Individual Counselling

Do you feel anxious or fearful much of the time?
Do you avoid situations that make you anxious?
Do you worry that you are going to panic, go crazy, or die?
Do you feel unfulfilled in your day-to-day life?
Do you have difficulty accepting parts of yourself and feeling worthwhile?
Do you long to connect with a sense of wholeness and peace?

Our Approach

Marian Smith is a Registered Clinical Counsellor with a particular interest in working with individuals who experience anxiety and/or panic, with or without associated depression.

She will help you to learn practices to help you ground in the moment and spend less time being caught up in the past or worrying about the future. You will develop tools for feeling more centred, more calm and more connected to yourself physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. This centeredness helps you to ride the waves of your negative thoughts and challenging body sensations without identifying with them and giving them more power than they deserve. Clients report being less controlling and yet feeling more in control.

I feel in control now. When I have felt the beginnings of an anxiety attack I have been able to stop the catastrophizing (awfulizing) and be more in the present. I was afraid that I would be dependent on medications to ease my panic, but now I feel I have the tools to be in charge myself.

In learning to understand their fears more deeply, clients come to accept themselves more fully and value their strengths. They learn to care for themselves and live in a more balanced way.

As clients develop a greater sense of safety and grounding, they can appreciate the full range of their emotions without being overwhelmed. From this place, life expands; enthusiasm, creativity and love become more accessible. People report moving from feeling trapped in unhealthy patterns to new ways of seeing and an increasing availability of choices. With support, mutual respect and practice, clients tap into their own deep resources for coping, for healing, and for growing in greater authenticity, wisdom and fulfillment.

If you are interested in finding out more about my services and how counselling might be of help to you, please contact me at msmith@mindful-living.ca or 604-787-6100 to set up a free 10-minute telephone consultation. During that time, I can answer your questions and help you decide if counselling is right for you.

Marian Smith, MA, RCC

I hold a Masters in counselling psychology from UBC and currently maintain nationally recognized professional certification through the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors. In addition to my years of practical counselling experience, I combine an extensive and creative background as a designer, a registered massage therapist and an instructor/supervisor at the college level. I have counselled in addictions at Pacific Spirit and at Aurora, a residential treatment centre. In addition, through BC Women’s Hospital, I teach seminars in communication and healthy relationships, post-traumatic stress, grief and loss, anger and depression, disordered eating and spirituality. I also lead community groups integrating mindfulness with CBT for working with anxiety and panic as well for depression. I have taken workshops with Jon Kabat-Zinn and Dr. Zindel Segal with whom I trained in teaching mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for preventing depression relapse.

I found I have a voice and opinions that matter. I learned to see who I once was, and found that I can be a father, husband and person at the same time. It has given me back some control of the steering wheel and I no longer make constant left turns in my life. I feel more at peace with myself. I haven’t had that in years.

I have practiced Mindfulness meditation and studied Buddhist psychology since 1989 and integrate these practices and principles in the client-centred approach I bring to therapy. I am committed to my own self-awareness and to bringing a focused presence to the therapeutic relationship. Having worked in mindbody therapies since 1990, I also recognize the importance of bringing all aspects of the self into awareness and balance, including the physical, emotional, cognitive and spiritual. I am committed to regular Mindfulness practice and am passionate about the potential for Mindfulness to improve individuals’ quality of life. Indeed, in teaching more than 30 Mindfulness-based programs over the last 6 years, I have been privileged to witness a wide range of positive and profound effects on peoples’ lives.

I bring intelligence, warmth and humour to the therapeutic process and believe in the inherent wisdom within each individual to move toward health and balance. I have a particular interest in working with anxiety and its related “disorders”. I also work with depression, challenges with the body, addiction, life transitions including grief and loss, and relationship and communication issues. I have trained in EMDR with Dr. Marshall Wilensky to assist individuals in processing traumatic memories that may be causing anxiety today. Through the therapeutic process, clients frequently come to view troubling experiences from a broader perspective that, when reintegrated, become less painful and bring greater richness and meaning.

My goal is to help individuals to connect with and appreciate their inner strengths and resources, to explore where they may feel stuck and to help facilitate the changes they desire in order to make choices– not out of fear but to bring them to greater balance and freedom. As awareness expands, energy and creativity are also enhanced.

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.

 

Brett Peterson, MA, RCC

I received my master’s degree in counselling psychology from UBC (specializing in Family counselling) where I conducted my thesis research in the area of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Upon graduating in the mid-nineties, I began working as a counsellor, in general practice and at various clinics in the lower mainland, where I specialized in addictions. For two years I worked for the Drug Treatment Court of Vancouver providing counselling to individuals convicted of drug-related offences, and making treatment recommendations to the Court.

Prior to becoming a teacher and counsellor, I worked as a recording artist and songwriter and continue to write songs and perform locally. I bring a creative energy to counselling and teaching rather than following a particular formula or school of thought. I believe that in counselling, the most important factor is the human element. I value the people I counsel and consider it a privilege to be so intimately allowed into their lives.

I began teaching and developing various courses in Mindfulness training for Mindful Living in 2004, following many years of cultivating my own meditation practice and studying Buddhist psychology. I frequently teach Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy for the prevention of depression relapse in conjunction with ongoing research studies conducted by the UBC psychology department.

I am the devoted father to a son and daughter who bring much joy into my life.