Heather Quamme Counseling
Mental health is the key to positive change
Services
What I Provide
Psychotherapy
Give Yourself Another Chance
Whatever your reason for seeking out Psychotherapy, I’m dedicated to helping you find your way to better mental health. Book your first appointment to get started on your journey towards the life you deserve.
Family Therapy
Better relationships and reduced conflicts
I believe that everyone can achieve their goals. Improving your self-awareness and building communication tools are just two of the ways in which Family Therapy can dramatically improve relationships.
Trauma Therapy
The Process of Healing
Trauma Therapy is only one way in which we can work together so you can have the peaceful and happy life you’ve always dreamed of.
Career Counseling
Planning for the Future
Thinking about your future or a career change? We can look at your skills and interests through assessment tools to match them with work and career pathways. I can help you to examine and navigate training opportunities and applications to post-secondary programs.
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say and what you do is in harmony ”
Mahatma Gandhi
Resources
Learning Material
Meaningful Support
Getting help for mental health can look differently for different people so I focus on the needs of the individual. I create an open therapeutic relationship that works towards unconditional acceptance. Acceptance of all beliefs, ways of thinking is a foundations of my counselling practice. The counseling space is an inclusive space for all LGBTQ2+.
Our emotions, thoughts and behaviors are interrelated and looking at these relationships and developing new strategies to help overcome challenges is one of the approaches that the therapeutic relationship can assist in. The type of therapy that looks at the relationship of feelings, thoughts and behaviors is called Cognitive Behavior Therapy. Thus one can effectively impact feelings by actively engaging in positive coping strategies. I work with clients to build new coping strategies to address underlying concerns, thoughts and behaviours.
What is stress and anxiety?
Anxiety is our body’s normal reaction to perceived danger or important events. (Taken from Anxiety Canada’s website). Anxiety is like an internal alarm system. It alerts us to danger and helps our body prepare to deal with it. For example, it allows you to jump out of the way of a speeding car. It also lets us know when something important is happening and helps us perform at our best. For example, anxiety can prompt you to bring home your textbook to study for a final exam or motivate you to practice for a class presentation. Anxiety is something that everyone experiences from time to time.
Anxiety triggers something called the “fight-flight-freeze” response (F3). This automatic response affects our thoughts, body, and behavior. Anxiety can help you identify the potential danger. Your body also reacts (heart beats faster, muscle tense up) to help you get prepared to protect yourself. And, you take action, such as getting ready to fight the danger or remaining very still (freeze) or running away (flight). As you can see, anxiety protects you. In fact, without it, we’d be extinct!
The F3 system is critical to our survival from true threat or danger, but what happens when there is no real physical danger? Interestingly, anxiety can also trigger this system into action when we believe there is a threat or danger even if there isn’t. For example, you may yell at your mum for bugging you about taking your driving test when you don’t feel ready (fight). Or you may call your friend to pick you up early from a new activity because you don’t feel comfortable around unfamiliar people (flight). Or, you may feel as though your mind goes blank when someone asks you a question (freeze). These are examples of anxiety triggering the F3 alarm even though these situations are not really dangerous. We call this a “false alarm.”
Although anxiety protects us in the face of real danger, it can become a problem when it…
Goes off when there is no
real or
immediate danger (e.g., like a smoke alarm that goes off when you’re just making toast)
Happens a lot
Feels pretty intense
Is upsetting and causes you distress
Stops you from doing fun and important things (e.g., like going to school dances or parties, making friends or dating, getting your homework done, or getting a job or your driver’s license)
If you think anxiety might be a problem for you, take the quiz. It’s also important to reach out to others for help. Talk to a trusted adult (e.g., parents, family members) or your family doctor. Or, get some support from a mental health professional (like your school counsellor, or a psychologist or psychiatrist).
Check out the tools on the MindShift CBT app for more tools and information.
Fight Flight Freeze – Anxiety Explained For TeensAbove adapted fro Anxiety Canada website
Welcome!
Unconditional acceptance
I am grateful to live, work and play on the traditional territory of the Lil'wat people and the St'at'imc Nation. I acknowledge the traditional Lil'wat belief that the land and the people are one.
Get in Touch
Please contact me and I can answer any questions you have about the counseling service by emailing me at hqhealth1@gmail.com or text 604-240-9166. I am here to help.
604-240-9166
