Hello
I’m Arezu (she/her) and I care about connecting people to a deeply felt sense of wholeness and identity. I help clients recognize beliefs and systems that keep them stuck, deepen their awareness of why they do what they do and how they can begin to shift, and guide them to align with their sense of purpose.
I am a Registered Clinical Counsellor with the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors.
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Education
I am a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC#19089) and I have a Master of Counselling degree and a Master of Public Health.
I have additional training in a number of areas including:
San'yas: Indigenous Cultural Safety Training – Mental Health
Gender Diversity (Trans Care BC)
Sex Therapy (Allura Sex Therapy Centre)
Trauma Informed Care (Northern Health Authority)
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Background
Prior to counselling, I worked in health and mental health research for over 15 years in the areas of stress and coping, eating disorders, substance use, and women’s health. I value using evidence-based learning to nurture individual and community growth. I am a mother to two amazing kids, a role that has strengthened my passion for supporting the mental wellbeing of individuals and families.
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my clients
I work with adults who are facing challenges coping with life transitions, healing past hurts, feeling stuck, pursuing meaningful change, and reestablishing their identity.
I welcome diversity and work with clients who come from diverse cultural, racial, neurodivergent, gender and spiritual backgrounds.
My approach
I believe every individual has the capacity to grow through their struggles and emerge with clarity, strength and purpose. By cultivating a safe, respectful space to understand your needs, we can explore the patterns that are keeping you stuck. Through the practice of self-awareness and self-compassion, you can connect more deeply with your experiences, develop new understandings of self and learn new ways of being. I work from an intersectional and anti-oppressive framework which means that I believe that our individual health cannot be disentangled from our collective wellbeing and the larger context of our lives.
It is my great privilege to support individuals as we explore the complex histories that we each carry within us and find our way forward.
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areas of focus
I am committed to creating a welcoming and diverse counselling practice. Some of the areas I focus on are:
Identity and life transitions
Depression and anxiety
Navigating health challenges, medical trauma and struggles with the healthcare system
Family of origin and attachment work
Relationships, sex and sexuality
Reproductive mental health (including postpartum depression)
Racial identity, first generation immigrant challenges, and multicultural issues
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influences
Drawing from various evidence-based counselling theories and techniques, I use an integrated approach and adapt the format of sessions to meet your specific situation and needs. The following are some of the therapies and philosophies that influence my work:
Humanistic/Existential Psychology
Attachment Theory
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)
Polyvagal Theory and Trauma Informed practice
Family Systems Therapy
“I am not what happens to me, I am what I choose to become.”
Carl Jung