Recipient of the 2017 CASE MANAGER OF THE YEAR

Katherine Aubé

Nominated For: CASE MANAGER OF THE YEAR

Katherine is honoured and grateful to her clients, rehabilitation peers, the PIA law firms and OBIA for being nominated for this award. See (pialaw.ca) and (obia.ca).

Katherine Aubé is a Case Manager with Abilities Rehabilitation and Counselling Services Inc) and has provided case management services for more than a decade advocating and supporting her clients. See (abilitiesrehab.ca)

Katherine holds a Bachelor of Art degrees in Psychology and Philosophy and an honours diploma of Social Service Work. She believes in life-long learning and in addition to attending conferences has recently completed the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Developmental Trauma certificates offered by Echo Psychotherapy which also has earned her credits from the University of Toronto.

Additionally, Katherine is developing her cultural competencies by attending educational pursuits with first nations communities such as the Maamwesying North Shore Community Health Services “Creating Moccasin Tracks” training. This mental health training provided her with the insight and cultural awareness to better support remote and underserviced First Nations communities. She also values what she has learned through courses offered by the Ontario Brain Injury Association including Brain Basics, Children and Youth with Acquired Brain Injury, and Neurorehabilitation: Assisting Recovery and Function in Everyday Life.

Yet, Katherine finds her greatest strength as a Case Manager comes from her ongoing experiences working with her clients and their families. Their unique experiences, abilities and challenges trigger her passion to problem-solve and to focus on active and meaningful, functional rehabilitation and recovery on an individual basis.

Katherine sees the incredible resilience of clients when they are properly supported and represented, and this has led her to develop a diverse and strong foundation of resources and a talented pool of colleagues who she tailors to create teams that help each individual and the family who supports them. She appreciates the relevance of the subtle differences between people with similar injuries and this further strengthens her assessment and critical thinking skills, her ability to communicate, and to create meaningful long-term outcomes.

The Covid-19 Pandemic certainly caused unique challenges for everyone, and like others Katherine embraced video conferencing but found that nothing replaces the effectiveness of in-person interactions. She worked with each client to find the best options to help. For example, for youth who are difficult to engage, Katherine began developing an on-line game show to help motivate them to participate more effectively in their rehabilitation, and for those who had difficulty engaging with technology and with virtual interactions, (or they did not have access to high-speed internet) she went “old-school” with increased telephone support and finding additional resources to support family members.

Katherine is the proud mother of 3 young boys and enjoys fostering their varied interests that includes Rep hockey, her son’s entrepreneurial skills by helping neighbours, and watching her boys make Tik Tok videos. In her own spare time, Katherine enjoys travelling, camping, and meaningful friendships.