Founded by Jill Ceccolini and Barry McClatchey, HBTC was conceived in 2003 as the Halifax Brief Therapy Centre. For a two-year period, HBTC operated a free community counselling centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia. More than forty mental health professionals engaged in intensive training in solution focused therapy, as the Centre provided over three hundred free counselling sessions to the public.

In 2005, HBTC was transformed into a training and consulting practice with a broader mandate to bring solution focused practice to clinicians and organizations throughout the Maritime provinces and beyond. In addition, the wide application of solution focused ideas lead HBTC to offer these same services to organizations, businesses, schools and individuals outside the field of mental health practice.

Jill Ceccolini, MSW, RSW

Jill has used the solution focused approach in her clinical practice with individuals, couples and families for many years.  For more than seventeen years, Jill has taught counselling skills at Dalhousie University in Halifax, through the School of Social Work’s Continuing Education Program.  In addition to holding a Master of Social Work degree from Dalhousie, Jill also earned a Bachelor of Education degree from St. Mary’s University in Halifax.

In 2015, Jill received the David William Connors Memorial Award from the Nova Scotia Association of Social Workers in recognition of her work throughout her social work career.

Barry McClatchey, MSW, RSW

Barry has many years of experience as a solution focused therapist, counsellor and trainer.  A graduate of the MSW program at Dalhousie University, Barry also holds a Bachelor of Social Work degree from Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario.  As a passionate solution focused practitioner, Barry has completed training in the approach at a variety of locations in the United States and Canada.

Since 2013, Barry has also been recognized as a certified trainer in Feedback Informed Treatment (FIT) practices by the International Center for Clinical Excellence, based in Chicago, Illinois.

Past & Current HBTC Clients:

• Capital District Health Authority
• Nova Scotia Community College
• South Shore Health Authority
• PVNC Catholic District School Board
• Guysborough Antigonish Strait Health Authority
• FGI Sheppell

• Colchester East Hants Health Authority
• IWK Health Sciences Centre
• Horizon Health Network
• Dalhousie University
• Nova Scotia Dept. of Community Services
• South West Health Authority