of Practitioner Stance in Social Work Practice with Immigrants & Refugees: A Call for Not-Knowing. Workshop presented with Omar Adan, Carmen Barros, Susan Rodriguez, and Sally B. Wai at Strangers in New Homelands Conference. University of Manitoba, November 12, 2010.
  
  
• Collaborative Clinical Evaluation. Participatory guest lecture, University of Manitoba, Faculty of Social Work, MSW Clinical Evaluation course, February 2010.
  
  
• Incarnating Dialogic Social Inquiry: Embodied Engagement, Sensation, & Spontaneous Mutual Response. Workshop for the International Constructing Worlds Conference. Copenhagen, Denmark, August 2009.
  
  
• Transforming Encounters and Interactions: A Dialogic Inquiry into the Influence of Collaborative Therapy in the Lives of its Practitioners. Workshop for the International Summer Institute. APA accredited. Playa del Carmen, Mexico, June 2009.
  
  
• Reciprocity & Counselling: Practices & Premises that Nurture & Transform Practitioners. Workshop for Women’s Health Clinic Counselling Staff.  Winnipeg, MB., June 2009.
  
  
• Dialogically Informed Research Methods.  Workshop presented with Dr. Saliha Bava. International Summer Institute. APA accredited. Playa del Carmen, Mexico, June 2007.
  
  
• Dialogic Practitioner-Driven Qualitative Social Inquiry. Presentation for Generational Dialogues Conference. Vancouver, B.C., November 2007.
  
  
• Beyond Burnout: Reconstructing the Discourse of Service. Presentation for medical and counseling services professional development series. Klinic Community Health Centre, October 2006.
  
  
• Three-Part Lecture Series. Three five-hour interactive presentations. Visiting Scholar Series. For faculty and graduate students at the The Kanankil Institute, Merida, Mexico, June 2006.
  
  
• From Dogmatic to Dialogic Practice in Domestic Violence Social Work. Participatory guest lecture. Faculty of Social Work, University of Manitoba, MSW domestic violence course, September 2006.
  
  
• Postmodern, Modern, & Feminist Social Work Practice: Exploring Differences and Commonalities. Participatory guest lecture. Inner City Social Work Program, University of Manitoba, October 2006.