Trauma Counselling Vancouver

Intrusive Memories
Unwanted thoughts, flashbacks, or nightmares that bring the trauma back suddenly and feel very real.

Avoidant Behaviors
Staying away from people, places, or situations that bring up reminders of the trauma. This can also include using substances to numb emotions.

Emotional Ups and Downs
Feeling overwhelmed by strong emotions or not feeling much at all. This may look like mood swings, irritability, anxiety, sadness, or emotional numbness.

Hyperarousal
Feeling constantly on edge or alert. You might startle easily, have trouble focusing, or feel jumpy and tense.

Negative Thoughts and Moods
Ongoing negative beliefs about yourself, others, or the world. This can come with feelings of guilt, shame, or hopelessness.

Social Withdrawal
Pulling away from friends, family, or community. You might feel isolated or disconnected from others.

Physical Symptoms
Trauma can also show up in the body—like headaches, stomach issues, chronic pain, or feeling tired all the time.

Sleep Issues
Trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or having frequent nightmares. Your sleep might feel light, restless, or not restful.

Relationship Challenges
It might be hard to build or keep healthy relationships. You may struggle with trust, fear closeness, or find it hard to share emotions and communicate clearly.

Dissociation
Feeling disconnected from your body, emotions, or surroundings. You might feel numb, spaced out, or like you're watching life happen from a distance.

Trauma can take many forms — and so can healing.

If you’ve lived through overwhelming or life-altering experiences, you may carry the emotional weight long after the danger has passed. You don’t have to carry it alone. At Fine Balance Counselling & Yoga Therapy, I support people from many walks of life who have been deeply affected by trauma, including:

First Responders, Public Safety & Military Personnel

If you work in high-stakes environments — as a police officer, firefighter, paramedic, military member, or similar — you may have witnessed violence, loss, or emergencies that stay with you long after your shift ends. Together, we can work through the impact of what you’ve seen and restore a sense of safety and strength.

Survivors of Abuse

If you’ve experienced physical, emotional, or sexual abuse — whether in childhood or adulthood — you deserve support that honours your story and helps you heal. This includes survivors of intimate partner violence and sexual assault.

Refugees and Displaced Persons

Leaving your home because of war, violence, or persecution brings profound grief and disruption. We can work together to process the loss, build stability, and begin to feel grounded again.

Medical Trauma Survivors

Facing serious illness, surgery, or a medical emergency can be traumatic. If you’ve felt helpless, dismissed, or traumatized by a healthcare experience or ongoing health condition, therapy can help you regain a sense of control and safety in your body.

People Impacted by Systemic Oppression

Living under the weight of racism, colonialism, homophobia, transphobia, or other forms of discrimination can create ongoing trauma. I work with LGBTQSIA+ individuals, immigrants, Indigenous peoples, and racialized communities with a focus on cultural awareness, intersectionality, and social justice.

Survivors of Natural or Human-Made Disasters

Whether you’ve lived through a wildfire, earthquake, mass shooting, terrorist attack, or industrial accident, you may still feel the aftershocks in your body and mind. Therapy can help you regain a sense of calm and reclaim your life.

Whatever your story, you are not alone. Healing is possible — and I’m here to walk with you on that path, at your pace.

I work with adults, adolescents, and teenagers across the gender spectrum.

I do not work with:

• Court-Mandated Therapy

• Crisis Response/24-Hour Services (If you need immediate mental health support, please contact the local distress line, available 24 hours, at 310-6789 (no area code).

• People who actively have suicidal and homicidal intents and plans.

• Clients in need of partial hospitalization or an intensive outpatient program.

I do not provide direct billing to extended health, insurance companies, etc. I will provide you with a receipt with my RCC registration number once you’ve paid for your session and you can submit that receipt to your provider for reimbursement.

I offer depth work which is most effective with regular sessions. Therefore, I require a commitment from clients to attend weekly or bi-weekly therapy. 

After our first session, if it feels like a good fit, you will be able to go in and pre-book those sessions.

I ask clients to treat these times as a firm commitment to their mental health and avoid canceling or rescheduling whenever possible.

As a counsellor, my focus is on:

• Making sure you feel seen, heard, and understood.

• Creating a safe space where you can be your true self.

• Offering non-judgmental support, no matter what you’re going through.

• Centering your needs and your process, at your pace.

• Building a strong therapeutic relationship—because research shows that when there's a good fit between therapist and client, real and lasting change is possible.

The first session is an opportunity to get to know one another. You’ll be able to share your story and experiences with me, as well as ask questions.

My role is to hold the space for you and really get an understanding of your thoughts, feelings and perspectives.

In this session, you can also get a feel for my therapy space and what therapy will be like. Together, we’ll decide if we would be a good fit to work together.

The amount of therapy sessions you may need will vary depending on your goals. Healing is often not a linear process. I believe that long-term sustainable change and transformation is a process that does not involve a ‘quick fix’.

Counselling is most effective when it is regular and consistent.

I offer deep, ongoing therapy, which works best when we meet regularly. Because of that, I ask for a commitment to weekly or bi-weekly sessions.

I provide in-person counselling at my private practice, located in Vancouver in the Strathcona area and downtown.

I also provide secure online counselling through Jane.

I also offer Walk & Talk Therapy, which combines the benefits of counselling, nature, and movement.

I am unavailable after opening hours and Fine Balance Counselling & Yoga Therapy is not an emergency service. If you require immediate support, If you are in crisis/distress, please contact the mental health support line, available 24 hours a day, at 310-6789 (no area code) or call 911.

Therapy should be accessible to everyone. Contact me to join my waitlist for clients who need a reduced rate.

Here is a list of reduced cost & free counselling services in Vancouver 2025.

I require that you keep a credit card on file for payment of sessions .

I have a 48-hour cancellation policy. I charge the full fee for a missed appointment, or for an appointment cancelled with less than 48 hours’ notice.

I allow up to five cancellations per calendar year.

For late arrivals, sessions will end at the scheduled time, and the full fee will be charged.

I am a registered therapist with the Crime Victim Assistance Program (CVAP) and offer CVAP funded counselling.

This is a government-funded program that provides financial assistance to individuals seeking counselling following traumatic events. If you have been a victim, immediate family member, or witness of abuse or crime offences in British Columbia, you might be eligible to receive counselling support covered by this program. Check out VictimLink BC for more information.

Please note that I bill the government directly for our sessions and CVAP covers a portion of my fees ($135.00 per session). Clients pay the remainder of the standard session fee: $25 (60 min) & $75 (90 min).

Walk & Talk Therapy is a form of outdoor counselling in which physical activity and exposure to nature are a part of the therapeutic approach.

Movement can help decrease anxiety and depression. Evidence suggests that engaging in movement can also reduce intrusive thoughts (unwanted thoughts that cause significant distress) and rumination (the tendency to repeatedly think about the same thing, often in the form of negative thoughts). 

Walking is known to be a method of stress management and exposure to nature can help the nervous system relax. Walking has been shown to help with “releasing” and coping with aggression or irritation.

Walk & Talk Therapy can improve emotion regulation and awareness and improve one's ability to cope with life transitions. Walking is a literal, physical way to keep moving forward.

Contact me for more information