“Embodying the you that you came here to be is not a doing, but rather a not-doing - of all the things you learned to do instead.”
Robert Bal
Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC), MA
Virtual only
I am Robert Bal, a Registered Clinical Counsellor / Psychotherapist based in Vancouver but virtually working with people throughout BC.
Are you facing difficulties or challenges that you either don't understand or that you feel powerless to do something about? Are there specific internal issues that you can identify that you want to resolve, like anxiety, or depression, or problems in relationship - whether that's with others, or with yourself? Do you find that you are self-critical, self-doubting, unable to respond to the events of your life with freedom, and instead trapped in patterns you cannot seem to overcome on your own?
My clients often struggle with being consciously aware of their own conditioned reactions to the events of their lives. Together we discover together what it is that they do, both in reaction to those around them, and more importantly, to what arises in their own selves. I work with them to facilitate a sharing of what is conscious and an exploration of what is not, balancing these two to remain in connection with those growing edges, gaining insight as we go into the ways in which they are defeating themselves, and ultimately helping individuals to overcome these problems and thus achieve a more compassionate, adaptive, and flexible sense of their own self.
What its like to work with me
I engage in the therapeutic process using a modality known as Intensive Short Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP). This is an active and experiential way of working which may o]en involve talking about difficult aspects of your experience. It is highly possible that you will encounter difficult feelings such as grief, anger, and guilt during the process. This may well be a vital step towards healing for you.
In your sessions I will focus upon you with utmost care, looking for patterns in the ways in which you relate to others, and most importantly, how you relate to yourself. I will also focus on what is happening in the moment between the two of us, with a particular interest in how you are describing your emotional experience, what is being indirectly communicated, what is being avoided, and what your anxiety is like.
I will reflect back what I observe, in accordance with our therapeutic goals, and you are encouraged to let me know if I have missed or misinterpreted anything. You are also encouraged to be honest about your feelings in response to what I share; we can uncover a great deal about how your internal system is organized by noticing how you deal with your emotional responses towards me, which will likely also reflect how you deal with your emotional responses towards others. This kind of in-the-moment focus is an integral part of the ISTDP modality and is key to us understanding your problems and facilitating your healing from them in as short a time as possible.
What we can work together on:
Anxiety and Depression
Relationship Difficulties
Traumatic Experience
Self Esteem
Grieving and Loss
Compulsivity and Addiction
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My Counselling philosophy is to meet my clients with honesty and compassion, and to waste in no time in helping them to face whatever it is that is holding them back from being the person they came to this life to be.
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Psychodynamic
ISTDP (Intensive Short Term Dynamic Psychotherapy
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Masters of Counselling
3 year ISTDP Core Training graduate
A little more about me…
A writer and poet at heart, and a proud cat parent. Robert came to the field of counselling after a powerful experience as a client himself. That journey continues to inform the compassion and understanding he brings to the therapeutic relationship.
Frequently Asked Questions
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If you’re aware of some difficulty within, but have never sought help, what do you have to lose? We are all here for such a short time, and the greatest tragedy would be to leave this world without ever having given yourself a chance at freedom from your conditioned responses - whether that chance looks like counselling, or anything else.
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Those who are experienced in counselling but still find certain issues cropping up may well have been encouraged to deal with these matters in a fire fighting kind of way. The only issue here is that this leaves you fire fighting, forever. My approach to therapy is to rather find out why there’s a fire in the first place, and to see what we can do about that instead.
Rates
Individual - $155
Availability
Tues/Wed/Thurs PM
Adult Individuals, Elders