Registered Clinical Counsellor in Victoria, BC
Choosing the right counsellor is a highly personalized choice. We offer a free 15 minute phone consult to discuss your reason for seeking treatment and your goals. Together, you can determine if this is a good fit for you.
Taking care of your health involves a variety of tools and registered clinical counselling can help you get in touch with what your body needs to function best. At Remedy Wellness Centre, we offer online counselling services to help you make lasting changes that will keep you feeling great. Our team of counsellors in Victoria is always growing and we now have a team member certified as a Canadian Certified Counsellor and Registered Counselling Therapist, as well as two Registered Clinical Counsellors.
Our registered clinical counsellors are here to support you and provide you with the skills you need, so reach out to us in Victoria, BC, to learn more.
Our registered clinical counsellors are here to support you and provide you with the skills you need, so reach out to us in Victoria, BC, to learn more.
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How Does Clinical Counselling Work?When you meet with a registered clinical counsellor from Remedy Wellness Centre, we will use a variety of evidence-based techniques to help you pick up on signals and understand the messages that your body is sending. Our goal is to help you find the tools that will improve your physical, mental and emotional well-being.
Our clinical counsellors have been trained in different modalities, including Rapid Eye Movement therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy, solution-focused therapy and exposure therapy. We understand that each person has unique needs, so we use practices that will suit your needs and teach you how to be aware and insightful regarding your own health. |
What Are the Benefits of Clinical Counselling?
Registered clinical counselling has myriad benefits, including learning new problem-solving skills; releasing unwanted behaviours; managing emotions like anger, grief, and anxiety; as well as addressing physical pain. No matter what your motivation is for seeking counselling, we are dedicated to your overall wellness.
Find the tools to make a lasting change in your life with help from a registered clinical counsellor at Remedy Wellness Centre. Our counselling services are currently only offered online, so you can get help from the comfort of your own home.
Find the tools to make a lasting change in your life with help from a registered clinical counsellor at Remedy Wellness Centre. Our counselling services are currently only offered online, so you can get help from the comfort of your own home.
We want you to find the right counsellor to meet your needs, so we offer a free phone consult to help you determine if we are the right fit. To book an online appointment or learn more about our services, call us in Victoria, BC, at 250-590-5221.
COunselling for depression
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Depression is mood disorder that affects how you feel, how you act and how you think. Counselling for depression can have a hugely positive affect on how you feel from day to day.
Depression can be experienced as a variety of both emotional and physical symptoms. Depression may cause sadness, loss of interest in activities you used to enjoy, physical pain and emotional pain. Depression can impact your ability to function at work and at home. Depression can be a serious medical condition that should not be ignored. If you suspect you may be suffering from depression, we encourage you to complete a Beck Depression Survey which is used all over the world to help medical health professionals diagnose and rate clinical depression. You can download a FREE PDF version of the survey or if you prefer, you can fill it out online and have your confidential results email to you , along with some free resources. All health related information you provide to us is strictly protected and will not be shared with any third party. |
Depression can affect anybody, regardless of age, gender, income or profession though some groups are more susceptible that others. Depression is quite commonly experienced, affecting one in six people at some point in their lives. One in fifteen adults will experience depression in a given year. Women are more likely to experience depression than men. Fortunately, there are options for treating depression with counselling. Depression symptoms can vary from mild to severe and can include:
An official diagnosis of depression is typically only if you've experienced these symptoms of depression for a period of more that 2 weeks. There are also medical conditions that can present like depression such as thyroid problems, vitamin deficiency or brain tumor. It is therefore very important to rule out other medical conditions by visiting your medical doctor.
You are not alone and we're here to help get you back on track. We offer a free 30 minute consult to any new patient who wants to try our services to see if we're the right fit for you.
