about me
hi, i'm kristen!
i am so glad you found me! i am a virtual counsellor living in the fraser valley, not far from vancouver, who provides therapy across bc. i am an uninvited settler living on the unceded land of the sts’ailes peoples and sto:lo nation. i use she/her pronouns, and people in my life describe me as compassionate, inviting and having a good sense of humour!
i am a queer cisgendered woman, and i am married to a cisgendered man. i understand the experiences of divorce and separation through my lived experience as a child of divorce, and navigating the world of blended families. i have experienced mental health challenges throughout this journey of life, and it’s these struggles that i believe have helped me not only understand the mental health challenges of others, but learn that in order to do my best, i have to put self-care as a top priority.
i am a daughter, sister, partner and auntie
and can be found sitting by the water with a coffee with my beloved french bulldog, larry. i speak openly about childfree living in a pro-natal world and even wrote a blog post about it!
professionally, i am a registered social worker (#11871) and canadian certified counsellor (#13254) with a bachelor of social work and master of arts in counselling psychology. i have over 15 years combined education and experience counselling youth, individuals, facilitating group therapy, and supporting relationships.
i am influenced by various models of counselling including mindfulness, narrative therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy (act), internal family systems, and queer theory. above all, i work from a trauma informed and intersectional feminist lens, recognizing the influence gender, sexuality and socio-economic status and culture can have on our experiences. i am an lgbtq2s+ and poly-friendly/ethical-non monogamy counsellor and am very enthusiastic about challenging heteronormative culture.
i provide individual & relationship therapy, along with clinical supervision and am in the process of receiving the canadian certified counsellor supervisor (ccc-s) designation through the ccpa.
through all therapeutic experiences, i encourage clients to notice the harmful systems of oppression that impact mental health; in particular colonialism, patriarchy and white-supremacy. i am passionate to work with all humans and truly believes that feminism is for everybody (thank you bell hooks!) and to love a woman, feminism is no longer a choice but an action.
"feminist politics aims to end domination, to free us to be who we are - to live lives where we love justice, where we can live in peace. feminism is for everybody."
bell hooks
"clarity and decisiveness come from the willingness to slow down, to listen and looks at what's happening."
pema chodron