Therapists at Hamilton mental health clinic describe exodus of staff, tears at office, 'oppressive' meetings

This is Part 2 of an in-depth look at changes to a leading child and youth mental health clinic in Hamilton, and the impact they've had on families and mental health practitioners. Read Part 1 here.

When registered psychotherapist Louise Oke shared an article on her Facebook page about toxic workplaces, she figured others who were also struggling on the job might relate.

Oke, who spent 20 years at Child and Adolescent Services — a city-run mental health clinic, didn't mention her workplace or make any comments with the August 2019 post. A few colleagues "liked" it.

A month later, one of her supervisors called her out of a meeting, telling her she had to meet with management and the union in 10 minutes.

"She was just super serious and wouldn't say anything else," said Oke.  

Oke said she was then grilled over why she would post something like that about the City of Hamilton and was told to take the post down. 

A week later, she said, she was told management had placed a "letter" on her personnel file stating expectations for her going forward, such as not posting anything related to work on social media, staying positive in meetings and "never say too much, never say too little." 

That meeting was one of many actions Oke described as "oppressive" after a change in clinic management in 2018. She said staff came to feel as though advocating for themselves would get them branded as "troublemakers" and it impacted her mental health.

"They were acting like it was [a disciplinary letter] and they scared the shit out of me." 

After that, Oke took a two-month sick leave. "I needed some time away to get my head together and figure out how I'm going to survive this."  

She returned for several months, but left her job completely the next year after what she describes as "a steady, systematic devaluing of me and my work" — foregoing the full pension she would get if she stayed five more years. 

She was one of at least 11 therapists to leave the Hamilton Public Health-run clinic over three years after the change in management, according to nine former clinic staffers who spoke with CBC Hamilton as part of its months-long investigation into the clinic. The vast majority left voluntarily, while at least one was laid off.

Previously, it had been a sought-after job where people stayed for years, said Oke. Many of those who left said they had planned to work there until retirement before the change in the work environment. 

CBC Hamilton does not, however, know how many people left in the preceding years.