RICHARD ROUTLEDGE 

Richard is a family therapist and clinical supervisor with over 35 years of experience in counselling, therapy, and community rehabilitation.  Since 1985 he has provided counselling and other support services for children and youth, women, men, couples, families, and groups.  He has served as an adjunct faculty member of both the University of Victoria and City University, and in many leadership positions throughout his career including as executive director of BC Families in Transition for 8 years.  He has supervised about 75 counsellors and therapists in Victoria over the last 2 decades, both individually and in groups, and joined the Arbour Counselling Centre group of therapists in 2013.

 

Richard has been an instructor and guest lecturer on many topics including communication theory, microanalysis of discourse in therapy work, marriage and family relationships, parenting, post-traumatic stress, grief and recovery, mental health, alcohol and drug addictions, sexual health issues, organizational behaviour, and conflict management.   He served on the University of Victoria’s School of Social Work Community/Practice Advisory Committee as well as the steering committee for the Association of Family Serving Agencies, and was a board member for both the Victoria Family Violence Prevention Society and West Shore Child and Family Services Centre Society.  

 

While Richard’s scope of practice is quite broad, he has developed a particular reputation for his ability to work with individuals, couples, and families whose circumstances are complex, or whose previous attempts in therapy have not been successful.     

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Richard received his Bachelor of Science in Family Studies from the University of Alberta in 1990 and his Master of Arts in Educational Psychology from University of Victoria in 2003.  He is a member of the B.C. Association of Clinical Counsellors and served on their Inquiry Committee from 2004 to 2007. 

 

Born in Kingston, Ontario, Richard grew up in Edmonton with a one-year family sabbatical in Cambridge, England.  Before his teen years he acquired avid interests in chemistry and nuclear physics, astronomy, cryptography, electronics, and geography, but by the age of 18 he had chosen family therapy as his career.  He married and started a family in his twenties, then moved with his wife and two children to Calgary in 1995 and Victoria in 1997.  Now that his children are grown, he and his family love to travel and for a number of years Richard developed a side-career as a published musician and songwriter.  Of all these interests, however, he is particularly passionate about helping others work through conflict and adversity to achieve happiness and peace.