Therapists in V9R

Are you finding your relationships to be a source of struggle? Are you facing challenges such as low mood, a lack of motivation, or intensifying feelings of anxiety and panic? Is your inner dialogue consistently critical, leaving you feeling inadequate? If you're a parent, maybe your child's behavior is causing concern and seems uncontrollable no matter how hard you try. Many clients come to me with challenges such as relationship issues, anxiety and low moods, life transitions, and career changes.

Breaking Chains Counselling provides counselling, hypnotherapy, recovery coaching, continuing care and trauma therapy in Nanaimo, Vancouver Island and online. All counselling services are offered face to face or online through e-counselling anywhere in the world you have internet access.

Ann meets people from a position of warmth, compassion, openness and curiosity. She has a deep commitment to connect and work alongside individuals, couples and families to develop an authentic, trusting relationship, and offers counselling using a collaborative approach. By creating a safe therapeutic environment, Ann’s goal is to support her clients build on their personal strengths and understanding, allowing them to develop the resiliency they require to cope with the challenges they are facing. She helps clients move away from feeling stuck, with a focus on helping them explore their own power and ability to make changes.

I truly believe treatment is a partnership between counsellor and client and will work with you to design an effective plan that recognizes your personal strengths and challenges. I use warmth, humour, and authenticity in my approach to make each client feel comfortable and to build a strong, positive therapeutic connection. I have experience using creative methods, such as games and movement activities, to connect with younger clients and spark their interest in the counselling process. I also support individuals with neurodiversity and their families.

My areas of passion are working with 2SLGBTQIA clients, alternative sexual/romantic relationship identities & dynamics (ex. ethically non-monogamy, polyamory, kink, swinging, BDSM, open relationships, sex work, etc.), sex & intimacy, consent & boundaries, religious trauma, chronic pain/illness, neurodiversity, and life transitions. I draw from both education and lived experience to provide deeper insight into supporting you from an open-minded, trauma-informed, sex-positive, and affirming framework. The journey of healing and growth can be messy, challenging, and heart-breaking while also beautifully majestic and worth every effort.

Our Clinical Director offers free matching sessions to support you to choose a counsellor based on your individual concerns, preferences, schedule and more. One of the greatest predictors of a meaningful counselling experience is the fit between you and your counsellor. Let us help you find the right fit. We have a team of therapists who bring diverse life experience, education, training, and counselling methods to our practice. We offer counselling services to children (5-12), teenagers (13-19), adults, seniors (65+), families, and couples of all ethnicities, religions, genders, sexual orientations, and relationship structures.

My view on counselling is based upon the level of trust and the quality of the connection that we are able to create together. In essence, the relationship that we develop together is key. I would wish to provide you with a safe, caring environment where you could come to feel completely heard and understood. I see my role as being more of a Guide, offering support while at the same time gently encouraging your growth by pointing out certain areas, thoughts, beliefs or behaviours that may be keeping you stuck, or that you may be unaware of.

I love my work! For over 20 years I've been helping individuals and couples create a life they love with proven, measurable, effective and fast methods to break through old patterns, get past limiting beliefs, and create possibilities they never knew existed. This isn't therapy like you've seen it on TV or in the movies, it doesn't have to take years. If you're tired of the "same old, same old" you deserve to feel better.

It's natural for us to seek safety, security and comfort; however, there are often obstacles in our way that prevent us from achieving these goals. With 20 + years of experience, my practice caters to people experiencing any measure of grief, loss and trauma, with a special interest in death, dying and bereavment, and reproductive challenges, pre-natal, perinatal, and postnatal trauma, including but not limited to infertility, miscarriage, traumatic birthing experiences, loss of a child, depression and anxiety, and parenting/relationship challenges.

