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1 on 1 Counselling Sessions 

Location: Vancouver / Sunshine Coast / BC

Now accepting new clients

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I currently work online, in-person every other week in Vancouver, and by request in-person on the Sunshine Coast (Roberts Creek).

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Please note that due to insurance coverage I cannot work with people who live permanently out of the province.

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I have been more than surprised by how well online sessions have been working, including how they work for somatic work. If you have any hesitancy please feel free to ask me questions.

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We can't always change things simply by thinking + talking about them.

If we could have, we would have... by now.

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We need to include the body.

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"I can't change my garbage dump of nonsense using my garbage dump of nonsense."

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-My friend

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“We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them”

 

- Albert Einstein

 

OR

 

"I know what I need to do I just can't seem to do it."  

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"I look at my life and think I should feel happy, but I don't."

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-Many Clients

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In a culture based on Oprah Winfrey & Freud, along with a ton of self-help, many of us know what we want to do differently in our lives. 

 

However, changing goes beyond rationally "getting it." If we could have talked ourselves out of "it", we would have.

 

As a result of emerging neuroscience we know our brain extends to our body. This is often the missing link.

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Why does this matter?​ 

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Going to a therapists appointment to talk about our problems is a bit like going to the gym to read a book on weight training. We try to deal with our problems by attempting to analyze them with the brain in our head. 

 

That's only a piece of the puzzle.

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​The thinking brain in our head, our frontal lobe, knows what we need to do. It knows we probably shouldn't yell at our partner, eat 3 chocolate bars, drink so much, date another controlling person, judge, or stay at our job.

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The brain in our body, is slower to change. It carries deep, old patterns. It feels resistance, experiences pain, makes habitual decisions, contains emotions, reacts, pulls back, charges forward, and makes decisions on impulse. It is a powerful force we are often not conscious of.

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Working together we can help these brains become more congruent. We change the blueprints in the bodybrain.

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These blueprints are so significant because they determine the following:

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• How you see yourself (e.g. positively or negatively, capable or incapable, alone or belonging).

• How you see others (especially your most intimate relationships).

• How you see the world (e.g. is it friendly and are you safe to take risks and be close to people).

 

Shifting some of the oldest patterns in your brains, the one in your head and the ones in your body, we can work to create new neural pathways to ensure that you FEEL more ease rather than simply THINK more rationally about your problem.

 

People often sense where we are heading in sessions quite quickly but the process of integration as we work with the old blueprints in the body takes more time.

 

These new ways of being will be available to you long after we stop working together.

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I support you to move out of the endlessly spinning and analyzing mind and make room for creativity, fulfilling relationships, clear thinking, and the ability to play with who you are and what you do rather than get played by it.

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Why you might come see me 

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• depression (trouble finding energy or movement in your life)

• confusion when people say "just love yourself"

• unexplained sadness

• anxiety or tensing up

• familiar uncomfortable sensations that won’t leave you alone

• a sense of in-congruence (between what you believe/feel and what you rationally tell yourself)

• questions or even massive doubt about your self-worth

• trauma (PTSD-things that continue to live on in the body even once they’re finished)

• trouble accomplishing your goals

• finding you push people away

• feeling alone

• feeling you need to hold tightly to the people around you

• the feeling of wanting to run away from others or situations when things get to intimate or stressful

• integration of plant medicine work or powerful experiences

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Modalities 

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Somatic Therapy:
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This is a therapeutic modality that works with both subtle and not so subtle body sensations and movement. It is informed by Neuroscience and knowledge of how trauma and other beliefs, patterns and ways of relating are stored in the body and brain. This method leads to bringing the mind/body/heart into a greater state of congruence, regulation, and wholeness.

 

Mindfulness:
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This practice helps us become conscious and aware. It helps us work with our emotions & reactivity and return to the present rather than staying stuck in the past or the future. It is scientifically proven to help relieve stress and change our brain.

 

Narrative Therapy:
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This modality considers that the challenges an individual encounters are connected to, and informed by, a specific culture, community and political environment. These problems (or stories) that we carry around with us can become re-storied or multi-storied. The problem is the problem; the person's not the problem.

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Session Logistics 

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Session pricing is tiered $120, $145, or $165 (plus GST) for 55 minutes. This is a conversation that can be revisited as we go along. Length of treatment needed/desired may also be considered in the price of the sessions.

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$165 may be for you if you

• have health benefits or some type of coverage

• comfortably meet your basic needs

• are able to regularly take holidays or time off with no discomfort

• have expendable income

• have investments, retirement accounts or inheritance

• have a financially secure job or work part time by choice

• always buy new things

• own a home or rent a higher end rental property

• have enough that your payment can be used to supplement those in lower tiers

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$145 may be for you if you

• May stress about meeting your basic needs (eg: food, shelter, childcare) but still regularly achieve them

• Have some debt but it does not prohibit attainment of basic needs

• Have employment or access to financial savings

• Have some expendable income

• Are able to buy some new items and thrift others

• Can take a vacation annually or every few years without financial burden

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$120 may be for you if you​​

• Need regular and ongoing care by various professionals for an ongoing health issue

• Rent lower-end properties or have less stable housing

• Have been denied work based on other's biases (e.g., racial, gender, sexuality, cultural, ability, etc.)

• Qualify for government assistance

• Don’t have access to savings or financial support from family

• Have limited expendable income

• Rarely buy new items because you are unable to afford them

• Cannot afford or have the ability to take time off without financial burden

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Because we are working with the nervous system repetition is key, and scheduling sessions closer together allows us to build on the work we are doing rather than have to start over with every session. Regular sessions over a longer period of time allow for more significant shifts that change the foundation of how you see yourself, your relationships and the world. I generally recommend seeing people once/week if they are working through something. Over time the frequency may shift. This can be discussed further in our first session. 

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Many employers with extended health plans offer some coverage for Registered Clinical Counsellors. Check with your insurer.  If this is the case I will write receipts with my registration number for you to submit for reimbursement.​​

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Need to cancel?

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You have 48 hours before an appointment to cancel with no charge. Payment is due in full without exception if appointments are missed or cancelled within less than 48-hours. If a video/phone call is possible we can switch to that or if I have an opening in the same week I can occasionally shift an appointment.

 

On rare occaions, I may need to cancel with less than 48 hour notice and no prior "heads up". In such a situation, I will either book you in for something within the week, or your next appointment will be discounted based on how many sessions I had to cancel that day. For example, if you pay 145$/session I would do the following: If I have to cancel 2 appointments, you will get $145/2 off the next session, or if there's 4 sessions, $145/4.