SPECIALTIES
Addiction & Recovery Counselling in Vancouver, BC
Addiction is not a moral failing. It is almost always a response to something, whether it’s pain, disconnection, trauma, or an unmet need that had nowhere else to go. Whatever brought you here, looking for support is already a meaningful step. This work meets you where you are, without judgment about how you got here or where you choose to go.
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UNDERSTANDING THE EXPERIENCE
Understanding addiction and what drives it
The Mechanics of Addiction
Addiction is not a moral failing or a lack of discipline. It is what happens when a coping strategy that once provided necessary relief, pleasure, or escape turns into something you can no longer easily put down, even as the costs begin to outweigh the benefits.
What Lies Beneath the Surface
Behaviors rarely exist in a vacuum. Most sustained struggles with addiction are attempts to manage unaddressed pain:
Emotional & Relational: Anxiety, depression, unresolved grief, or deep-seated loneliness.
Somatic & Physiological: Trauma, chronic pain, or nervous system dysregulation.
Identity Mismatch: The quiet exhaustion of trying to live in a way that clashes with who you truly are.
Signs that addiction may be part of what you're carrying
Using or engaging in the behavior more than you intend to, or wanting to stop or cut back but finding you can’t.
Spending significant time and energy obtaining, using, or recovering from the effects.
Continuing despite clear consequences to your health, relationships, work, or finances.
Increasing tolerance — needing more over time to achieve the same effect.
Withdrawal symptoms — physical or emotional — when you try to stop.
Giving up activities, relationships, or things that used to matter in favour of the substance or behavior.
Using to manage emotions, numb pain, escape stress, or feel normal.
A growing sense of shame, secrecy, or living a double life.
MY APPROACH
How I work with addiction and recovery
I work with addiction from a non-judgmental, harm reduction-informed perspective. I don't arrive with a fixed view of what recovery must look like for you. Whether that is abstinence, moderation, or a path in between. Nor do I require a commitment to a specific outcome before we begin. What matters is that you are here, and that we can be completely honest about what is happening and what you want to change.
Narrative Therapy sits at the center of how I approach this work. Addiction has a way of inhabiting identity. The label "addict" can become the whole story, crowding out everything else that is true about you. Together, we work to separate who you are from the role addiction has played in your life, examining what the behavior has served, what it has cost, and how to write a different narrative. Alongside this, we use mindfulness practices to build your capacity to ride out urges and cravings in the moment, and depth work to attend to what lies underneath and the pain, disconnection, or unmet needs the addiction has been trying to manage.
Narrative Therapy
Addiction writes a powerful story about who you are. Narrative Therapy works to separate your identity from that story and examining the relationship between you and the substance or behaviour, understanding the context in which it developed, and finding the evidence for a life that is larger than the addiction has allowed you to see.
Mindfulness
Urges and cravings are not commands, they are experiences that rise and fall, and that can be worked with rather than acted on. Mindfulness practices, including urge surfing, help build the capacity to be present with an impulse without immediately following it. This is not about suppression, it is about expanding the space between impulse and action.
Depth Work
Sustained addiction almost always has a "why" beneath it. Depth Work helps bring that why into awareness, the pain, the need, the history that the substance or behavior has been managing. Understanding this doesn't excuse anything, but it makes change more sustainable than willpower alone ever could.
WHO I WORK WITH
You might be looking for this support if…
The Hidden Struggle
You're functioning — holding down a job, maintaining relationships, keeping up appearances, but privately you know your relationship with alcohol, substances, or a particular behavior has crossed a line. You aren't at "rock bottom," but somewhere more complicated: aware enough to be worried, yet not at a place where stopping feels simple or clear.
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Stuck in the Cycle
You've tried to stop or cut back before, but something keeps pulling you back. You've started to wonder if this is simply who you are, or if an underlying driver keeps returning you to the same place. You don't need someone to tell you to try harder; you need help understanding why trying harder hasn't been enough.
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Deeper Recovery & Relapse Support
You're already in recovery, through a program, on your own, or somewhere in between and you want support that goes deeper than behavioral management. You are ready to address the underlying wounds driving the pattern. Or, you've experienced a relapse and need a safe place to land that offers understanding rather than shame.
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THE PROCESS
What to expect from trauma therapy at Grounded Practice
The First Session
The first session is a conversation, not an intervention. I will not tell you what recovery must look like, challenge you before you're ready, or require a commitment to abstinence before we've even spoken. Instead, I listen to your experience, what has been happening, what you've tried, and what you hope for, so we can collaboratively figure out what support makes sense. People enter this work at very different points in their relationship with addiction, and every starting point is valid.
Ongoing Work
Addiction counselling at Grounded Practice moves on two levels simultaneously. At the surface level, we attend to the behavior itself, tracking patterns, identifying triggers, and finding what helps or hinders daily life. At the deeper level, we address what the addiction has been managing and what needs to heal for a sustainable relationship to yourself to become possible. Sessions are typically weekly, with the pace adjusting based on where you are in your process.
In-person sessions are available in Vancouver, BC. Online therapy is available across British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Newfoundland, Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut via secure video.
Common Questions about Addiction Counselling
FAQs
No. Many people seek support when they aren't sure what they want. They know something needs to change, but they aren't ready to commit to total abstinence or aren't sure that is the right goal for them. That ambivalence is completely normal and something we work with directly. You don't need to have it all figured out before you arrive. A harm reduction approach means we work with where you actually are, not where you feel you "should" be.
Do I have to be committed to quitting before I come to therapy?
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No, though I respect that 12-step programs are genuinely helpful for many people. My approach is non-dogmatic and integrative. I draw on Narrative Therapy, mindfulness, and depth work, tailoring the process to what fits you individually. Some clients find 12-step support valuable alongside our work, while others prefer a different path entirely. What matters is what actually works for your life, not adherence to a single framework.
Is this a 12-step-based approach?
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What if I relapse during therapy?
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Relapse is a common part of the recovery process, not a sign that therapy has failed, or that you have. If a relapse occurs during our work together, it becomes meaningful material for us to explore rather than a reason to stop. Some of the most valuable insights about underlying drivers happen in the wake of a slip. You will not be judged, and you won't need to "start over."
Therapy is one tool among several, and for many people, it works best paired with other forms of support whether it be medical care, peer groups, community programs, or medication-assisted treatment (MAT). I will always be transparent about what level of care makes sense for your situation, and I am happy to help you connect with additional resources where helpful. Therapy alone is sometimes enough; other times, it is most powerful as part of a broader support network.
Can therapy help with addiction, or do I need other support as well?
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OTHER AREAS OF SUPPORT
You may also be looking for help with…
Trauma & PTSD
Addiction and trauma are among the most closely connected experiences I work with. For many people, substance use began as a way to manage the effects of trauma that had no other outlet. Addressing both together, rather than treating the addiction in isolation — tends to produce more lasting results.
Anxiety & Depression
Anxiety and depression frequently underlie sustained substance use. Self-medication is a real phenomenon, and one that deserves to be taken seriously rather than dismissed. If managing difficult emotions has been part of what the addiction has been doing, that's important work in itself.
Neurodiversity & Autism
Neurodivergent people — including those with ADHD and autism, experience significantly higher rates of addiction, often related to self-medication of unrecognized or unsupported neurodivergence. I bring specific awareness to this intersection and approach it without assumptions.
READY TO BEGIN?
Recovery is not linear and you don't have to navigate it alone.
Request a free 15-minute consultation to learn more about working together. Whether you’re ready to start therapy in Vancouver or have questions about how we can work together online across Canada, I look forward to hearing what brings you to counselling