“What do we do?”

Peterborough Youth Services is a non-profit social service agency that has been providing counselling and support to youth and their families for over forty years. The professional staff at PYS specialize in working with young people.

Our Vision

For youth to realize their potential.

Our Mission

To provide accessible, youth-focused services that engage youth in a respectful, professional, therapeutic relationship to foster emotional and social health.

Our Values and Service Delivery Philosophy

At Peterborough Youth Services we believe that…
  • Change is in the hands of the client (young person) and is fostered through a therapeutic alliance. This connection creates an opportunity to generate hope, the courage to face difficult issues and support to make adjustments that can be uncomfortable and frightening.
  • Client centered, client directed counselling creates a foundation for change that is balanced with individual, family and community wellbeing and safety.
  • Every young person has the right to be treated with dignity and respect and to receive services that are sensitive to their individual strengths, needs, identity, culture, sexual orientation, gender identity, ability, race, income, relationships, and developmental stage. Clients need services that establish trust between the young person and Peterborough Youth Services.
  • Developing a therapeutic understanding by creating space to explore the client’s thoughts, feelings, life events and circumstances, as well as their strengths and resources, supports and facilitates growth and change.
  • Respecting the right to confidentiality of the young person and family (except where this right is taken away by law), is one of the foundations for creating a trusting, therapeutic alliance.
  • Every young person deserves a community of people interested in their welfare that forms an essential source of support for them. We believe that our services are most effective when we are able to form appropriate partnerships and collaborations with this support network and, when needed, to support and encourage the creation of this support system.
  • Every young person who is eligible, has an equal right to our services. We strive to eliminate any barriers a young person might be experiencing preventing access in a timely and effective manner. Service is most effective when offered in a flexible and responsive manner in order to meet the unique and diverse needs of the individuals as well as the community we serve.
  • The young person we work with has the right to service delivered by a multidisciplinary team that is informed by relevant research and practice literature.
  • Clinical decisions are a shared responsibility between the client, clinician, clinical team and clinical supervisor. This is reflected in our commitment to make clinical discussions and supervision, both individually and as a team, a priority.

    • How to Access our Services

    Youth and Families are encouraged to call PYS themselves to access our services. When you call PYS (705-743-1681), we will gather some basic information and then you will decide if you want to have an intake for our clinical counselling services or if meeting with a Community Response Team member or one of our Youth Outreach Workers (either in the community or at the office) would be a better fit.

    Intake meetings are either face to face or virtual and they last an hour to an hour and a half. This is a time to talk about why you feel you would like counselling and to learn about PYS and how we work. Sometimes, the intake worker can help you with something in this meeting, but it may also be that it makes more sense to gather some initial information and you wait until you have your own counsellor to begin to talk about what is on your mind.