COUNSELLING
What can we do when our kids get stuck and we feel stuck alongside them?
We can start by making sense of problems at a root level.
Counselling services are available to support parents in becoming their kid’s best bet as well as for adolescents as they transition to adulthood. Counselling services are also available to any adult responsible for caring for kids and may include parents and extended family members, foster parents, educators, or helping professionals. We recognize all forms of families and the diversity that comes with caregiving.
The goal of counselling is to:
- Put the adults in the driver’s seat in effecting change and making headway with a child or teen
- Support teens with the feelings and experiences that come with the transition to adulthood
- Make sense of a child or teen at a root level and building interventions on this understanding
- Provide strategies rooted in developmental and relational science, as well as seasoned counselling practice from working with diverse families
- Work together in the context of your family to find ways to make headway
- Identify and optimize the village of attachment that supports you and your family
It is never too late to build and repair relationships with our kids nor to get unstuck. Sometimes the way through starts with accepting the futility of what isn’t working and looking at things through a different lens.
Who should come to the counselling session?
Our approach to helping kids is by believing that the adults in their life are their answer. While you may not feel you have the answers to help or make sense of them, we can help fill in the pieces.
We work directly with the adults who are responsible for taking care of kids and advise that you do not tell them you are seek counseling to make sense of them. Whenever additional support is considered helpful in supporting your child or teen, we will provide suggestions and sometimes referrals to other helping professionals.
Counselling for teens is provided in the context of supporting family cohesion as well as recognizing that sometimes they may need separate spaces to feel and heal. When providing counselling for your teen we will also ask that the adults responsible for them should also have a separate counselling session and support where available.
Where do the counselling sessions take place?
All counselling sessions take place in a virtual environment and can accommodate multiple parties from different locations. We may also recommend in-person counselling especially when working directly with adolescents.
Unfortunately, we are unable to see individuals for counselling who reside outside of Canada due to professional licencing requirements and restrictions. Residents from outside of Canada are still able to take webinars and include these materials in your visits to helping professionals in your country.
COMMON ISSUES ADDRESSED IN COUNSELLING
As a developmentalists we work with a range of issues in child and teen years including anxiety, attention problems, bullying, frustration and aggression, learning challenges, peer orientation, dominance issues, eating problems, as well as resistance and opposition. We also support adults in their transition to parenthood and teens to adulthood.
We also work with adults to make sense of kids and their developmental needs and individually with teens, when it comes to emotional health and well-being, identity and becoming a sexual being (LGBTQ+), friendships and family connections, the preschooler personality, teen transition to adulthood, school readiness, and high sensitivity.
Please note that we do not offer support for custody issues or fitness to parent, nor psychoeducational assessments.
MEET THE TEAM
Deborah MacNamara, PhD., MA, RCC, Clinical Counsellor
Christie Mackie, MA., RCC, Clinical Counsellor
Heather Beach, Confidential Counselling Assistant
FAQ
Is there a waitlist?
We typically have a waitlist for appointments although there are times we can see you with little wait. Priority on our waitlist goes to current and past clients first. If you have taken a webinar with us you will be considered an existing client and will go on the availability list for next appointments or waitlist for current clients. We recommend you consider a webinar or a course through the Neufeld Institute while you wait.
What can I do to prepare for a counselling session?
You will be sent a counselling intake form where you are free to share whatever you think is important for us to know ahead of our session.
How long are the counselling sessions?
Counselling sessions are 50 minutes. Longer sessions can be arranged wherever appropriate.
What is your cancellation policy?
Please provide 24 hours advance notice when cancelling or changing your appointment time.
Are counselling sessions covered by insurance?
Deborah and Associates are Registered Clinical Counsellors (RCC) with the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors. Services may be covered under extended health plans that recognize the Clinical Counsellor designation.
Is there a sliding scale available?
We have several spots available for reduced counselling fees. Please indicate if you are seeking one of these spaces. Please note that we typically run a waitlist for these spaces and it may take a while before one becomes available.