Ryan Young - Master’s of Arts in Counselling Psychology, Registered Clinical Counsellor (BCACC 19547)

Everyone is intertwined with their unique individual and social contexts and is doing the best they currently can. Counselling, then, cannot be a one-size-fits-all undertaking but rather must be a flexible and dynamic process that requires different tools to approach each challenge. My expanding toolkit draws from my own diverse personal and professional history, as well as client-centered therapy, mindfulness and self-compassion practices, Internal Family Systems (IFS), somatic focused EMDR, and CBT.

We can only work within what we know and, as we apply new tools to expand our ways of knowing, we actively change our worlds. By engaging genuinely and compassionately, we create conditions that allow for growth that otherwise would not occur. Through past challenges I have learned the value of having a safe space to explore new ways of understanding, and I strive to help create that space for clients.

Prior to moving into therapy, I spent 15 years as a mechanical and environmental engineering technologist, and have worked in water treatment, sawmills, renovations contracting, mechanics, solar power, and park development. I’ve taught martial arts and self-defense, and have travelled to 30 different countries. I’ve lived the challenges of marriage, divorce, family mental health and substance use, am a half-time single parent of two young children, and am constantly working to evolve.