- Depressed mood and feelings of sadness
- Loss of interest or pleasure in activities once enjoyed
- Changes in appetite — weight loss or gain unrelated to dieting
- Difficulty sleeping or oversleeping
- Feeling fatigued or low energy
- Increase in purposeless physical activity (e.g., hand-wringing or pacing) or slowed movements and speech (actions observable by others)
- Feelings of worthlessness or guilt
- Cognitive effects like difficulty concentrating, making decisions, difficulty thinking
- Suicidal thoughts or fantasizing about death
An official diagnosis of depression is typically only if you've experienced these symptoms of depression for a period of more that 2 weeks. There are also medical conditions that can present like depression such as thyroid problems, vitamin deficiency or brain tumor. It is therefore very important to rule out other medical conditions by visiting your medical doctor.
You are not alone and we're here to help get you back on track. We offer a free 30 minute consult to any new patient who wants to try our services to see if we're the right fit for you.
Here are some free resources for helping manage mild to moderate depression:
Bounce Back is a free program for adults experiencing mild to moderate depression, stress, or worry, using self-help materials and telephone coaching: www.bouncebackbc.ca
Living Life to the Full is a fun and engaging mental health promotion course that helps people learn skills to deal with the stresses of everyday life: www.llttf.ca
We also offer a free 15 minute telehealth consult with any of our counsellors.
Bounce Back is a free program for adults experiencing mild to moderate depression, stress, or worry, using self-help materials and telephone coaching: www.bouncebackbc.ca
Living Life to the Full is a fun and engaging mental health promotion course that helps people learn skills to deal with the stresses of everyday life: www.llttf.ca
We also offer a free 15 minute telehealth consult with any of our counsellors.
counselling for anxiety
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How do you treat, control or deal with anxiety? You start by understanding what anxiety is.
Anxiety can be helpful or harmful. Anxiety is supposed to be a normal and natural response to stress, like being chased by a bear. Or occasionally worrying about something important, like you're alarm waking you up to make an early morning flight. An anxiety disorder, on the other hand, can seriously impact your life, especially if you suffer from anxiety attacks. Anxiety can affect how you feel, how you act and how you think. Fortunately, anxiety can be treated without resorting to medication. Anxiety can be very effectively managed with one or a combination of counseling, acupuncture, massage therapy, meditation and mindfulness practices. Our team is here to help you in any way we can. |
Who Does Anxiety Affect?
Anxiety is one of the most common mental health problems in Canada. It can affect anyone at any age, including children. Sometimes, anxiety is triggered by a specific event or stressful life experience. Anxiety is more likely to occur when we have certain ways of looking at things (like believing that everything must be perfect). It can come from learning bad or unhelpful coping strategies from family or friends. Sometimes, there is no obvious reason.
How Could Anxiety Be Affecting Me?
With counselling, we can explore how your thoughts, feelings and behaviors work. Together we can help you change patterns of thought, build healthy behaviors and reduce you dependence on unhelpful coping strategies. The first step is making an appointment. We offer a free 20 minute consult or you are welcome to come in for an initial visit.
Sometimes it's not obvious that anxiety is the underlying issue. Chronic pain is a perfect example of this. One of the major factors that plays into experiencing chronic pain is fear and anxiety. The simplicity of feeling safe, can have a hugely positive effect on your pain. Its also a tool we use in counselling to help empower you to take control of your pain cycle.
Some other symptoms can include headaches, TMJD (Jaw Clenching and Grinding), Digestive Upset, Skin Problems, Fatigue, Trouble Focusing, Difficulty Sleeping, Moodiness and More.
Anxiety is one of the most common mental health problems in Canada. It can affect anyone at any age, including children. Sometimes, anxiety is triggered by a specific event or stressful life experience. Anxiety is more likely to occur when we have certain ways of looking at things (like believing that everything must be perfect). It can come from learning bad or unhelpful coping strategies from family or friends. Sometimes, there is no obvious reason.
How Could Anxiety Be Affecting Me?
With counselling, we can explore how your thoughts, feelings and behaviors work. Together we can help you change patterns of thought, build healthy behaviors and reduce you dependence on unhelpful coping strategies. The first step is making an appointment. We offer a free 20 minute consult or you are welcome to come in for an initial visit.
