“We cannot start over, but we can begin now, and make a new ending.” —Zig Ziglar
Counselling Sessions
Grief & Loss
Grief sucks. It hurts in ways words cannot describe. It can feel so heavy and unbearable that you don't even know how you can go on. You are not alone - even though it can feel that way. Together we can find ways that help you hold your grief so you can feel like you can live again.
Stress – the overwhelmed, don’t know what to do, how will I mange it all, time pressure, and expectations, that make the days feel even harder than they are. You know you are stressed because your sleep is getting worse, your thoughts are constantly coming back to the stressful things you are dealing with, and it’s really hard for you to focus on the other things that are going on in your life. It’s too much and this is not how you want to be living.
Burnout is what happens when the stress doesn’t stop and becomes unmanageable. You can’t keep up with your regular life needs, everyone else’s needs go before your own, you never feel rested after sleeping, and nothing that you do feels like you are getting a break or leaves you feeling like you have been able to relax.
You might have thought you could handle this all on your own before, but it has got to the point now where you need help. Together we can break down what you are managing, create ways to take more off your plate, and build in helpful strategies to repair what the stress has taken from you.
Stress & Burnout
Stress is overwhelming and incredibly hard to handle. When you can't manage your stress, burnout takes over. Having supported many clients with experiences of stress, burnout, and caregiver support, I welcome to opportunity to work with you to help you feel relief and back to feeling like yourself again.
Anger happens to us all in some form and intensity. It is there to keep us safe from threats, and is a great cover for emotions that make us feel vulnerable. Some folks express their anger outward – loud voice, yelling, physically breaking objects- and some express their anger inward – negative self-talk, harm to self, and shutting down.
Anger can be really helpful to show your boundaries are being pushed, or when you need to make sure someone hears you tell them to be aware of the danger present. Anger isn’t helpful however when it is getting you in trouble at work, in your relationships, and has you feeling pretty crappy about yourself after you’ve been angry.
If this is how anger is showing up for you, it probably isn’t working for you the way you want it to anymore. Thankfully, there are lots of things that can be done to help you have a better relationship with your thoughts and emotions, and a better way in how you express them, so that anger is no longer causing you problems.
Anger
Anger causes problems at work, in your relationships, and with how you feel about yourself. It takes over how you talk, how you act, and has really intense urges. You don't have to keep feeling this way. If you want to feel more in control and relaxed, working on your anger is a great place to start.
Anxiety is a beast. It is such a necessary safety response for us to survive, and yet without direction and containment, it can really cause havoc in your life.
It makes you nervous to attend and be in social settings; it has you second guessing your work, and what you did or said in social settings; it even keeps you up, or wakes you up in the night replaying all of the things that might go wrong in the future. It comes through as difficulty trusting yourself, and wanting to check in with those you meet to ensure that everything is ok.
Anxiety can also come through as panic attacks – where you think you are having a heart attack, even when medically you aren’t. You feel like everything is ending, your heart is racing, you are sweaty, you have difficulty taking deep breaths, and your mind is racing… among many other symptoms.
Working with me can bring you relief from this intensity and frequency as together we will jump right into practicing quick, easy, helpful skills that will turn down the volume of your symptoms. Paired with building your knowledge of anxiety, you will be ready to tackle life again with confidence and ease.
Having worked with many individuals who have struggled with anxiety – situational to life long- you will be supported.
Anxiety
Unrealistic negative racing thoughts are not a normal part of everyday life. Neither is feeling jittery, or on edge, having difficulty breathing, having a racing heart, or having difficulties concentrating or focusing. Learning specific helpful skills can be the difference of living as you are, to living as you want to be.
Life always comes with ups and downs, twists and turns. Sometimes those changes are welcomed and celebrated, and many times they feel overwhelming, confusing, and uncertain- even when they are welcomed and celebrated. You find yourself unsure of which is the best choice to make, and what steps you need to make it. You wonder what you need to know in order to make this change in your life, where to start, and how to do it.
You are not meant to figure this out alone. Together we will look at where the change in your life is coming from, how you feel about it, and what steps would be helpful to feeling confident in your choices and decisions. Then, we go through it, together. We will work on the bumps the inevitably come along the way – supporting you in building skills that help you to achieve your goals. No matter the transition or change, our work will be aimed at making it as successful for you as possible.
If you are looking for gender counselling, you have come to the right place. Devan has received PHSA training to complete letters of recommendation for folks seeking a gender affirming readiness assessment and a hormone readiness assessment. Please connect for further information and support.
Life Changes & Transitions
Changing your life from what it used to be to something new and unknown can be scary. If you feel alone or unsure of how to take the next steps in your life, talking to a counsellor can be highly effective and helpful. Get support in making decisions that can make the transition easier.
*Please complete the Contact Me Form and note funding information for pre-approval submission requirements prior to first appointment*
Having your counselling services paid for relieves the financial burden that comes to many accessing services, and allows you to access the support you need and deserve.
We offer funded counselling services for those who qualify through First Nations Health Authority (FNHA), CVAP, BCEHS, and ICBC.
Folks looking for funded counselling sessions, and who have a status number, are eligible to access 22 hours of funded counselling support services from the Short-Term Crisis Intervention Mental Health Counselling program through FNHA. Session fees are directly billed to FNHA.
Folks who have received an initial approval letter from CVAP, are eligible for a minimum of 12 partially-funded counselling sessions, with additional session funding possible after claim coordinator approval.
