AMY THAIN, MA, RCC

Concerns:

Anxiety | Trauma | Stress | Self-Worth | Relationship Concerns | Boundaries | Grief and Loss | Life Transitions | Personal Growth | Sleep

Therapies:

Somatic Therapy | Attachment-based Therapy | Acceptance and Commitment Therapy | Mindfulness-Based Therapies | Person-Centred Therapy | CBT-I (for Insomnia)

For as long as I can remember, I've held a strong interest in understanding and helping others. As a teen, I noticed that my peers were drawn to my caring nature, and to my ability to listen deeply and provide support in challenging times. Naturally, I felt called to the counselling profession. I dedicated my adult years to my training as a therapist and to working in professional helping roles, and began providing counselling services in 2008. I am grateful to my clients for the opportunity to do this meaningful work.

My earlier years as a counsellor in the Northwest Territories and Northern BC helped me gain experience with a very broad variety of concerns. Over time I have specialized in helping individual adults navigate anxiety, trauma, and stress-related challenges using an integrated mind-body approach.

My approach recognizes that research and experience have shown the therapeutic relationship to be the most important factor in effective therapy. The specific therapies I use are process-oriented, meaning that we work together to explore, process and understand what underlies the patterns of behaviour, thought, emotions or nervous system responses that you have been struggling with. When we explore your experiences, we observe and work with what is happening in the here and now. We notice emotions, thoughts, imagery in your mind, and how the nervous system's response shows up in the body. Processing can lead to helpful shifts - in your emotions, thoughts or behaviours, or in the meaning you make of your experiences. Or we may work towards acceptance of what is not within your control, in hopes that you can live with greater peace.

I have continually witnessed that all of us have the inner wisdom to heal and grow. Counselling with me is always a collaboration and my clients are always in the driver's seat when it comes to the content of their sessions. I believe clients are the experts on themselves, while my expertise is in facilitating the healing process and providing a supportive therapeutic “container” in which your whole self can emerge and process what it needs to – at your own pace. I'm also happy to share my knowledge of psychology and neuroscience if helpful. I am truly hopeful that together we can create meaningful change for you. If you'd like to learn more about my approach to Somatic Therapy, please see below.

Selected Additional Trainings Include:

Somatic-Attachment Psychotherapy – Two-Year Program

Chronic Shame in Clinical Practice

Attachment Trauma and Integration – Regulation to Integrate Brain, Mind and Body

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Mindfulness Inside and Outside the Therapy Hour

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) Indigenous Cultural Competency Trainings

What is Somatic-Attachment Therapy?

Our difficult life experiences shape our nervous system's response, leading to patterns of thought, emotion, and behaviour that attempt to protect us from harm. As time goes on, we may find ourselves noticing that these patterns that were once helpful are now a kind of emotional residue that limits our ability to fully engage with life in the present. We may find ourselves feeling stuck in heightened anxiety, or in numb, shut-down states, struggling to connect with others and with ourselves. Somatic-Attachment Therapy is a gentle and paced approach that supports processing difficult emotions and past traumas that have overwhelmed our ability to cope. Over time, our capacity to be present with our emotions and break through our patterns increases, leading to increased flexibility and emotional balance.

What does Somatic-Attachment Therapy look like in practice?

I will encourage you to notice your “felt sense” of how your concerns show up in the body so that we may process and release “stuck” stress and emotions. Along the way, we work on developing skills to support you with difficult emotions, as well as skills to notice and be present with states of calm and enjoyable emotions too. We may also explore patterns of thoughts and behaviour that may be keeping you stuck. Our patterns are often coping strategies that helped meet our connection and safety needs in the past, but at the expense of our authentic selves and our personal needs. I offer support to reconnect with yourself and your needs, and to change the patterns that are no longer serving you, while holding a compassionate view of how you've coped so far and why your coping strategies served a purpose.