Therapists in Courtenay, BC

"We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future." George Bernard Shaw-- While working together there is but one expert and, ultimately, one person responsible for your life. That person is you. I consider it an honour to work alongside people who are motivated for change and moving forward in life. As we are all very complex and unique I seek to help you identify and address your needs, challenges and goals from a respectful, positive and supportive role that is future focused.

Our team aims to help you create and discover a life worth living for and have fulfilling relationships with yourself and with others. Living from a place of fear/anger/resentment right now might be impacting how you see the world every single day. It may also affect your relationships with your family members, partners, and/or children (young and adults), friends, even coworkers, and you need help to make sense of it all. Every day, you may experience conflict, lack of connection, fear of something, or other challenges that gets in the way of you finding that sense of belonging and ownership over your life.

By addressing troubling thoughts and feelings, self-sabotaging behaviors, and traumas, life can be made more manageable, productive, and fulfilling. Feelings such as grief, shame, anxiety, sadness, and anger often signal that something needs to change. Listening to and working with these feelings—some that consume us and others that gently nudge us—can move us forward. Through this, we sometimes discover that our everyday dilemmas are part of larger patterns waiting to be resolved as a whole.

I began my career in counselling in 1993 when I entered the helping field working as a Child and Youth Care Counsellor in a residential foster care community. Since then I have worked with biological parents and their families, foster and adoptive parents and their families as well as individual children, youth and adults. I enjoy working with couples as well as individuals on a variety of issues but my specialty is in working with children and youth. Anxiety, depression, family issues and trauma have been the basis of the work of I have been doing over the past 6 years in particular.

If you are seeking to understand your relationships, what your deepest values are, and who you are, I provide a safe place for you to explore these questions. If you have suffered through the experience of needing to hide your authentic self, we can collaborate to discover the life you are meant to live. I would like to help you be the author of the next chapter of your life story. I am interested in hearing your experience of life and learning how you move through the path set out before you. Together, we’ll tap into inner resources to help you on your journey and explore core values that will illuminate the steps ahead.

Personal growth occurs when a space is created to support individuals, relationships, and families to gain a deeper understanding of themselves, lending to greater meaning in life. My approach aligns with many psychological and coaching frameworks that encourage self-awareness, and introspection. By providing a supportive environment, my clients experience a greater sense of self and personal understanding while gaining an excitement for life that promotes substantial personal well-being.

I enjoy working with a diversity of clients and/or their family members who are have both mental health and substance use issues, including trauma and PTSD, depression, anxiety, substance or behavioral addictions, life transitions (loss, relationships, career), and mental suffering and distress.

I come from Norse, Celtic, Slavic, and Cherokee ancestry. I believe that healing is accessible to each of us if we are truly committed. In my life I have been on a healing journey through my own issues with addiction, grief, and trauma, toward self-acceptance and self-love. I believe that if we are willing to lean into learning about the deepest parts of ourselves we can begin to transform in ways that align with who we truly are. I have a passion for working with men who are struggling with wounded masculinity and want to connect with their true nature. Psychedelic consultation work is also a passion of mine.

I have been in private counselling practice for 15 years, and in wellness, personal development and the media for 25 years. My practice draws self-referring, high-functioning adults/couples with addiction, phobia, anxiety, depression and attachment disorders affecting their lives beyond their historical, current or perceived ability of self-control. In couples, I usually begin individually to create safety and self-awareness, then back together towards clear self-advocacy, expression and to build trustful communication. EMDR in the couple context can clear a lot of old trauma and wounded pattern-associations that mire us in destructive relational dynamics.

Most of us are yearning for more out of life and our relationships. We yearn for more freedom, more choice, more love, more adventure, more willingness to risk, more contribution, more peace, more belonging. Clients say that as a result of seeing me for therapy, they experience themselves as having a renewed sense of purpose, direction, more freedom, peace, energy, vitality and a stronger connection to their own life force. I am unique from others in my field because I have devoted my life to learning how to help my clients actually transform what is holding them back rather than just talking about it.

Reaching out for help with a problem can be very intimidating! It may help you to know that our work together will always be based upon YOUR values and goals and a shared understanding of the problem. I use cognitive-behavioral and mindfulness-based methods to help people who struggle with unpleasant feelings, problem behaviors, or under-functioning. I'm a huge fan of ACT Therapy, which helps you to notice and disentangle from unhelpful thoughts, notice and accept diffiuclt feelings, orient to the present moment and commit to actions that move you towards what you want in life - towards your values!

Stuck in your relationship? Feeling misunderstood, blamed, or attacked? Arguments and conflict weighing you down? Feeling empty or disconnected, frightened to speak your needs? If you're struggling in your relationships repeating the same pattern and in need of a way forward contact me today for your FREE 15 minute consultation. I am a relationship therapist whose aim is to help others gain insight into the problem patterns of behaviour we often fall victim to. Break-free of the painful cycles of the past. Contact me today to learn how you can enjoying the love and connection you deserve.

Clients who seek me out are interested in developing a deeper experience of life. Their journey may be precipitated by depression, anxiety, or relationship difficulties, but they are often interested in more than symptom relief. They are seeking to develop a stronger sense of self, or an optimized experience of life. This may take the form of becoming the most effective they can be in their personal and professional lives, or it can take the form of embarking on, or continuing, a spiritual search for meaning and connection.

One of the main goals of counselling is to activate your own ability for compassion, healing, motivation, and hope. There is no shame or blame in having a tough time or not being sure what you would like to happen in this chapter of your life. Let's honour this chapter of your journey with support, exploration, teamwork, humour, and hope.

I use (IFS) Internal Family Systems as my primary therapeutic model. Our goal is to assist people to release the burdens that they carry and to foster access to their deeper Selves. I have experience working with individual's and couples with a vast array of Mental Health, Emotional, and Relational concerns. Often the people I see carry; anxiety, depression, complex trauma, PTSD, substance use, and OCD, relational stress, amongst others. My partner is an RCC and she also uses IFS and has experience treating complex trauma. Full details can be found on our website.

Jeff Markusoff, M.Ed., is an experienced Registered Clinical Counsellor (13297) with the British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors (BCACC). I use evidence-based practices to help clients' explore and reach their goals, whether to be a better parent or partner. I have over a decade of experience working in the field of domestic violence and anger management, specializing in supporting clients to understand their triggers to anger and to learn skills in conflict resolution, communication and emotion regulation. Relationships and parenting can be hard, but with awareness, we can make change!

I am happy to accept new clients and can work from my home office in Lions Bay, my North Vancouver office at 16th & Lonsdale, or by video. My philosophy for helping clients is as follows: ​ Carefully listening to find out what you want from therapy. Understand what is causing your difficulty. Respecting your readiness or reluctance to change. Fostering hope that we can find practical solutions to your problem(s) that match your abilities and resources. Respecting and encouraging other sources of help. Discussing your progress and satisfaction with my services.

With over 15 years experience successfully applying evidence-based addiction counselling techniques, Jeffery has the knowledge and skills to help you recover from addiction. He brings a vibrant and dynamic personality to his work. Jeffery has an innate ability to build strong rapport and trust with his clients. The services he offers are made to complement your individual needs and create a precise path to your treatment goals. Utilizing evidence-based treatment models he will help you to understand the root causes for the substance use and begin the healing process that will lead to stability and wellness.