Sometimes it's not obvious that anxiety is the underlying issue. Chronic pain is a perfect example of this. One of the major factors that plays into experiencing chronic pain is fear and anxiety. The simplicity of feeling safe, can have a hugely positive effect on your pain. Its also a tool we use in counselling to help empower you to take control of your pain cycle.
Some other symptoms can include headaches, TMJD (Jaw Clenching and Grinding), Digestive Upset, Skin Problems, Fatigue, Trouble Focusing, Difficulty Sleeping, Moodiness and More.
What Can You Do About Your Anxiety?
You do not have to "get over it" on your own. You may not even realize how much your anxiety is affecting your everyday life until you start taking small steps to work on it.
Counseling,
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy,
Meditation Practices,
Acupuncture and/or
Massage Therapy
All of these can be very helpful in getting you started and giving you some very useful tools. Just start somewhere! Check out the Beck Anxiety Survey, used by medical professionals to help diagnose anxiety. And try some of the grounding techniques in the image below.
You do not have to "get over it" on your own. You may not even realize how much your anxiety is affecting your everyday life until you start taking small steps to work on it.
Counseling,
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy,
Meditation Practices,
Acupuncture and/or
Massage Therapy
All of these can be very helpful in getting you started and giving you some very useful tools. Just start somewhere! Check out the Beck Anxiety Survey, used by medical professionals to help diagnose anxiety. And try some of the grounding techniques in the image below.
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There are several different types of anxiety. Here is some information about some of the things you may or may not be experiencing.
Panic Attacks/ Panic Anxiety Attacks
A panic attack can be very intense. It comes on suddenly and typically lasts for a short period of time. You may experience a racing heart beat, difficulty breathing, nausea and other physical effects. Panic attacks can be a common response to extreme stress, especially emotional stress. It becomes a disorder, when it happens repeatedly and for no apparent reason.
Social Anxiety
There's shyness and then there's social anxiety disorder. Its experiencing intense fear of being negatively evaluated by others, criticized or embarrassed. People who experience this will often avoid social situations. It can have a huge effect on their work and/or school performance as well as on their relationships.
Generalized Anxiety
It's perfectly normal to worry a bit, but not if it's constant. Excessive worry about everyday problems for a period of more than six months excessive. The level of anxiety is usually far greater than it should be in relation to the concern. Many people will experience physical symptoms such as tension, headaches and difficulty sleeping.
Phobias
We are all afraid of something like spiders, heights, deep water, etc. A phobia is different due to it's intensity of fear around a specific thing or situation. This fear can disrupt your life because people will change the way they live in order to avoid the feared object or situation. Agoraphobia is an example where a person feels they can't escape a situation or will experience a panic attack or extreme anxiety. They may avoid public places or even avoid leaving their homes at all.
Some mental health conditions are no longer classified as anxiety disorders, though anxiety or fear is a major part of the illnesses:
Obsessive-compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Obsessive-compulsive disorder involves thoughts, images, or urges that trigger anxiety (obsessions). It may include repeating actions as an attempt to reduce that anxiety (compulsions). Obsessions or compulsions usually take a lot of time and cause a lot of distress.
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Post-traumatic stress disorder can be triggered by a traumatic event. Physical or mental abuse, an accident, or a natural disaster. You may relive the event in nightmares or flashbacks. You may avoid anything that reminds you of the traumatic event. Though there is no immediate danger, you may feel unsafe in your home, in public, even surrounded by friends and family.
Panic Attacks/ Panic Anxiety Attacks
A panic attack can be very intense. It comes on suddenly and typically lasts for a short period of time. You may experience a racing heart beat, difficulty breathing, nausea and other physical effects. Panic attacks can be a common response to extreme stress, especially emotional stress. It becomes a disorder, when it happens repeatedly and for no apparent reason.
Social Anxiety
There's shyness and then there's social anxiety disorder. Its experiencing intense fear of being negatively evaluated by others, criticized or embarrassed. People who experience this will often avoid social situations. It can have a huge effect on their work and/or school performance as well as on their relationships.
