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Dock

Counselling

Is there a longing inside of you? A feeling you can’t quite name? Maybe it’s a cascade of emotion and you may feel too overwhelmed to understand or know how to process it. These emotions could be a sign of grief, sadness, anxiety, depression, or unhappiness with your current life circumstances. You may feel stuck and alone. Coming to counselling can be a courageous first step and Sara welcomes you here. With gentle guiding, she connects with you to support you and your needs. Strengths based and culturally sensitive, she gets to know you as an individual and meets you where you are.

Services

Areas of Practice

  • Anxiety

  • Depression

  • Relationships

  • Grief

  • Personal growth

  • Self-esteem

  • Identity (gender, culture)

  • Stress

  • Caregiver burnout

  • Chronic pain

  • Career

  • Imposter syndrome 

  • Life transitions

Therapy Modalities

Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)

Sara has completed the Emotionally Focused Therapy for individuals (L1) and Emotionally Focused Externship for work with couples through the Vancouver Centre for Emotionally Focused Therapy (VCEFT). This is a well researched and validated method for individuals, couples, and families to relieve stress and tension in their relationships by creating more secure bonds. This method helps people understand the quality of their attachment relationships and learn about their own attachment style. Furthermore, this method focuses on the experience of emotions and the messages our emotions are telling us.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

Sara uses CBT techniques in counselling if it is relevant to the sessions. CBT is a well known method that has been extensively researched and is empirically validated. CBT has been shown to be effective in treating a range of problems including depression, anxiety, and relationship issues. This method focuses on recognizing and understanding a person's unhelpful thinking and behavioural patterns and in turn, replaces these patterns with more helpful strategies. An individual can further develop problem solving skills and ways to cope in difficult situations. 

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CBT can also be paired with drumming to help reinforce positive messages that can replace unhelpful thoughts. If you are interested in this technique, please let Sara know. 

Mindfulness 

Mindfulness is a ubiquitous term in the health and wellness industry and is often used in yoga. Mindfulness can be defined as "a state of mind such as feeling calm, gratitude, and compassion. 'To be mindful' means to enter into that state by learning to be in the present moment, being aware and accepting of our emotions, thoughts, and body sensations." (PositivePsychology, 2023) The benefits of learning to be mindful is to be in tune with ourselves (mentally, physically, spiritually), others, and our environment. Learning to be present can help reduce anxiety and worries about the future. Mindfulness exercises, including intentional breathing can be helpful in counselling and can become a practice in a person's life. 

Expressive Arts

The expressive arts can be a central component of counselling or used to deepen the work. The arts can often be a powerful and transformative tool to access emotion and personal expression. Although some artists are drawn to this medium for counselling, anyone can incorporate the expressive arts in counselling to benefit. No artistic training is required. This can include listening to familiar music, analyzing a meaningful song, imagery and music, improvising, drawing, reflective writing, story-telling, and movement. All ages, including adults, teens, and children can benefit from this medium.  

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