I Can Help You 

What makes Rainstorm Counselling & Consulting different? Learn about me, in order to learn about how I can help you!

My passion is helping to make counselling support more accessible to everyone. This means that you can get needed counselling whether you are relatively housebound, extremely busy and overwhelmed, or somewhere in the middle! Rainstorm offers a very practical and personalized service. In fact, you have six different choices of how you would like to meet. I offer home visits, walk & talk therapy, and more. I also love to work online, especially through the use of therapeutic conversations via email counselling.

After every session you receive a reflective follow up message, usually containing ideas, suggestions and/or questions for follow-up. Letters help the learning and transformation keep going outside of session. Clients give rave reviews about my written communications. One said that having all the chaotic threads of her story summarized after session in black and white made it all seem so much more manageable. She added that “it allows me to see truths and to consider additions to the story that might not have been expressed”. Another client said that seeing her story reflected in her counsellor’s eyes, felt “good strange”. She was able to start externalizing her challenges and this was the beginning of learning how to make change. A third simply appreciated being reminded of practical ideas and suggestions that came up during our time together.

About Me: My Qualifications

I have been a social worker since 1995. After almost twenty years working front line positions in the field, I went back to school to get my Masters in Social Work, graduating in 2012. I belong to the BC Association of Social Workers and I maintain registration with the BC College of Social Workers (#11610). This means that, (just like doctors), there is a professional body that regulates my work. As of this writing this is not the case for other types of counsellors in BC. As a Clinical Social Worker my fees are covered by most benefit plans, and you can also write off my services as a medical expense.

I also hold a Level 2 Certificate in Cybercounsellling, as well as recent specialized training in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Emotion Focused Family Therapy.

About Me: My Story

My job is not just what I do – it’s who I am and how I make sense of the world. I have supported a variety of populations: children and youth, parents, caregivers, older adults, and more.

At some point, almost all of them had to confront a profound sense of loss, confusion and worry that comes with change.

This might have been a parent who was scared about what their child’s new diagnosis might mean for their future. Or an older adult confronting failing health issues, and having to make some tough adjustments. Change (and the loss that sometimes goes with it) is scary and hard!

I’ve been there, and my clients have too. For seven years I was part of a wonderful interdisciplinary health team at a child development centre. My role was to support and educate families who were raising children and youth with neurobehavioural delays and challenges. I spent another three years visiting aging adults in their homes, helping them connect with much needed community supports. I’ve experienced my own share of worry, loss and change, with the sudden loss of loved ones, family members with their own mental health issues, and parenting teenagers through some tough times.

Maybe you’ve figured out that you don’t fit into the mainstream.

Maybe your life isn’t turning out like you thought it would.

Maybe you are trying to figure out how to care for a loved one going through difficulty.

Want to learn more about me? Read about my five Core Values.

Taking the Next Step

Feeling more confident about taking the next step in choosing the right counsellor? Learn about the flexible choices available to you, or contact Kirsten with your questions or to book an appointment.