Trust your gut. As you read this website, you’ll know if you want to call me for a free consultation. When we talk during that consultation, your gut will tell you if we’re a good fit. If your gut says yes, then you come see me when you’re ready. If your gut says no, keep looking for someone who is the right fit. That person is out there for you. It doesn’t hurt my feelings if we’re not the right fit. My job is helping you reach your goals and if we’re not the right fit, it doesn’t make sense for either of us.

This is our chance to get to know each other enough to decide if we’ll be a good fit working together. I’ll ask you a few questions about what you hope to accomplish with counselling and I’ll answer your questions. As we talk, you’ll get an idea of whether you think we can work together. You may be uneasy about actually going to counselling and that’s okay. It’s not okay to feel uneasy about the counsellor you’re going to see. That’s why this consultation is so important – it helps us both know if we’re a good fit.
By the end of the conversation, I’ll let you know if I think I can help you achieve your goals. Remember, 95% of my clients report that they meet their goals during counselling with me. I’ll only invite you into my counselling office if I’m certain I can help you achieve that same success.
If we decide to work together, we can usually set up our first session within a week.

In the first session, we talk about what’s bothering you and what you hope to accomplish with counselling. You let me know about any special needs or questions you have and I listen to you. Together we develop a trauma treatment plan made just for you, based on your own goals. What we come up with is a realistic plan that will result in positive change for you.
The first session can be emotional. Finding and using the courage to walk through the counselling door is stressful! But walking out the door at the end of the session, knowing you’re taking positive steps to get your life back is a relief. It may feel like you’re on a rollercoaster and that’s totally normal.

That’s when we do the work that will help you get unstuck, feel like yourself again and get your future back. You may be surprised that I called this work. Well, it is. To get unstuck, you have to work. Have you ever got your car stuck in a ditch? There’s no way around it; getting a car unstuck takes effort and so it is with people. But the work of moving in the right direction is far easier than the work of carrying around unnecessary suffering.
In the sessions, we’ll use CBT and/or EMDR methods to put you on the path to permanent and positive change.

Each session is CAD180 and lasts 50 minutes. In some situations, longer sessions are clinically appropriate and longer sessions have different fees. Intensive EMDR session for half a day is CAD 600 and for a full day is CAD 1,000.

It’s easy – we just take care of it in the session or online before the session starts. Once the administration minute is over, we can both shift our focus to what’s most important: doing the session work that will ultimately help you reach your goals. You can pay through client portal, e-transfer or cheque, whatever system works best for you. You’ll receive a receipt for each session and can download all your receipts from your portal profile.

Counselling and psychotherapy are not covered by the MSP. You may have access to counselling through your workplace employee assistance program (EAP) or have coverage through your workplace extended benefits program.

In some cases—like if you’ve been in an accident or are on leave from work—you may be covered through WorkSafeBC. ICBC would also cover counselling for people who have been in a car accident.

People who have been victims of crime may qualify for benefits, including counselling, through the Crime Victim Assistance Program.

If you’re First Nation, you may have access to funded counselling through the First Nations Health Authority.

Whether you have counselling coverage or pay out of your pocket, the benefits are the same: reach your goals and feel like yourself again.

Sometimes! When you call, I can usually offer you an appointment within 5 to 10 business days. Some time slots—like early evenings—get booked up quickly so if you need one of those, it may take a bit longer to get your preferred appointment.

As I have passion for what I do and want to see my clients recovered and healed quickly, and not be more worried with scheduling, I am flexible and may start my day early or end late to accommodate your needs. Usually, we can get you on preferred regular schedule after few sessions.

My office is in a professional building in a business centre which means it doesn’t feel like walking into a counselling office. It’s close to Lougheed Hwy and Pinetree Way, not too far from Coquitlam Central Station. It’s around the corner from Safeway, Save-On-Foods, Starbucks and Tim Hortons so it’s easy to fuel up before or after our sessions.

As I also offer video counselling, my office can be in your home if that works better for you.

More precisely, here’s my office address:
Suite 211
3030 Lincoln Avenue
Coquitlam, BC
V3B 6B4

That depends on a couple of things including; the type of trauma, how long ago and how frequent was the traumatic experience. For example, if you were involved in a critical incident last week, a couple of sessions may be all you need to get back to yourself. If you experienced early-age trauma, it will take more sessions. But to give you a ballpark, most of my clients see me for 4 to 8 sessions. Assessment and CBT sessions are generally 50 minutes and EMDR sessions are around 1.5 hours to 4 hours. Yes, I have worked with clients for 4 to 6 hours straight in one day and we were able to resolve the trauma and they never had a need for counselling for the same trauma.

It may seem hard to imagine getting unstuck in so few sessions but it happens to my clients all the time. When you’re ready to get your life back, it can happen to you too.

