Meet Dr. Amy Burns, Clinical Psychologist at the new Mental Health and Substance Use Wellness Centre at Royal Columbian Hospital as she shares her experience working with Fraser Health.

“As a Clinical Psychologist on an inpatient unit, I work with a multidisciplinary team to provide a full range of psychological services including assessment, diagnosis, and intervention.

I started at Fraser Health first as a psychology practicum student and then as a psychology intern. During internship I worked with a staff psychologist on a grant looking at improving functional recovery using cognitive remediation. Our research proposal was successful and was one of the largest operating grants Fraser Health received. Conducting research in outpatient mental health settings have helped me to understand community resources better which helps inform my current work.

I’ve been most impressed with how well the different members of my team work together in their different areas of responsibility and practice. As a psychologist, I bring one skillset and perspective, built through one educational and professional pathway, to patient care. I’ve really enjoyed working with a multidisciplinary team and appreciate the different perspective we all bring to client care. The genuine teamwork I see every day, and the way in which the people around me sincerely do care about the people we serve has been a constant source of motivation and satisfaction for me.

Our program recently expanded from 30 beds to 75 beds and moved to the new Mental Health and Substance Use Wellness Centre at Royal Columbian Hospital. The expansion and move came with lots of challenges but our team was flexible and rose to those challenges exceptionally. Now our patients get to enjoy being in a brand new building that is much more therapeutic with access to outdoor space.”
We asked Dr. Burns what makes her most proud to work at Fraser Health. Here’s what she had to say:
“The Fraser Health region is growing faster than any other region of British Columbia, and so there is an energy and a drive in the organization that you don’t see everywhere. We serve communities ranging from the dense urban environments of Burnaby and Surrey to the farmland of the Fraser Valley further east. It doesn’t get more diverse, unpredictable, and exciting, than it gets right here.”

“Never lose sight of our patient care goals,” she shares for someone who might be considering a similar career. “It is easy to get lost, sometimes, in the day-to-day paperwork, meetings, or other things like that. Each day you have a chance to do something that really impacts someone’s life for the better and you don’t know what that thing will be until after you did it.”

“Different. Meaningful. Present,” are three words Amy would use to describe her workday.

Outside of her life at work, you can find Amy camping, snowboarding, playing piano with her daughter and volunteering with her Cub Scout group.