Professional Development

We offer clinical supervision, as well as EMDR consultation to professionals in the field of counselling. The professionals we serve are Registered Clinical Counsellors, Registered Marriage and Family Therapists, Registered Social Workers, and students who are completing their master’s degrees in counselling psychology. We also provide supervision of supervision for clinical supervisors.

Clinical Supervision

We view clinical supervision as a collaborative relationship where the supervisee is encouraged to reflect on both their technical work, and their subjective experience with clients. Ongoing clinical supervision allows clinicians to maintain high standards of client care and ethical practice.

We use a reflective and systemic approach to supervision. Supervisees are encouraged to reflect on how their personal experiences and backgrounds shape their professional identity and impact/are impacted by their client relationships. At the same time, we support clinicians in developing both foundational and advanced counseling skills aligned with their chosen therapeutic approaches. This combination of self-reflection and skill-building fosters meaningful growth in supervisees’ clinical practice and overall professional well-being.

Both the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors (BCACC) and the Canadian Association for Couple and Family Therapy (CACFT) require clinicians to engage in ongoing clinical supervision throughout their careers. Beyond this requirement, supervision offers the following benefits:

• Reduced burnout
• Significant improvement in the following areas:
  • Professional competence
  • Therapeutic relationships
  • Ethical practice
  • Self-awareness
  • Career development and growth
  • Overall sense of wellbeing while working in an emotionally demanding field

EMDR Consultation

EMDR consultation is a collaborative relationship between mental health professionals, in which the consultant offers feedback on the consultee’s use of EMDR therapy. The focus is on developing mastery of standard EMDR therapy, and integrating it effectively into clinical practice. Consultation may also address advanced adaptations to standard EMDR therapy in order to safely and effectively treat clients whose needs fall outside the scope of standard EMDR treatment.

Like supervision, EMDR consultation will also include some reflective practice and work on developing the person of the therapist. This is because effective EMDR therapy can only be accomplished through a strong therapeutic relationship, therefore a continuous practice of self-awareness is essential.

EMDR consultation is however different from supervision in scope and liability. EMDR consultants do not assume liability for the consultant’s work. Consultees are also expected to engage in supervision outside of EMDR consultation in order to work through the many other elements of practice including foundational therapeutic skills.

Types of Consultation offered

Individual Consultation: one-to-one consultation between consultant and consultee, typically one hour long.

Group Consultation: Groups are typically 2 hours long and consist of 4 consultees and one consultant. Each consultee will get 30 minutes devoted to their case. Group consultation is an excellent way to fulfill required consultation hours while refining your EMDR skills. One of its key benefits is the opportunity to learn from the diverse cases presented by other consultees. Additionally, it tends to be more cost-effective.

Consultant in Training

The consultant we currently have on our team is an EMDRIA approved Consultant in Training (CIT). This means that she is an EMDR certified therapist with extensive experience treating diverse populations using EMDR therapy. She has also undergone the EMDRIA CIT

Declaration Process and regularly meets with an EMDRIA Approved Consultant for consultation on consultation. We are currently offering EMDR consultation at a lower cost as she completes the requirements to become a full EMDRIA Approved Consultant.

Consultation toward EMDR Certification

To qualify for EMDR certification, EMDRIA requires 20 hours of consultation after completing EMDR basic training. As a Consultant in Training (CIT), our CIT can provide up to 15 of those required hours. For the remaining 5 hours, we’re happy to refer consultees to a trusted EMDRIA-Approved Consultant.

EMDRIA requires that a minimum of 10 consultation hours are completed in individual consultation. The remaining 10 consultation hours may be individual or group consultation.