Counselling therapy tailored to you

Counselling can be all kinds of different conversations, so it depends on what you’re coming to get support with; it offers a warm, neutral place to work through the difficult things and explore what you want your experience of life to look like. You are not required to talk about anything you don't want to discuss. As much as it is a collaborative process, if you're not sure what "the issue" is, but you know something is wrong, then a counsellor can ask questions and help you get to the bottom of why you're not feeling like yourself.

Each session is 50 minutes (or 70 minutes for couples). In terms of how long a person might attend counselling? It’s highly variable. Ultimately, the goal is to help you feel self sustaining enough to not need the added support anymore. For some folks, they like having a space to process things in their week because people in their life are unable to provide empathetic listening so they might enjoy counselling longer term. Others have a specific event, pattern, or skill they want to work on, and they may only need a set number of sessions.

Examples could include relationship issues (romantic or family), chronic illness/pain management, self esteem, perfectionism, anxiety management, depression, emotional regulation, stress management, self-acceptance, managing ADHD/autism, social skills, improving communication... this is not a complete list. 

It could also be more abstract, a simple "I used to feel more (outgoing/happy/driven/sexy/content), and I don't know what changed."

It truly is your time to use however feels helpful.

It depends. Building a solid relationship with a counsellor is the first step, from there, feeling comfortable with being honest, and vulnerable. Let them know what feels uneasy, and what can help you lean into the process. Point out if you don’t understand or agree with the counsellor. Be honest with yourself and the counsellor on what you are and are not willing to do and try (you're very welcome to tell them no simply because). You might have a specific reason for seeing someone, or a general sense that something isn’t right, both are welcomed. 

If you feel like something isn't working for whatever reason, a counsellor typically wants to help you resolve that, whether it's trying something different, changing a style or selecting different wording. Learning to be assertive might be why you're even going in the first place though, and it's difficult. However feels okay to speak about what you want, email, text, direct conversation. Hopefully they help get to the bottom of it.

Research has shown that a large portion of the effectiveness of counselling comes from the therapeutic relationship built between the therapist and client itself. It’s important that our personalities work well together, and the style used suits you. It's normal to not ‘click’ with every counsellor you see, and there is zero harm in shopping around, or ending the relationship if something doesn't feel quite right.

It can be frustrating to spend time and money on therapy and have it go nowhere. Something you can is asking if the counsellor offers free consults, this gives you the chance to see what they sound like live, if their speaking voice works for you, find out more about the way they practice. Another thing is asking about their experience if you're seeking help with something more specialized. 

Finally, when considering past counselling experiences, remember that we can only learn so much at a time. Something you did with a counsellor years ago might have laid the foundation for the next steps, even if you wish you knew all the wisdom you have now back then. We take little pieces of knowledge from each person who influences us, good or bad. If you're thinking about trying it again, keep an open mind, and feel free to paint a picture of what didn't work for you before.

Sessions are $130 each for individual counselling. Unfortunately, we do not bill direct to extended health care at this point, but offer receipts for every appointment to make it easy to submit. 

Alignment also offers a limited number of sliding scale cases, however right now they are filled.