Again, it depends on your preferences, what you’re going through and extended health benefits coverage. Most people start with a couple of appointments spaced a week or so apart. Then the appointments can shift to every two weeks and then to once a month until you’ve reached your goal. The frequency has to be enough to be helpful but not so much that your counselling schedule stresses you out.

I am mindful of extended health benefits limitations and understand that counselling is expensive. So, we discuss the treatment plan in the first session so that we can plan the frequency and budget upfront.

This is the part no one talks about! Many of my clients see me to get unstuck after experiencing something traumatic, recently or way back. After a trauma, there’s only one path: overcoming the trauma and getting back to yourself. Everyone—no matter the trauma—is on this same path to healing but it’s possible to get stuck along the way.

Trauma counselling clears the path so you can overcome the trauma and get your life back.

That’s what we do together.

Then you have your life back and you don’t need to see me anymore.

That’s why we talk about your goals in our first session: it helps us both know when you’ve reached them!

Ending our time together is not awkward or something to be avoided. It’s a celebration and a new beginning. When you tell me, “Mobina, I don’t need you anymore,” it’s music to my ears. Every time I help someone get unstuck and they set themselves free…I know I’m fulfilling my life’s mission. Some of my clients may find it difficult to accept that counselling is about to end…. at that time, I often hear myself say, “It seems I am ready to get fired by you”.

You decide what you want to work on in counselling and how many details you want to share. EMDR is used in trauma treatment because it works and because in many cases, it doesn’t involve talking about the incident, but instead bringing it up in your mind. Trauma counselling works in part by transforming the meaning of events on an emotional level. That lets your past serve you well, instead of haunting you and keeping you stuck.

Yes! I’ve had clients who tell me, “I’ve felt yucky my whole life, I thought it was normal and everyone felt like this until I started reading self-help books and realized life doesn’t have to be this way.” And it doesn’t have to be. If you’re breathing and awake, it’s not too late to make permanent and positive change.

It’s like planting trees: the best time to plant an oak tree is 25 years ago. The second-best time is now.

Right now, is the second-best opportunity you’ll ever have for feeling better. You’re here because you know it’s time to give yourself the gift of life.

That’s okay as long as we’re a good fit. Effective counselling is like meditation or a fibre supplement – you don’t have to like it for it to work.

Some of my clients tell me that before they came to counselling, they really didn’t like the idea of it. That there was a stigma about it, that they should be able to figure it out for themselves, that it made them feel weak asking for help. But they came anyway.

It helps to think of trauma counselling as a practical matter. Imagine you had to move a piano up three flights. You’d realize quickly it’s not a one-person job and you’d go find the right resources to get the job done. It doesn’t mean you’re weak – it means you’re smart.

When you’re stuck and you need help getting unstuck, you get the help and you get on with your life. And then you don’t need to come back to counselling!

It’s probably because they care about you. Even so, other people telling you what to do can rub you the wrong way. But if you’re still reading this website, you’re here for a reason. Maybe you know they’re right – that you need help. Maybe you know they’re wrong but you’ll do it anyway. That happens. I’ve had clients who come in, cross their arms and tell me, “I’m just here to get my wife off my back.” And that’s what we work on.

The bottom line is this: getting counselling is up to you. But if someone else is telling you to get help, it’s worth taking some time to think about why you’re getting this advice. And then…you decide.

This time is different because you’re in a different point of your life. If you’re here, it tells me you believe counselling will help you. Maybe the last time, it wasn’t a good fit. Maybe you got a bunch of coping methods that take too much work to keep in place. Whatever the reason it didn’t work last time…this time is different.

You want to feel like yourself again and you know it’s possible. Just keep going for it. That’s how things change.

The reason I describe myself as the trauma counsellor who helps you get unstuck, feel like yourself again and get your future back is simple. That’s what my clients tell me I do. That’s what their goals are. People don’t come to me to ‘heal from trauma’; they work with me to feel better and get unstuck.

You can experience these benefits too.

By the end of the first session, my clients tell me:

• I’m taking steps to make changes.
• There is hope for me.
• I did the right thing coming in

And as I mentioned before, 93% of my clients reach their goals during our work together.

Here’s what that success means to my clients:

• I felt a sense of release and freedom after our counselling. Now I can stand up for myself.
• Your counselling saved my life. I am eternally grateful to you for saving me and my children from reliving the trauma again and again.
• As you know my mom was in palliative care last year and I was desperately trying to forgive her for what she did. After EMDR, I realized I needed to forgive myself. She passed a few weeks after our counselling. I feel sad and happy that we had a good relationship in last few days of her life. We spoke openly about what happened and this helped me move forward. I’m writing to you as recently my daughter told me that she believes she has a different mom. Not sure if I am different or she sees me differently. Makes me realize that my mom did not change but I started seeing things differently after EMDR.