Accepting New Clients. Are you experiencing increased anxiety or sadness lately? Do you wish to feel more confident, more connected, more relaxed? You may wish to increase your motivation, to get more out of life, you may wish to navigate a life change, you may wish to identify or explore your goals. You don't want it to be this hard. You don't want to be this angry. You want to be happier and more fulfilled. You want your relationships to be better, perhaps deeper, richer, less difficult. You want to identify your dreams and find out the steps to take to get closer to fulfilling your dreams. I can help you on your journey.

Thank you for stopping by. I am currently accepting new clients. I work from where the client is at - essentially you are in the driver's seat of where you want your counselling sessions to go. I have extreme empathy for people's situations and issues they find themselves in. Who hasn't struggled to find ways to deal with things that life throws out at you? I know you are doing the best you can at this moment in time.

Accepting new Clients. People seek counselling for reasons as varied as shifting tidal sands. Some want to ease stress and/or anxiety while others want help regarding past and present mistreatment of visible minorities. Others with visible and/or invisible disabilities may deal with issues regarding accessibility or navigating social interactions. Others yet are dealing with evolving sexual and/or gender identities, seeking help with their new understandings about themselves. Whether changing perspectives or navigating new territory, Inclusions Counselling can help.

The journey toward healing can be challenging and you don’t have to do it alone. As a counsellor, my goal is to offer you a safe space to belong, be seen and heard, and explore life's challenges together. I will work with you to develop and deepen an awareness of your experiences, understand narratives/patterns that prevent you from making a change, and move towards more preferred ways of being. I have over 5 years of experience working in therapeutic and supportive roles with youth, families, and adults. I specialize in the areas of anxiety, depression, trauma, relationships, life transitions & more.

In Person & Online. I help people overcome depression, anxiety, grief, and childhood trauma using my many years of experience. I welcome teens, couples, women in pregnancy, and new parents. Manage life transitions and start living your life in line with your own values and beliefs. Together we will create a safe relationship to explore looking at your life in a new way. I am always open to changing the course of therapy if it doesn’t work for you. I use empathy, relationship, insight, and unconditional positive regard as the foundation for our work together.

I specialize in working with adults and teenagers experiencing depression and anxiety. I also work with people experiencing trauma, spiritual crisis, relationship issues, loneliness, problems due to medication, and stress in many forms. A block of time in my practice is kept open daily for those in crisis, who cannot find adequate support through the public system. I also work with couples wishing to heal relational concerns, and those with an inclination towards spiritual practice/life. I am LGBTQ2S+ friendly and welcome people from all faith backgrounds and walks of life. Sessions are available in-person, by email, and via video.

In over thirty years working as a psychologist, I have become convinced that the most effective way to help others is through a collaborative approach. When the client and therapist work together to find solutions, the emphasis is placed on the client’s individual perspective and the strengths and successes they have already achieved. At the core of therapy, I believe, is a non-judgemental and compassionate view of how everyone’s personal journey involves overcoming suffering and moving towards self-acceptance, empowerment and emotional well- being.

You've been feeling disconnected, frustrated, or unfulfilled when it comes to your experiences with sexuality, relationships, or parenting. You're finally ready to invest in any of these important parts of your life because you want a more satisfying, connected, nourishing existence and you don't want to keep putting it off or wishing things would just get better on their own. You're ready to understand what's holding you back, and to take action. You want to feel connected to yourself, your vitality, and to your loved ones, and now is the time to make it happen!

Creativity and an inner sense of knowing exists within each of us, even if you do not identify as artistic. As a Registered Clinical Counsellor and professional art therapist, I offer creative, sensory and experiential tools and activities to help clients tap into insight and knowledge with less effort and more ease.

Hey, how are you? I am so honored to work together with you on your journey to building a life you want, what ever that may look like to you. Whether it be struggling with issues of anxiety and panic, depression and low moods or you are unsure why you have the feelings that you do, reach out. I am a Registered Therapeutic Counsellor who is passionate about the helping profession and to make my clients feel safe and to be heard. My only interest is to be here for you and help you create a plan to get the tools you need to move forward and challenge life in your own way.