Counselling Victoria - Intimacy Issues, Sexual Assault Somatic Approaches, Psychologists, Therapists in Victoria

Victoria

Counselling Victoria contains information about counsellors, psychologists, and therapists in the Victoria area. These counsellors, psychologists, and therapists may assist individuals, couples and/or families. As is typical with trained counselling professionals they may vary in their areas of expertise. Many will be able to address anger management issues, depression, anxiety and relationship issues.

Victoria consists of the following neighbourhoods:

Victoria: Burnside Gorge, Downtown, Fairfield/Gonzales, Fernwood, Harris Green, Hillside-Quadra, James Bay, North and South Jubilee, North Park, Oaklands, Rockland, Victoria West

Esquimalt: Kinsmen Park, Gorge Vale, Rockheights, Old Esquimalt, Saxe Point

Oak Bay: Henderson, Uplands, Estevan, North Oak Bay, South Oak Bay, Gonzales

Saanich East: Cordova Bay, Sunnymead, Broadmead, Mt. Doug, Gordon Head, Blenkinsop, Lambrick Park, Lake Hill, High Quadra, Arbutus, Queenswood, Ten Mile Point, Cadboro Bay, Camosun, Mt. Tolmie, Cedar Hill, Quadra, Swan Lake, Maplewood

Saanich West: Willis Point, West Saanich, Elk Lake, Prospect Lake, Beaver Lake, Royal Oak, Northridge, Layritz, Interurban, Glanford, Strawberry Vale, Granville, Marigold, Tillicum, Gateway, Rudd Park, Gorge, Portage Inlet

Central Saanich: Inlet, Saanichton, Hawthorne, Turgoose, Island View, Martindale, Tanner, Keating, Oldfield, Brentwood Bay

View Royal: Prior Lake, Hospital, Six Mile, View Royal, Glentana

Colwood: Colwood Corners, Colwood Lake, Royal Roads, Hatley Park, Sun Ridge, Wishart North, Triangle, Wishart South, Lagoon, Royal Bay, Latoria, Olympic View

Langford: Goldstream, Humpback, Bear Mountain, Thetis Heights, Florence Lake, Mill Hill, Atkins, Fairway, Langford Proper, Langford Lake, Glen Lake, Luxton, Walfred, Happy Valley, Olympic View

Metchosin: Neild, Olympic View, Albert Head, Metchosin, Kangaroo, Rocky Point, William Head, Pedder Bay

Sooke: Port Renfrew, Jordan River, French Beach, Sheringham Point

North Saanich: Deep Cove, Lands  End, Swartz Bay, Curteis Point, McDonald Park, Sandown, Airport, Ardmore, Coles Bay, Dean Park, Bazan Bay

Highlands

Sidney

These Victoria counselling professionals have designations from the following list:

Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC), Registered Psychologist (R Psych), Registered Social Worker (RSW), Certified Canadian Counsellor (CCC), American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (AAMFT), Registered Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT), and Registered Art Therapist (BCATR).

Explore the information within the counselling listings for Victoria to get a better sense of which counselling professional might be a match for you.

If you want to search a nearby city then click on the check mark for Victoria to unselect it and choose another city.

Intimacy Issues, Sexual Assault

Intimacy issues are common for people who fear vulnerability. Some people can become vulnerable in front of a few trusted friends, however, but when a relationship starts becoming too close, they feel suffocated. In this sense, the intimacy issues are seated in the fear of developing a deep and meaningful relationship with another person.

Two fears that are at the heart of intimacy issues, are the fear of abandonment (fearing the partner might leave them) and the fear of engulfment (fearing that they would lose themselves in a relationship), which sometimes co-exist. These fears, often rooted in childhood traumas, are often deeply entrenched in codependent adult relationships where they cause friction.

A therapist who works with people who have intimacy issues will first help you to learn to become comfortable with yourself and accept yourself for who you are. You will explore the complex past events that have created these intimacy issues and discover that those events don't have to cloud your present experiences.

This process is essential in discovering that rejection does not have to be a traumatic experience. Finally, you will learn how to set personal boundaries that will help you to avoid the fear of engulfment and to cope, should abandonment occur. While healing intimacy issues can be a challenging and somewhat painful task, the rewards are incredible.

If you are looking for a counsellor or psychologist who addresses intimacy issues, you may want to search the directory to find a professional whose approach will suit you best.

Sexual assault or abuse in childhood often causes psychological and emotional difficulties as the victim grows up. A child who is abused by a parent, is likely to suffer from severe anxiety, low self-esteem, uncontrollable anger, depression and intimacy issues. However, sexual assault is not limited to children, and it can harm an adult emotionally too.

Immediately after sexual assault, a person may not immediately experience pain or fear. They may even experience moments of pleasure, which can cause a lot of confusion and inner turmoil. They may feel betrayed if the abuser is a relative or acquaintance, but at the same time, feel guilty for reporting the sexual assault and getting the abuser in trouble. Abusers often lie to their victims, or reward them, and threats can deepen the emotional trauma.

A victim of sexual assault will often have trouble coping with relationships that are growing close, or with people physically touching them. When starting a relationship, memories will start to occur and they will cause trouble with intimacy in the relationship. Some people who have experienced sexual assault will become promiscuous, which can cause even more guilt.

It is essential for sexual assault survivors to receive counselling from a professional psychologist who is experienced in sexual assault. A therapist will help the victim to work through emotions and help clarify his or her choices. Working through the emotions of anger, guilt and shame will help to facilitate emotional healing. EMDR has been proven a very effective treatment for post traumatic stress disorder in sexual assault victims.

If you are looking for a counsellor or psychologist who offers sexual assault counselling to address your emotional healing issues you may want to search the directory to find a professional whose approach will suit you best.

Somatic Approaches

Somatic approaches to therapy recognize the mind-body connection and focus on addressing psychological issues through bodily experiences. By incorporating techniques such as body awareness, breathwork, and sometines movement, these approaches help individuals access and process stored emotions and trauma. This value lies in their ability to foster self-awareness, emotional regulation, and healing.  Some therapies like "somatic experiencing" require specialized training and certification.  Please ask your therapist whether he/she has sprecialize training and in which approaches.

If you are looking for a therapist who offers Somatic Approaches, please browse our list of practitioners below..

Note: You may narrow your search by selecting more than one filter below.

    • Online booking
Through an inclusive, collaborative and trauma-informed lens, Shauna has a vested interest in helping clients learn about stress and related disorders, trauma, and healthy sexuality during various adult life stages so... Read more