Masters of Counselling Graduate: Ken Lotherington

Ken was born and raised in Sydney River, Cape Breton where his family owned a flower shop. He moved to Halifax to attend Dalhousie University and met his wife Janna who also happens to hail from Cape Breton. He works fulltime for Canadian Blood Services as a Senior program manager in organ and tissue donation and transplantation system improvement.

He chose Acadia’s Master of Counselling program for several reasons: he had fond memories of the campus, having visited his sister there in the 1990s, his wife had also attended Acadia as an undergraduate student and later for a Masters in Inclusive Education, and additionally, because the program offered a sustainable part-time option.

“I honestly don’t think you can complete a counselling therapy program without having significantly changed your life for the better,” says Ken. “I went in thinking I would learn skills and competencies to practice counselling but fortunately, in addition, I’ve learned to be a better human being, I love myself more, I’m a better husband and co-worker and I hope to serve my community in a deeper way.”

During his last three years at Acadia, Ken served as a student advisor for his cohort, as Acadia’s student representative for the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association and as a student executive on the NS Chapter of the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA).

Hospice Halifax graciously took Ken on as a student in his practicum placement. “I’m forever grateful for the life-changing experience,” he says. Completing the MEd in counselling will allow Ken to register with our Counselling therapy college, NSCCT, where he hopes to provide part-time grief counselling therapy.

His thesis topic is related to another research program has supported called the SHARE study, investigating the experiences and perspectives of family surrogates of ICU patients who underwent organ donation decisions. “My dream would be to help build programs in two unserved areas in the organ donation system, first peer support for bereaved families and second, peer support for healthcare workers who support those folks at end of life.”

Ken appreciates the profound work he is able to be a part of, “I was fortunate to be a part of. I was fortunate be inspired by someone I would consider a mentor in my life. Her name was Dr. Shelly Sarwal, she was a physician in Nova Scotia. I came to know her as a patient partner in helping our organ donation community develop clinical guidelines for organ donation following medical assistance in dying (MAiD). The impetus to develop the guidelines was driven by many patient requests, like Shelly. She was diagnosed with Multiple System Atrophy (MSA), an incurable disease, and she wanted to donate her organs but at the time these guidelines did not exist. In true Shelly fashion, she pushed the NS community to create them for her to be able to donate. She was the first person in Nova Scotia to undergo this complicated medical journey, she dedicated the short time she had left on this earth to educate health professionals and the public about being in control of your death and creating a meaningful legacy through organ donation. Shelly permitted us to capture her journey and we, along with Director Rosvita Dransfield, the Nova Scotia Health Authority and her husband created a film that is available on CBC Gem called, “Her Last Project.”

Outside of his work and studies, Ken and Janna have built a small fur family of Bengal cats and enjoy spending their time with them. Their projects have included a catio and a cat wheel for indoor training. Ken and Janna also enjoy travelling, camping, paddle boarding, hiking and boating with his in-laws back in Creignish.