Individual Counselling | A Holistic Approach to Understanding Yourself & Creating Lasting Chang
Counselling for Individuals
Counselling is an opportunity for you to build trust and connection with a supportive person who can guide you in developing greater resilience and awareness.
During sessions we will work together to empower you to heal past wounds, find acceptance in the present and create positive growth moving forward.
Finding a counsellor who you connect with is important; when we experience safe and secure connections with others, we are able to regulate our emotions more effectively and more open to exploring new perspectives or ways of being. With one of us as your counsellor, you have someone in your corner, supporting you every step of the way, even when the problem is your own feelings, thoughts or inner critic.
Need a bit more direction in how to go about actually knowing what you need?
Read our guide to finding a good fit.
Know you want support but not sure where to start?
You’re not broken, you’re just wonderfully human, and that can be complicated (and sometimes frustrating) to navigate. Come take your shoes off, curl up with some tea and let’s make a plan.
Our Find a Counsellor form can guide you in connecting with a counsellor who is the best fit for you.
Our approach to counselling is attachment-focused and trauma-informed.
What this means is that we take into account childhood and adult relationships as well as past traumas that may be influencing your current coping strategies, beliefs and how you relate to others.
Once we have had the chance to learn about you as a person and we have developed trust between us:
We will start by exploring ways to increase your ability to cope with your day-to-day emotions and experiences. I like to think of this as the ‘bandaid’ stage of counselling, where we examine and tackle the symptoms of what you’re struggling with. We will ensure that you have concrete strategies in place that highlight your strengths, needs and pre-existing resources - ready for when you have a challenging day.
Second, we will explore the root cause of what you’re struggling with. This stage of counselling is unique for everyone and is where we get to the core of the problem. Often barriers to feeling worthy, at ease and joyful in our lives arise from our family of origin, past relationships, trauma and various other experiences. Understanding what is at the heart of our challenges often helps create perspective and compassion for ourselves, which can be key to our ability to grow and trust ourselves.
Finally, as you begin to overcome challenges, we look at how to create conscious, long-lasting positive change and ways of being that fit with your values as you move forward towards a more resilient, authentic and connected version of yourself.
Some challenges we work with in individual counselling are:
You make sense, and you’re not alone.
All of our counsellors offer a free 15-minute consultation, an exploratory conversation where you can ask questions and get a sense of who you might feel comfortable and connect with. We truly want you to find the right person to support you in this important work.
In-person sessions at our Kitsilano clinic (1682 West 7th Ave, Suite 300, Vancouver BC) and online for clients anywhere in British Columbia & beyond.
To learn more about our counsellors, to ask questions or to explore if our counsellors may be a good fit for you, connect with us for a free consultation call.
RCC (She/Her)
Esther supports clients with self-worth, relationships, attachment, childhood experiences, neurodivergence, family dynamics and burnout, creating space for clients to better understand themselves and the patterns shaping their lives. Esther also has a background as teacher and school counsellor and loves supporting teens, other educators, caregivers and those with BIPOC experiences or who have lived outside of Canada
Main Approaches:Somatic · Mindfulness · Attachment-Focused · IFS · Narrative · DBT · Emotion-Focused · AEDP