About

Janice is a counsellor living, working and playing in Nanaimo, British Columbia and the surrounding forests, oceans, and ski hills.

"At this stage of my life and career, all my experiences and education have culminated into powerful tools for personal transformation.

My career path began as a registered psychiatric nurse, which was a great blending of my love of biology and intrigue with the psychology of what makes people tick. Being a life-long learner, I’m continually adding to my knowledge base including a Master of Arts in Leadership, Integrated Mindfulness, Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART), Satir Family Systems Theory, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), and Motivational Interviewing. Most recently, I became a certified Nature and Forest Therapy guide and find it the perfect way to take many of my skills outdoors and partner with nature.

My own personal journey arose from a desperation to recover from an eating disorder. I was blessed to find the help and resources I needed, and recovery ignited in me a passion for personal growth and development. Because of my personal experience, I have great empathy for those struggling with addiction and that has been the focus of much of my work.

Years into my recovery, I discovered Mindfulness, which was a real game-changer for me. Until then I was unaware how harshly I criticized myself. Mindfulness helped me to develop self-compassion which became the greatest motivator for healthy choices and the tool most useful for quieting the relentless inner critic.

Throughout the years, I, not unlike you, have struggled to balance career, relationships, and parenting. Nature has always been a place where I could find perspective. It is a place of refuge, a place of calm. It reminds me to bend with the winds of life, to flow with the path before me, and to draw on ancient wisdom.  I often thought how beneficial it would be to incorporate nature into my work with clients and becoming a certified forest therapy guide has given me a framework to help people reconnect and ground themselves more deeply to the earth.

Along with fulfilling work, I feed my soul with skiing, hiking, kayaking, camping, dancing and yoga. And when I stop moving, I enjoy watching sunsets, dinner parties, and connecting with friends and family."