Supporting You Through Life’s Unexpected Challenges
Helping you navigate life’s challenges with compassion, understanding, and a path toward healing and growth.
Hi, I’m Kirsten!
I’m known for my sense of humour and love of laughter, which fits perfectly with my work as a counsellor. I deeply value wellness, connection, and the power of joy in the healing journey as we courageously work toward living as our true selves.
When I’m not counselling, you can find me reading a great book, walking in nature, or engaging in mindful activities that help me maintain balance, gratitude, and happiness.
I am genuinely invested in each person’s story. My priority is to ensure people feel heard, seen, and understood, providing a calm, kind, and trusting environment that respects the courage it takes to do this work.
I believe that while we cannot change the past, we can change how it affects us. Change is always possible, and it begins with taking responsibility for our inner lives, even when the outside world refuses to change.
Growing up, I saw how generational trauma often taught people to keep struggles hidden. I experienced firsthand how this coping style can affect us mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Over time, I realized this pattern wasn’t serving me and made it my personal mission to break the cycle and develop healthier ways to cope and grow.
In my own life, I also experienced unexpected childlessness, which gave me deep insight into the complex emotions people face when fertility hopes don’t go as planned. This personal experience strengthened my commitment to supporting others with empathy and understanding, helping them navigate grief, anxiety, and life transitions.
These experiences, combined with my passion for helping people, brought me to the work I do today: empowering clients to heal, flourish, and live their best lives.
“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.”
~ Maya Angelou
How I Support You
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Areas of Practice
I provide compassionate, personalized support through 1:1 counselling (in-person, online, or by phone) and online workshops, helping people navigate life’s challenges and step into their personal power. My approach combines evidence-based techniques with a trauma-informed, heart-centered perspective to help you build resilience, find your voice, and create a life aligned with your values.
I work with individuals experiencing:
• Grief and the complexities of fertility challenges, including miscarriage, IVF, and unexpected childlessness
• Anxiety
• Trauma & PTSD
• Stress & burnout
• Low self-worth
• Grief & loss
• Anger
• Personal growth
• Relationships (partners, family, friends)
• Other life challengesTogether, we work to build coping skills & nervous system regulation, mindfulness and grounding practices, balance, self-confidence, and empowerment, understanding and challenging negative core beliefs, and much more!
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Working Together
My personal experiences have shaped the way I approach counselling. I take a client-centered, collaborative approach, working with each person to determine the therapy methods that will work best for them. Together, we build a strong, positive working alliance that supports meaningful change and helps resolve challenges.
My practice is informed by:
• Trauma-informed care
• Collaborative, Client Centered
• Strength-based approaches
• Mindfulness
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
• Solution-focused therapy
• Narrative therapy✨ I also have training in EMDR and Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy.
You’ll have a safe space to explore your experiences, build skills, and gain new perspectives that help you make choices from an empowered, aligned place. Witnessing clients step into that space is the most rewarding part of my work.
If you or someone you know is ready to begin a healing journey, reach out for a free 15-minute consultation. I look forward to connecting with you!
What Influences My Practice?
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Trauma Informed Approach
Understanding the impact of trauma on each individual person and how that affects them physically, mentally and emotionally. Incorporates empowerment, safety, trust and skill building.
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EMDR
Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing is a psychotherapy that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences.
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Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy
Bringing the Body into Practice, Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy 2 Year Training - reparation of early attachment injuries through various frameworks.
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Client Centered & Collaborative
Each person is unique and I work collaboratively with my clients to determine the approach to therapy that will work best for them.
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Strength Based
People are a lot more resilient and resourceful than they realize. I look to explore what is already within a person and highlighting and build on those strengths.
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Mindfulness
Involves the process of bringing one's attention to experiences occurring in the present moment, which one can develop through the practice of meditation but also through other training.
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Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
CBT focuses on challenging and changing unhelpful cognitive distortions and behaviors, improving emotional regulation, and the development of personal coping strategies.
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Solution Focused Therapy
This involves a goal-directed collaborative approach to change. Some clients may not want to focus on past events and SFT is a means to focus on current and future goals.
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Narrative Therapy
This psychotherapy helps clients identify their values and the skills connected with those values. Understanding these values help clients confront current and future struggles.
My Background
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Education and Training
Education:
• Master’s Degree in Counselling – City University of Seattle, Vancouver, BC
• Bachelor of Arts in Psychology – Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BCProfessional Credentials:
• Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC #14040), BC Association for Clinical Counsellors
• Canadian Certified Counsellor (CCC #13550), Canadian Counselling & Psychotherapy AssociationAdditional Training:
• Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy – Bringing the Body into Practice
2-year training with Lisa Mortimore, Ph.D. & Stacy Adam Jensen, MEd
• EMDR Basic Training – British Columbia School of Professional Psychology (BCSPP) with Marshall Wilensky, Ph.D.• Trauma Workshop – Maureen McEvoy, MA, RCC (Neuroscience/Trauma/Brain)
• …and other specialized trainings in counselling, trauma, and mental health
I continue to expand my skills through ongoing professional development to provide the most effective and up-to-date support for my clients. -
Volunteer
I believe in giving back to my community and have been truly honored to witness countless moments where individuals have demonstrated immense strength and courage in the face of trauma.
I had the privilege of volunteering at Tri-City Transitions Society, a registered charity that provides emergency shelter and support to women and children fleeing family violence and abuse in the Tri-Cities area.
As a co-facilitator, I contributed to the Canadian Action Program and the Stopping the Violence programs, which included the following groups:
• Empowering Dads: Healthy parenting skills, communication and a focus on the impact of domestic violence on children.
• Healthy Boundaries: Creating healthy boundaries for women who are, or have, experienced abuse.
• Teen Moms: Healthy parenting and relationships for teen mothers.
• Healthy Attachment: Building healthy attachment for parents with their young children.
• Empowering Moms: Healthy parenting skills, communication and a focus on the impact of domestic violence on children.
Volunteering has been an important part of my journey as a counsellor, helping me grow as a professional while supporting others in meaningful ways.
My Practice
I co-founded Cove Counselling & Co. with Maria Fabiano, my colleague and friend who is also an RCC. Our vision and hope was to create a beautiful, warm, welcoming space for clients, and building a supportive, like-minded community for therapists who share a heartfelt, compassionate approach to this work. Each of our counsellors run their own independent practice but we have the opportunity to share our space together.