Generalized Anxiety
It's perfectly normal to worry a bit, but not if it's constant. Excessive worry about everyday problems for a period of more than six months excessive. The level of anxiety is usually far greater than it should be in relation to the concern. Many people will experience physical symptoms such as tension, headaches and difficulty sleeping.
Phobias
We are all afraid of something like spiders, heights, deep water, etc. A phobia is different due to it's intensity of fear around a specific thing or situation. This fear can disrupt your life because people will change the way they live in order to avoid the feared object or situation. Agoraphobia is an example where a person feels they can't escape a situation or will experience a panic attack or extreme anxiety. They may avoid public places or even avoid leaving their homes at all.
Some mental health conditions are no longer classified as anxiety disorders, though anxiety or fear is a major part of the illnesses:
Obsessive-compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Obsessive-compulsive disorder involves thoughts, images, or urges that trigger anxiety (obsessions). It may include repeating actions as an attempt to reduce that anxiety (compulsions). Obsessions or compulsions usually take a lot of time and cause a lot of distress.
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Post-traumatic stress disorder can be triggered by a traumatic event. Physical or mental abuse, an accident, or a natural disaster. You may relive the event in nightmares or flashbacks. You may avoid anything that reminds you of the traumatic event. Though there is no immediate danger, you may feel unsafe in your home, in public, even surrounded by friends and family.
COUNSELLING FOR PAIN MANAGEMENT
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1 in 5 Canadians are suffering with chronic pain. There has been an enormous shift over the last 30 years in the understanding of pain, commonly referred to as pain science, which has radically changed our approach to treatment. It has transitioned from being viewed as a medical issue to being viewed as a biopsychosocial phenomena. We now know that pain and tissue damage are different entities. Pain management is no longer reduced to fixing issues within the tissues and musculoskeletal system, but rather address how the brain and nervous system interpret signals from these tissues. How the brain interprets threat and safety, preserving/enhancing the sense of urgency of those who experience pain.
This shift began with the neuromatrix theory, published by Ronald Melzack in 1989. It gave rise to a real revolution in the understanding of pain over the past 30 years. Now studies are being led by the researchers from the NOI group (Neuro Orthopedic Institute). |
We now know that the more people understand the science of pain and the role of the brain and nervous system in pain, the more they can understand that pain is about protection, not damage, which in turn, leads them to have less pain.
Learn more about the modern pain science and how to use it to change your pain experience, cultivate your sense of safety in your body by re-patterning your nervous system.
Learn more about the modern pain science and how to use it to change your pain experience, cultivate your sense of safety in your body by re-patterning your nervous system.
ABOUT COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a tool used in Counselling Sessions that helps you to develop skills and strategies for positive behavioral change and emotional wellness. CBT focuses on the present, the here-and-now. CBT helps people to examine, observe and understand how they make sense of what is happening around them and how these perceptions or perspectives affect the way they feel. Check out this video below to learn more about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is not only used to treat mental health disorders, but is also a highly effective tool to help you learn to better manage stressful life situations. They say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. You can and should apply this principle to all aspects of your health and wellness. You stretch and exercise to take care of your muscles and joints. You eat healthy foods and are aware of your nutritional needs. What do you do to care for your mental wellbeing? For some, simple practices like meditation and mindfulness are enough. Others need a little more guidance and help in this department. That's where we come in!
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Pain
"Pain is demoralizing as well as hurtful. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is not only an established treatment for anxiety and depression, it is also the best studied psychotherapy for treating pain. CBT is based on the premise that thoughts, feelings, and sensations are all related. Therapists use CBT to help patients learn coping skills so that they can manage, rather than be victimized by, their pain."-Harvard Medical Journal
gut-brain axis
Your gut health is directly connected to your mental health and wellness. For this reason, considering your diet and gut health as part of your treatment plan is recommended. Our Naturopathic Physician can help you with this side of treatment. Check out this video to learn more.
