Trauma Focused Therapists in Fernie, BC

At Fernie Counselling & Consulting, we can make a difference. We specialize in child & family care. Our team includes co- therapists who assist with the children’s play therapy. They include a ventriloquist turtle puppet named Herman & 2 loving service dogs, Betsy and Lucy whom the children come to love. This gang helps to create a safe, secure & magical playroom. Adults & teens are invited into a separate warm & welcoming office. Surely one of the members or our team can creatively help you with your struggles and challenges to overcome hurdles, achieve your optimal mental health, and inspire you to soar!

Each one of us will struggle at some point in our lives, but these are particularly challenging times for many us. With lockdown, stress, anxiety, and depression are increasing, as are unhelpful coping strategies. Relationships are being tested. Many of my clients are seeking to feel calm and experience more emotional balance. Others are deciding that now is a good time to start the healing process from a past traumatic experience. Another common goal for clients is to start living in line with their values, or what they truly want in life.

For me, counselling is about discovering tools that will help you to heal and develop better relationships with yourself and others by letting go of anxiety, depression, and stress. Let me guide you in new ways to be in healthy relationships and align with the life that you envision for yourself and/or your loved ones. The first step in any growth is self-awareness, our sessions together will help guide you to learn how to become self-aware in all situations and how to process daily events that may be significant in life, or may only seem to be significant due to your current outlook.

Taking New Adult Clients. You are stressed, anxious or have trauma but you don't want to burden others or you are afraid they will judge you. You feel guilty about taking time for yourself. You may be angry and frustrated with yourself or someone else. You want a safe space to talk without watching what you say, feeling blamed or told you are wrong. You need validation, support and want to change. I help adult clients understand their mild/moderate anxiety, depression, stress and trauma then learn simple and effective tools to cope better. Find confidence to set boundaries that help you feel strong, in control and create change.

'Challenge brings change". Easy to say, yet difficult to do. Victor Frankl wrote, "when we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves", (Man's Search for Meaning, 1946). When we find ourselves in difficult situations, we have choice - remain in the pain, or seek support to move through. I know life's greatest challenges have brought incredible change to my life, but it hasn't been easy. You don't need to face challenge and change alone.

I believe in the mind-body connection, and how distress impacts how we show up in our lives & relationships. I trust clients instinctively know what to do to feel better, and that I spark their insight by allowing someone to first feel heard and understood. Clients and I often explore how to take the charge out of distressing emotions and/or experiences that underlie their presenting concerns (e.g., anxiety, depression, work/life/relationship stressors etc). Living with type-1 diabetes myself, I also support people in reducing T1D-related distress in order to feel more confident managing this chronic condition.

We all experience pain, joy, suffering, and growth in our lives, and a lot of it happens in relationships. I believe that the counselling relationship can be very powerful in giving us opportunities to experience healing and growth. As a counsellor, I aim to provide you with acceptance, support, and understanding in order to help you work toward better mental health and well-being. I am a Registered Clinical Counsellor, and I have experience with a wide range of clients from working at Child and Youth Mental Health, Community Services, and private practice. I work with children, adolescents, adults, families, parents, and couples.