As your new Executive Director at Vancouver Island Counselling I’d like to introduce our Counsellors.
Thank you for your continued support over the years.
With care Diane Trapp
Diane Trapp M.A., B.Sc., RCC
As a registered clinical counsellor for over fifteen years working with individuals, couples, parents and teens, it is still an honor to assist people working as first responders, nurses, social workers, teachers, paramedics, forest industry, and civil servants, just to name a few of the professions that keep our society functioning. To get past the trauma that is witnessed in these careers that impact family life, there are tools to assist in our natural ability to heal and come to different place of understanding and within ourselves and make sense of our suffering.
The Me Too movement brings to light for both women and men the impacts of secrets and lies and addiction issues that impact our society. Gratitude and Forgiveness are our most effective tools to recover, but first we must get through the other feelings that need to be discovered, uncovered and transformed through self-regulation strategies. For more information on anything that sparks curiosity, simply be in touch.
Bruce Youngren M.A., RCC
For more than 25 years, Bruce has been honored to host healing and helpful counselling conversations built on respect, compassion and a belief in each person’s inherent value and capacity to live their lives to the fullest.
He specializes in assisting with substance use disorders, workplace stress, critical incident stress management, work/life balance, grief and loss, elder and family caregiving, emotional upset of many kinds and developing an authentic, congruent and balanced life. His approach is encouraging and goal oriented. It is also addiction and trauma informed.
Together, you will explore unhelpful patterns in your thinking, your beliefs, your behavior and your emotions. Patterns that may be keeping you from more fully connecting to yourself, the world around you, the relationships that are important to you and a deeply meaningful inner life. When you reconnect to these things, you reconnect to our wellness, balance, and fulfillment. Together, you will shape practices and behaviors that reflect and serve who you are and how you wish to live your life. You will identify what is already useful in your life and how to be intentional about it.
Over the years, clients say they appreciate Bruce’s kind, knowledgeable and authentic style. He would be honored to join you on your path of personal discovery, recovery and transformation. Bruce takes time to nourish himself with regular tai chi practice, ongoing personal and professional development and quality time with family and friends.
Heather Goodings M.A., CYC (in progress)
Heather received her Bachelor of Arts in Child and Youth Care from Vancouver Island University in 2016 and is currently completing the final requirements for her Masters of Arts in Child and Youth Care from the University of Victoria. She is also a certified yoga teacher and clinical hypnotherapist. With this varied background, Heather combines client-centered, collaborative counselling techniques with mindfulness, breath work, and an understanding of the subconscious mind into an eclectic, holistic practice. She believes that we all have our own inner resources, thus endeavours to assist clients with discovering their inner knowledge, insight, and guidance. To stay grounded and rejuvenated, Heather spends a lot of time walking in the woods.
Cindy Clark M.Ed. RCC
It has been a 30-year professional road -mostly travelled by supporting families in one aspect or another. It was from the broken-hearted stories of children that became my compass for choosing a career that remains dedicated to the support of Parents, Parent & Child Relationships, Children & Youth, Individual Adults and Couples. Some of the struggles that we have walked through together have been based on experiences in trauma, separation, regulation, life transitions, natural child & adult development, family conflict, and a wide range of mental health & wellness concerns.
It is with a caring heart that I sit with clients, curious in how they notice and care for their whole being and how that relationship with Self weaves its way into their relationships with the world around them. From Self-Awareness to Self-Compassion to Responsibility on through to Healing. This has become my therapeutic lens that I offer my clients in my practice. It has notes of Attachment, Mindfulness, Jungian, Strength based, and hopefully is always Body and Person Centered in its flow. My work with couples is a blend of those while integrated into the research from the Gottman Institute.
I have been in relationship with my partner for 34 years, together we have parented our two children into adulthood and been blessed with a granddaughter who continually reminds us of what is really important in this world. Much of my learnings and empathy have come from my own family experiences and challenges, it is from the struggles of my relationship with my two-year-old son that the Parenting on the Edge Project was formed, which has since been presented to hundreds of parents and caregivers over these past 20 years.
After a career dedicated to supporting families through non-profit agencies and MCFD contracts, I am delighted to be settling into a private practice that allows more room for balance and nourishment to myself, my family, and to my clients.
Leslie Stewart M.Ed., MC, RCC
Leslie is interested in working with individuals who are navigating through life transitions (e.g. changes in relationships, new environments, parenthood, loss) that can lead to experiences of depression, anxiety, grief or even despair. She believes that these painful experiences help point us in the direction of what is truly important to us.
When working with Leslie you can expect to be met with authenticity, dignity and hope. She is privileged to walk alongside you on your journey toward your desired future.
Leslie rejuvenates by hiking, running, gardening, or chilling with her husband, two daughters and their yellow lab.
Cole Schafer M.A., RCC
Cole received his Master’s in Counselling and became a Registered Clinical Counselling (RCC) in 2017. Cole has a general practice, working with people of varying backgrounds. Cole has trained extensively in the Hakomi Method, which is a mindfulness, body-centered approach of self-discovery.
Cole offers a heart centered and spacious approach, trusting we each have within us what we need to live meaningful and joyful lives. Cole is currently interested in the mind body connection, such as how stress and mental health concerns (e.g., anxiety) present in the body (e.g., tension, chronic pain, fatigue); and the influence of the environment on our wellbeing (e.g., how nourishing nature is).
In additional to general mental health concerns, Cole is experienced in working with substance use (those using and affected by other’s use), trauma, stress, and family and relationship struggles. Cole believes in the importance of authenticity: offering to people what he has walked through himself.
Cole replenishes himself through time in nature, creative practices (art, music, and writing), movement practices (yoga, swimming), time with family, and connecting with community.