Andrew Peterson is a Canadian Certified Counsellor (MA, CCC) with Lavender Counselling. He sees children, teens and adults in person at the Langley office and online across British Columbia.
Sometimes life feels like too much, and it's hard to know what to do about it. For a child, that can look like meltdowns, shutdowns, or behaviour that seems like defiance but is often something deeper. For a teen, it might be stress, low mood, questions about identity, or a school year that feels heavier than it should. For an adult, it is often anxiety, depression, or ADHD that makes everyday life feel like it asks for more than you have: restlessness, self-doubt, or the exhaustion of working hard and still feeling stuck.
If you are a parent, you may have already tried rewards, consequences and reasoning, and be tired of feeling like the bad guy at bedtime. If you are here for yourself, you may simply want someone who will take the time to understand what is actually going on before offering support.
Andrew takes a person-centred approach. He trusts that every person, including every child, has the capacity to grow and understand themselves given the right conditions. With children (ages 6 and up), he uses play therapy and works from the idea that every "big behaviour" is a child trying to communicate something they do not yet have the words for. Rather than focusing only on stopping the behaviour, he is curious about what it is telling us, and over time helps kids build awareness of what sits underneath those hard moments and learn to express what they feel and need. Parents are part of that work: you leave with a clearer picture of your child and practical ways to respond at home.
With teens and adults, sessions are a conversation, not a prescription. Andrew is trauma-informed and neurodivergence-affirming, working with ADHD and other neurodivergent minds without pathologizing them. Alongside the reflective work, he offers concrete tools for managing anxiety and regulating emotion, so that steadier ground shows up in daily life and not only in the room.
Andrew brings more than seven years in human services, including supporting people through acute mental health crises. He offers a free 20-minute conversation so you can get a sense of whether he feels like the right fit, with no commitment. Direct billing is available through many extended health plans.
