Counselling & Psychotherapy
Mental health is an essential part of wellness.
Counselling and psychotherapy can support your personal development and growth by offering support and a context to better understand and integrate your particular circumstances and challenges.
Our practitioners support you to recognize and build on the strides you’ve already made in your life’s journey while helping you develop more skills to navigate the challenges that inevitably arise.
Our counselling services are informed by research and practice in wholeness-focused, trauma-informed, somatic/body-oriented, mindfulness-based, and nature connected approaches.
We’ve been very thoughtful about curating our counselling team, because we understand finding the right fit is essential when working with a practitioner. If you are unsure whether a practitioner is the right fit for you, we invite you to book a free Complimentary Meet & Greet or give us a call to learn more!
The Process
Initial Session
In our first visit, we will meet for 60 minutes and explore the intentions and primary challenges that brought you to counselling, your mental health history, as well as other areas of your life including relationships and family history. This visit always involves reviewing informed consent as well as discussing ideas and co-creating a plan for next steps.
Initial relationship sessions are 90 minutes.
Subsequent sessions
May be 60 or 90 minutes, depending on your preference. Sessions for teens can be 45 minutes (or longer, if preferred). Depending on your needs and goals, you may meet with your counsellor for just a handful of sessions, or develop a longer relationship over many years.
Telehealth sessions
All counselling appointments are also available on our secure video platform or by phone depending on your preference.
Therapeutic Offerings
Beyond one-on-one counselling, we also offer the following options:
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We offer counselling sessions for teens between the ages of 10-18. These are tailored specifically to the unique needs of this age group and are designed to meet teens where they are at. Shorter sessions for teens are available if needed.
Offered specifically by: Beth Whalley
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With the support of your counsellor, you will explore the concerns and questions that brought you and your partner(s) to counselling, counselling/mental health history, as well as exploring relevant areas such as lifestyle, family history, and past and present relationships that may be impacting your current relationship.
Relationship counselling visits can be booked for romantic partners, business partners, parent/child, or other relationships.
Offered specifically by: Mark Skelding and Beth Whalley.
Counselling helps with
ANXIETY
Excessive worry, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social anxiety, panic and panic attacks, excessive fear and phobias
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) & Navigating Neurodiversity
Stress/Burnout
Stress or burnout related to work or school, work-life balance challenges, time management difficulties, financial stress, chronic stress, compassion fatigue (stress of caregiving)
Navigating Health Challenges
New diagnoses, Chronic pain, chronic illness, autoimmune conditions (such as multiple sclerosis, celiac disease) and many more), long COVID, disability, infertility, women’s health issues (such as PMS, PMDD, PCOS and endometriosis
LOW MOOD & Depression
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), low self-esteem or self-worth
trauma
Trauma related to abuse or accident, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), attachment trauma, vicarious trauma (impact from helping others in distress), borderline personality disorder (BPD) and complex PTSD
Addiction
Alcohol and other substances, smoking cessation, sobriety maintenance, behavioural addictions (gaming, internet, smartphone use)
Food & Body Image Issues
Emotional eating, body dysmorphia
GriEf & loss
Loss of a loved one, loss of health, loss of relationships and divorce, miscarriage and infertility
Relationship & Attachment Challenges
Trust and communication issues, conflict resolution challenge, codependency, intimacy and vulnerability, difficulty establishing or maintaining friendships
Life Transitions
Relationship changes, divorce, career transitions, retirement, new parents (including perinatal support)
Disconnection from Self AND the Natural World
Isolation, finding purpose, stress or worry about environmental issues, lack of presence
FAQ
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What extended health benefit providers cover varies depending on your policy and what your employer has chosen to cover within that policy. Unfortunately, we cannot offer direct billing for counselling specifically, so if you are relying on insurance coverage you will need to submit receipts after your sessions.
We always recommend that clients contact their insurance providers directly to find out if counselling is covered and to what extent.
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Our counsellors approach our work from a variety of perspectives including cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), mindfulness, interpersonal approaches, attachment theory, emotion-focused therapy and some somatic techniques. They will also aim to incorporate educational elements into your sessions together to explain why things are happening and help improve your understanding of your own emotions and reactions. You can read more about the approaches of our individual counsellors on their booking pages.
All of the counselling work we do at Madrona is founded in trauma-informed practice. This means, even if we aren’t directly dealing with trauma, we are focused on ensuring we are deeply sensitive to your emotional state. We will move at a pace that ensures you do not become emotionally overwhelmed throughout the process.
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First, take some time to read through the booking pages of our practitioners on the website and see whose approach and values you most resonate with. If you’re still not sure, you can book a complimentary 20-minute Meet & Greet with one of our practitioners.
Our Counsellors & Psychotherapists
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Mark Skelding, Dip. Psych, M.Ed
Psychotherapist
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Beth Whalley, MACP, RCC, RHN
Registered Clinical Counsellor