Danielle Lambrecht owner of Island of HOPE Counselling Services

Danielle Lambrecht owner of Island of HOPE Counselling Services We all need hope especially at times of turbulence. Island of HOPE Counselling Services provides hope just when you need it!!

Danielle Lambrecht is a certified clinical counsellor with a Master of Counselling and specialization in counselling psychology. Danielle specializes in mental health and addictions issues and sees a wide-range of clients from adolescents, adults, and couples.

09/18/2026

Complex trauma or CPTSD is a serious mental health disorder that many people suffer from. There are many therapeutic approaches that can be very helpful. If you know you have or might have CPTSD do a little research to find therapies that are evidence based and considered the gold standard in the mental health field.

I started working in Mental Health and Addictions in 2004 and over time I’ve seen new therapies claim to help in PTSD and some do. However when working with someone who has developmental traumas throughout their lifetime it’s important to be trained specifically in therapies that have been studied and show validity and reliability in their effectiveness in reducing symptoms of complex postraumatic stress disorder.

If you have done some research and still have questions about what are the best therapies for CPTSD please feel free to call me for a consultation. If I don’t have the answers I would be happy to find the answers and get back to you. Sincerely, [email protected]

06/03/2026

Hyperarousal or hyper vigilant is a known symptom of post traumatic stress disorder. There are may parts of our body that are activated such as the amygdala, hippocampus, vagus nerve, heart, entire sympathetic nervous system and more. All these parts are working together to warn us of potential danger or actual danger also described as the fight or flight response.

When you have PTSD it’s important to know about this symptom and what it is happening to your mind and your body so you can identify it and know what strategies you can use to reduce the activation process and get back into your “window of tolerance”.

🪟Each of our windows are unique, including what causes us to experience a hyper vigilant state. Learning ways to regulate your nervous system helps you to understand your mind and body, how it works, and how you can feel both physically and emotionally safe again by entering back into your “own window of tolerance”.

Some people I work with suffer with night terrors. After awhile, they fear going to sleep, worrying that the fall asleep...
05/28/2026

Some people I work with suffer with night terrors. After awhile, they fear going to sleep, worrying that the fall asleep and be immersed in a night terror. It can become difficult to cope on a daily basis. Why? Well often people who have PTSD also have night terrors and this causes very poor sleep quality and we know if we don't get the hours of sleep we need, we can't function daily. We may stop being able to work, to do our day to chores, even stop taking care of ourselves.

The good news is you can get help specifically for night terrors. First you need to understand what is happening to your body during this, information is ammo, then you need some tools from your therapist to help you deal with these terrors before, during, and after. The fact is, we may not be able to stop them completely, but we can reduce the number of times you get them per week. Both Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing along with Somatic Therapy can be the best therapy combo for night terrors.

05/24/2026

Some people, not all you have childhood trauma grow up with developing parts, clinal stated as “ego”parts”. These parts can develop very early on in life and usually are created from the need to survive traumatic events in their growing up years. These
Parts can be and usually are very unique from each other and most have particular roles they play-mainly to protect the child and help the child survive trauma.

These parts are created because the child themselves could not manage the traumatic events. It helped the child get through moments, hours, days, weeks, months of unsafe and abusive events. How creative the child is to create parts of themselves to step in and protect even save the child. Do not be ashamed if this post resonates with you. ❤️ Most of us who grew up with difficult childhoods had no choice but to develop these ego parts for sheer survival. If your reading this and you resonate, good job of surviving 👍👍

05/07/2026

For all people who are clean from drugs know that you are more vulnerable to overdose. Your body for one is not use to processing drugs as it was (tolerance) but no one knows what you’re actually buying or using. Yes, you know your drug dealer really well but you don’t know your dealers dealer and that dealers dealer and the kingpin. So if you feel the urge to use make sure you have a friend with you that’s not high and narcan so if you overdose from accidental poisoning you have a higher chance to be saved by Narcan to reverse the symptoms.

