Island Clinical Counselling

06/17/2026

✨ Growing to Better Serve Vancouver Island ✨

We are excited to announce that Island Clinical Counselling will be expanding to Campbell River beginning July 1st!

What started as a single office has grown into a team of dedicated clinicians serving individuals, couples, families, and children across Vancouver Island. We are incredibly grateful for the trust our communities have placed in us and are thrilled to bring our services to Campbell River.

Our commitment remains the same: providing accessible, compassionate, evidence-based counselling in spaces where people feel safe, supported, and understood.

Whether you're navigating anxiety, burnout, relationships, parenting, trauma, grief, or life's many transitions, we're here to help.

📍 Campbell River – Opening July 1, 2026

We can't wait to become part of the Campbell River community.

Check out our blog about our move to Campbell River: https://islandclinicalcounselling.ca/2026/06/14/counselling-in-campbell-river/

06/16/2026

The hardest part isn't the first session. It's deciding you're allowed to have one.

This June, for Men's Mental Health Month, a reminder: you don't have to arrive with the right words, a diagnosis, or your life in order. You just have to show up. Counselling isn't about being broken: it's a conversation, real tools, and someone in your corner who lets you set the pace.

The men who reach out aren't the ones who have it figured out. They're the ones who decided they didn't have to do it alone.

Booking a free consult is the first step. We'll take it from there.

Link in our bio.

06/15/2026

Have you ever been so busy helping everyone else that you forgot to check in with yourself?

People-pleasing often starts with good intentions.

We want to be kind.
Helpful.
Reliable.

But somewhere along the way, helping can become a habit of saying yes when we mean no, carrying responsibilities that aren't ours, and ignoring our own needs to avoid disappointing others.

The problem isn't kindness.
The problem is when kindness comes at the expense of yourself.

This week's Window Watchers follows Bingley as he says yes to everyone—until he's carrying more than he can reasonably manage.

Darcy reminds him:
"Helping isn't the same as abandoning yourself."

Healthy relationships need generosity.
They also need limits.

06/14/2026

During Pride Month, we want to acknowledge and celebrate the diversity of the people and communities we serve.

At Island Clinical Counselling, we believe that every person deserves to be treated with dignity, respect, and compassion.

We recognize that seeking support can feel vulnerable, especially when someone has experienced misunderstanding, judgment, or exclusion. Our commitment is to create spaces where people can feel safe, heard, and valued for who they are.

This Pride Month, we celebrate authenticity, courage, belonging, and the many ways people experience and express their identities.

Everyone deserves support.
Everyone deserves respect.
Everyone deserves a place to belong. 🤍

06/11/2026

“If they loved me, why would they lie?”

The answer is often more emotionally complex than people expect.

Many forms of dishonesty are rooted in shame, fear, emotional avoidance, or difficulty tolerating conflict — not simply a lack of care.

Understanding the “why” does not excuse the harm.

But it can help couples begin moving from blame toward deeper understanding and repair.

Check out our Couples Counselling at Island Clinical Counselling for more info.

06/10/2026

Sometimes the wounds we carry are not always visible.

They can show up quietly: in anxiety that never fully settles, relationships that feel disconnected, grief that lingers for years, exhaustion from surviving, or the feeling that parts of you became lost somewhere along the way.

For over 30 years, Lorri Simpson has supported individuals, couples, and families through healing, growth, trauma recovery, and meaningful life change with warmth, depth, and compassion.

Her approach is holistic, collaborative, and deeply grounded in the belief that every person already holds the capacity to heal.

Lorri integrates a wide range of approaches, including EMDR, Internal Family Systems (IFS), Somatic Experiencing, CBT, ACT, DBT, couples therapy, mindfulness, and body-based healing approaches, to help clients reconnect with themselves, strengthen relationships, and move toward a more fulfilling life.

She supports:
✨ Trauma & PTSD
✨ Anxiety, depression & grief
✨ Couples & relationship challenges
✨ Addictions recovery
✨ Spiritual growth & life transitions
✨ Emotional healing & nervous system regulation

Therapy is not about “fixing” who you are.
It is about creating enough safety, support, and understanding for healing and authenticity to emerge.

Duncan & Virtual
Wednesdays, Thursdays & Saturdays
Individual, couples, and family counselling available

06/09/2026

One of the most painful parts of betrayal trauma is not knowing what to believe anymore.

Your instincts say one thing.
Your partner says another.

Over time, many people begin doubting their own memory, emotions, and reality.

That confusion can feel overwhelming, but it is a very real trauma response.

Betrayal trauma can impact self-trust, emotional safety, attachment, and the nervous system itself.

You are not “too sensitive” for being affected by dishonesty, secrecy, or emotional inconsistency.

What you are experiencing is real.

Check out our blog post: https://islandclinicalcounselling.ca/2026/06/02/when-my-partner-lies-understanding-betrayal-trauma-in-relationships/

06/09/2026

Your brain already knows how to heal.

EMDR is everywhere right now — and widely misunderstood. So we asked an expert to explain it.

In Ep 6 of Transference Central Station, Jason Yu sits down with Dr. Cindi Saj to break down what EMDR really is, how it works, and what a session actually feels like.

🎧 Listen now — link in bio or https://open.spotify.com/episode/63DMQohtlQBlWsV8fupN8V?si=ff3e76ba3adc4c57

06/07/2026

06/07/2026

One of the most painful parts of betrayal isn't the lie itself.
It's what happens afterward.

When your instincts tell you something is wrong...but you're repeatedly told:
"Nothing happened."
"You're imagining it."
"You're overreacting."

You can start questioning your own reality.

You stop asking:
"What happened?"
and start asking:
"What's wrong with me?"

This is one of the reasons betrayal can feel so disorienting.
Your mind is trying to make sense of two conflicting experiences:
what you're seeing
and what you're being told.

Over time, that mismatch can create confusion, self-doubt, hypervigilance, and a loss of trust—not only in the relationship, but in yourself.

This week's Window Watchers comic follows Bingley as he struggles to make sense of something that feels off, while Darcy reminds him:
"When words and reality don't match, confusion grows."

Healing from betrayal isn't just about rebuilding trust with others.
It's also about rebuilding trust in your own experience.