Folks seeking BCEHS funded therapy, please contact your BCEHS CIS provider for session approval.
Folks who are wanting to access ICBC funded counselling support, ICBC customers are able to access the pre-authorized number of 12 treatment sessions within the first 12 weeks from the date of their crash without prior ICBC approval.
If you are eligible for funded counselling, let’s get your sessions covered!
If you have extended health benefits to cover counselling costs, please ensure you are covered for services from a Registered Clinical Counsellor or RCC. For anyone with Pacific BlueCross, SunLife, or Telus E-claims connected Extended Health Benefits, your counselling sessions are now available for direct billing! For all other extended health benefit programs, you can submit your receipts for reimbursement!
Funded Counselling Options
We direct bill to your insurance providers! Devan is a mental health provider for the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA). Lyndsay and Devan are providers with Crime Victims Assistance (CVAP), providing partially funded trauma therapy. ICBC-funded* therapy is also available. Please confirm funding needs before booking an appointment for pre-approval confirmation requirements.
Many people see the words trauma therapy and assume that the deepest, darkest, worst, scariest moments of someone’s life are immediately asked about and picked apart, when in reality, the opposite is more accurate.
Trauma therapy starts just like every other therapy – with building a safe(enough) relationship with a therapist, exploring skills, abilities, needs, and values that are supportive of building confidence, self-trust, and inner wisdom, for you to trust you are safe-enough to manage and navigate any distress that comes.
And only when you are ready – to then work on letting go of what was never yours to hold – the nightmares, the flashbacks that feel like they are real and happening again, awful intrusive thoughts that take you away from living your life as you want to, the fears, anxieties, and panics; the numbness or lack of interest and connection to yourself or others and life, the avoidance that comes from wanting anything that might feel or seem similar, the smells, tastes, touch, and sensations of events that significantly altered your sense of safety in the world and of yourself.
This can be done in a variety of ways, some of which Devan and Lyndsay are trained and supervised. We offer EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), TIR (Traumatic Incident Reduction), and IFS (Internal Family Systems). EMDR and TIR work by getting your verbal and nonverbal parts of your brain to connect back with your body to put all the puzzle pieces back together to what happened, to close the opened and confusing loop that has kept playing over and over again in your brain. IFS works by exploring and identifying different ‘parts’ of yourself that worked together trying to protect you from pain, and moving towards building confidence and trust with your own ‘self’, without repeating the details of your experience.
Trauma Therapy
Trauma is a normal human response to abnormal circumstances, where you may have experienced emotional, psychological, or physical reactions to something highly distressing, harmful, or life-threatening. It may have been at one time, or over repeated experiences, or in relationship to other complex experiences. That is why we use EMDR, TIR, IFS, and somatic-based processes to support you in letting go of what was never yours to carry.
Neurodivergence is now more widely discussed, explored, assessed, and supported as the world view catches up with human existence, resulting in more adult diagnoses of Autism, ADHD, and AuDHD. And the gap continues to lie in the awareness of personal neurodivergence and day-to-day functioning in ways that are supportive of personal needs with relationship, home, work, and life needs.
With Neurodivergent-informed therapy, your exploration of self, grieving of what was not previously understood or supported, and exploring personal navigation needs of existing in this life, and in this world, are welcomed and supported by late-life diagnosed neurodivergent counsellors.
We welcome you to see what it might be like to unmask, learn, and act in ways that are supportive of your own needs, and explore who you are and how you would like to live fully.
Neurodivergent-Informed Therapy
Counselling tailored for neurodivergent adults (ADHD, autism, sensory sensitivities), offering affirming, trauma-informed support that meets you where you are, from neurodivergent therapists. We focus on identity exploration, practical tools for daily life, and creating a space where you feel understood, supported, and free to be yourself — without pressure to mask or fit expectations.
Gender Support Therapy is therapy that is attuned to your own personally identified gender identity and personal experiences.
For some, that might look like exploring gender roles, caregiving concerns, parenting, ageing, societal norms, roles, and expectations, relationships, career, personal identity, the idea of a work-life-home balance, self-esteem, or navigating emotions.
For some, that might look like hormone changes and cycles, fertility, pregnancy, perimenopause, or menopause.
For some, that might look like gender-affirming therapy where gender dysphoria can be explored and validated, societal stigma and safety are addressed, and trauma and mental health are supported.
No matter the concerns you are exploring in the body that you live in and identify with, they are welcomed here.
Gender Support Therapy
Support for individuals navigating gender and hormonal transitions, including hormone readiness assessments, pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause, and menopause. We offer informed, compassionate care that honours your identity and lived experience, while providing emotional support, education, and practical tools to help you feel grounded, confident, and supported through each stage of change.
Our relationship is key in developing a supportive space for you during our time together. You deserve quality service and treatment, which is why I start off with a free 15-minute consultation so you have all of your questions answered and we can see if we’re a good fit! Click here for more information about me, my perspective, and the therapeutic relationship.
When you arrive to your first appointment, I create a plan with you on how to support you best, with considerations of time and financial limitations.
I provide psycho-education around topics we discuss, encourage practicing skills learned in sessions, and various training taught in-session.
Honoring National Grief Awareness Day: Supporting Each Other Through Loss
How to Support Someone Who Is Grieving While You Are Also Grieving
Finding Stability in the Weeks Following a Loss
Friendly atmosphere
for all of your thoughts