Part of addiction is the relapse-the brain and body fighting the urge. If you don’t want to call your sponsor, parent, sibling because you don’t want anyone to try to talk you out of it-grab a friend who won’t use and always carry narcan. No one wants to die, usually, so it’s an accidental drug poisoning, because there’s co***ne, m**a, car fentanyl, barbiturates—-an overload of poison. You don’t know what’s in it!!

05/05/2026

People who struggle with Complex Post-Traumatic Trauma can heal their symptoms. Not only can they heal but they can find new meaning from their experiences in order to live in a different way prior to the trauma. Post-traumatic growth is a regenerative process whereby we can all learn new ways of living our lives despite the complex trauma. You will never forget but you can move on!! Groups focusing on PTG will be coming in the Fall of 2026. I will keep you updated.

I work with people who live with complex PTSD. Many have spent years and even decades healing. As a therapist I would li...
04/26/2026

I work with people who live with complex PTSD. Many have spent years and even decades healing. As a therapist I would like us to imagine we can take it one beautiful step forward. To living a life with still some symptoms but most of our life day to day is free of rumination, anxiety, triggers, etc. How is that possible? Well I believe we can do this together by attending a group series which I’ll be facilitating at my home office. You’ve done so much of the work yourselves already, and to know there is a new place we can live from a place after the complex trauma. We can start by attending….

The first series, which is called: Cultivating a Deeper Appreciation for Life.

It is a 4 week consecutive program. You will receive a workbook which is your companion on a four week journey towards mindfulness, gratitude, connection, and intentional living.

04/21/2026

We have a Primary Care Network in the Comox Valley. This helps get people connected to GP's and Nurse Practitioners, but did you know we were missing something REALLY BIG. Primary Care Network also has Short-term Counselling Support Services in Coquitlam. I am advocating for our community to get FREE short-term counselling through PCN, which is funded through the BC Health Ministry. Why do we not have this service offered? I have a lot of clients struggling financially, we NEED to have this service added to our PCN. I am asking any counsellors, social workers, psychologist to join me to find out how we can get this service added to the PCN like Coquitlam. Please put your name down if your interested in creating this service/advocating for it. Any other community members please chime in, I am wanting equality of services for our community members too.

Childhood neglect, abuse, abandonment and more can leave you feeling you are unworthy, unlovable and useless. You can fe...
04/11/2026

Childhood neglect, abuse, abandonment and more can leave you feeling you are unworthy, unlovable and useless. You can feel your life is one big mistake and you wonder why you’re here. I can relate. That is why I am here to help you learn new ways to understand yourself better, to quit judging yourself or others, and to practice strategies that generates more tolerance of oneselves uniqueness. Child hood trauma doesn’t just disappear because you’re an adult, it actually stays frozen in time and stuck in your body. Did you know that, you might have. But then what do you do with the knowing? Attending my 4 week circle of learning group you will begin a journey of opportunities to tap into your authentic self, and the self that feels damaged by your childhood. Together we feel these different parts in a curious and mindful way, like a student attending a new class. We are all beginners, ready to learn more about our-selves.

Depending on the interest level this will be an in-person group. If there is interest beyond Vancouver island I may have a combination of virtual and in-person as I don’t want to close the door to anyone knocking.

DM if you have the time and commitment of 4 consecutive weeks starting in June. I don’t have the exact date at this time. Will let you know soon 😊

The clients I am privileged to work with have complex trauma. After loosing my youngest daughter I have complex trauma. ...
04/06/2026

The clients I am privileged to work with have complex trauma. After loosing my youngest daughter I have complex trauma. I also have a counsellor. I wouldn’t be a counsellor if I didn’t believe it was a valuable service. Some people may believe you can not heal from complex trauma. I do. The workshops I am developing are part of the healing-connecting with other people who struggle with the same issues. We support each other, we get to know what are triggers are, we bear witness to pain others have, and normalize with unconditional care, so each one of us can collectively heal, not alone, but with collective, responsible support. If you’re interested please respond below. The first group I’m developing we be starting in late June 2026.

Address

East Room/448-10th Street.
Courtenay, BC
V9N1P6

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 3pm
Tuesday 9am - 3pm
Wednesday 9am - 3pm
Thursday 9am - 3pm

Telephone

+12508989847

Website

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