Mental Health & Wellness

Life is both beautiful and hard, and all of us require additional support at times to make sense of, and work through, the experiences that are unfolding within our lives.

Our Circle of Care is here to create and hold space for you to explore, reflect upon and heal from the challenging moments and events you have experienced. At all times we are focused on supporting and empowering you as you weave stories of growth and renewal.

Attaining wellness is also about how to live life well each day – by identifying and engaging in the things that help you to experience wellness, you are taking action to protect and take care of yourself in meaningful ways. This is an important part of walking along a path towards well-being and personal growth.

Our helping practitioners are experienced in working with a variety of mental health issues and concerns.

We most often find ourselves supporting individuals who are experiencing or seeking clarity around:

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Personal growth 
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Anxiety 
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Relationship issues  
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Depression 
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Managing emotions  
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Trauma 
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Life transitions 
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Grief and loss 
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Substance and alcohol use 
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Life balance and managing stress 
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Body image and eating issues
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Pregnancy and postpartum experiences
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Focused Areas of Practice

Our helpers have particular experience and training in the following areas:

> Perinatal Mental Health

Whether you are at the beginning of your journey towards becoming a parent, have experienced loss, or are transitioning into parenthood, our helping practitioners are here to support you with a range of experiences, including:

Fertility and journeys toward pregnancy
Pre- and/or post-natal anxiety and mood difficulties
Grief and loss
Birth and medical trauma
Transitions to parenthood
Managing identity and relationship changes
Support for partners

> Indigenous Mental Health

Many of our helpers have extensive experience working with First Nation, Inuit and Métis peoples and communities, and are Indigenous themselves. We have a deepened awareness of complex and intergenerational trauma and mental health issues, as well as the importance of culture, community and spirituality to health and well-being. At the very core of our approach is a belief that each person has arrived in this world with gifts and a purpose – it is our honour to support you in meeting your healing needs and accompanying you on your journey towards wellness.

> Women’s Mental Health

We are committed to supporting women with diverse mental health and healing needs. Our helping practitioners embody feminist, body-positive and anti-racist principles in their work, and strive to create and hold spaces that are therapeutically safe for clients. Many of our clients engage in therapy to process experiences of violence, assault and other forms of trauma, body image and eating related issues, as well as lived experiences stemming from intersections of race, gender, sexuality, ability and other identities. Our aim at all times is to support you in expressing and healing from past experiences as you embrace personal and spiritual transformation and growth.

> 2SLGBTQ+ Mental Health

As a queer-positive practice, we welcome the opportunity to support members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community. All of our helping practitioners embrace queer- and gender-affirming practices, and often support queer and trans community members with diverse mental health needs. As clients share their life stories with us, we are aware of the other discourses and oppressive systems that may have impacted their personal narratives. We remain focused, at all times, on identifying and honouring the inherent strengths and resiliencies of our 2SLGBTQ+ clients.

> Trauma

Trauma is an emotional, physical, mental and spiritual response to having experienced and/or witnessed a deeply upsetting or difficult event in life. There is great variability in what may be considered a traumatic incident, recognizing that difficult experiences in life will impact each individual differently. However, traumatic experiences are often thought of as either single incident events, where something traumatic happens on one occasion, such as a car accident, or more complex in nature where an individual experiences trauma(s) that are often chronic, repeating or multiplied, such as an individual who experienced childhood abuse and, later, medical trauma as an adult.

Another common form of trauma is historical and intergenerational trauma. Often experienced by groups or Nations of people that have been historically and repeatedly oppressed or targeted, up to and including acts of significant violence and genocide. Historical or intergenerational trauma refers to the spiritual, emotional, physical and mental wounds that have occurred among marginalized peoples, communities and Nations over time and across generations. The effects of this sort of trauma can be compounded, which means that the impacts of the trauma can become layered with each additional trauma the individual experiences, and can also carry over and across generations.

Regardless of the type of the trauma, some individuals may develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or complex PTSD as a result of the trauma(s) they have experienced. However, an individual’s reaction to a traumatic event will vary. One’s gifts, strengths and resources can lessen, or protect against, the impact of the trauma. Every individual’s experience is unique and different and can be explored more thoroughly in therapy.

Our Approach

We employ a variety of therapeutic approaches in our work that are aligned with the hopes and aspirations of our clients’ needs and goals. Some of the commonly practised therapies used within the Weaving Wellness Centre include:

> Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT)

EFT is an experiential therapy which encourages clients to listen to and feel their emotions in the present moment. Our emotions help us to make sense of and heal from the difficult experiences we have had, and tell us about our needs in life.

> Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

CBT targets the realm of thought or cognition, and examines the nature of our thoughts and how this further impacts our behaviour, emotions and physical sensations. By exploring and changing patterns in thinking, emotional and behavioural changes can also occur.

> Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)

DBT is a skills-based approach which can be used to address a variety of mental health issues, including challenges with emotion regulation, impulsivity, and interpersonal relationships. A DBT approach focuses on creating conditions of acceptance and change within the challenging realities of life.

> Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

EMDR is a therapeutic treatment often used to treat trauma and other mental health issues. Guided by a trained psychotherapist, individuals are supported in working through unprocessed traumatic memories that are stored in the brain, which includes addressing thoughts, emotions and physical sensations connected to the trauma. Different techniques are often used within EMDR therapy to accompany the processing work of trauma, such as lateral eye movements, tapping of the hands, or listening to certain sounds. The purpose of these practices, and EMDR in general, is to allow the brain to work through past traumatic material while remaining in the present moment, which protects the individual from becoming overwhelmed by trauma memories. The ultimate aim of EMDR therapy is to target and process an individual’s traumatic memories so that they no longer cause significant distress and the individual is able to navigate life with increased confidence, power and resolve.

> Narrative Therapy

Narrative therapy focuses on examining the stories that people create about their identities and lives. Key tasks of narrative therapy include exploring other sociocultural narratives that inform or shape an individual’s story, and re-narrating experiences in ways that are meaningful and empowering for the individual.

> Indigenous Healing

The Weaving Wellness Centre is dedicated to including Indigenous or traditional healing approaches for those who identify as First Nations, Inuit or Métis. Our Circle of Care helpers welcome opportunities to include cultural or spiritual based teachings and work as part of a client’s wellness plan, and will eagerly collaborate with other Indigenous Knowledge Keepers involved in the client’s care.

Contact Us

Make a Referral

To inquire about services please send us a message via our Contact Form, or to make a referral, please submit a referral form to intake@weavingwellness.ca