Who I Work With

Teens and Tweens

Anxiety, depression, stress, and the challenges of early life transitions

Adults

Chronic pain and illness, infertility, caregiver burnout, women’s health, and life transitions

Couples

Relationship stress, intimacy, communication, and navigating shared health challenges

About Chantel

I want to acknowledge the courage it takes to begin looking for support. Whatever has brought you here, I offer a space where you will feel deeply seen and understood. As you are the expert of your own story, my approach comes from a place of curiosity and open-mindedness. In the space we create together, I will honour your story, allowing room for any emotions, thoughts, or physical experiences to be felt and gently explored.

I work with adults, teens and tweens, and couples, with a particular focus on chronic pain, chronic illness, infertility, and supporting caregivers. I also work with people navigating women’s health, depression, anxiety, life transitions, first-responder stress, sexuality, and MAID support.

Living with chronic pain, illness, or infertility can be a debilitating and disorienting experience. It affects you emotionally and physically, and it can leave you feeling invalidated and invisible. It can feel as though you have lost any say in what happens to your own body. You might carry sadness, anger, hopelessness, or anxiety alongside periods of numbness or emptiness. If any of this resonates, you are not alone in that experience.

As a caregiver, you may be looking for a place where you can simply be heard. Whether you are working through burnout, feelings of isolation, or the complexity of caring for someone who is no longer who they once were, I want to provide that space for you.

My lived experience, alongside my volunteer work with the support groups and support line at Pain BC, has shaped a multidimensional understanding of chronic pain and illness. I also devoted my capstone research to the mental health impact of infertility, which continues to inform how I show up with clients navigating that experience. I recognize that starting counselling takes real courage, and I look forward to exploring your story together.

My Approach

Person-Centred

You are the expert on your own life. My role is to follow your lead and honour your experience without directing where the work should go.

Trauma-Informed

Safety comes first. I hold a deep awareness of how past and ongoing difficult experiences shape how we feel in our bodies and relationships.

Chronic Pain and Illness Lens

I bring both lived experience and clinical training to working with people whose mental health is affected by physical conditions and medical systems.

Somatic and Body-Oriented

The body holds its own wisdom. I invite physical sensations and awareness into the work alongside thoughts and emotions, especially for those living with chronic pain or physical illness.

Relational and Collaborative

The relationship between us matters. We build something together that is shaped by your specific story and what you need from the work.

Emotionally Attuned

Whether you are flooded with feeling or struggling to feel much at all, I meet you exactly where you are and work at your pace.

Selected Training and Certifications
2026
Bringing the Body into Practice, Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy 2-Year Training (2024–2026)

Bringing the Body into Practice

2025
Externship in Emotionally Focused Therapy

Vancouver Centre for EFT

2024
Trauma-Informed Practice Training: Level 1

Trauma Informed Practice Institute

2024
The Sexually Competent Therapist (Foundations): Integrating Sex Therapy Into Practice

American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT) · Issued Nov 2024

2024
Working with First Responders

Tim Black · BCACC Workshop, November 2024

2024
Pain Foundations

Pain BC · Issued Oct 2024

2024
Intro to Gender Diversity

Trans Care BC · Issued Aug 2024

2024
Chronic Pain Insights

Pain Canada · Issued Aug 2024

2023
Gottman Method Couples Therapy: Level 1 — Bridging the Couple Chasm

The Gottman Institute · Issued Dec 2023