Darlene Cripps
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About Darlene
Hello! Welcome to my directory listing. Therapy with me helps people increase their emotional regulation, feel more peaceful inside their bodies and safer interacting in the world. I work with adult individuals who struggle with issues arising from difficult and traumatic experiences, early wounding, grief and loss, anxiety, and fear. I love to work with somatic resources especially because my clients share the changes they make stick! People create meaningful progress at a pace that is right for them to achieve change without becoming overwhelmed along the way.
My goals are to support people to recover from difficult experiences and shift old patterns to create meaningful change. My work is unique because I teach you somatic skills that you can use in life outside the counselling session. Clients who work with me report that the transformation they make is sustainable as they move forward in their lives.
I offer a free 30-minute consultation to explore working together. Please phone or use the contact form to connect with me and learn how you can benefit. I provide sessions using a secure free video platform designed specifically for health care delivery. I work out of Vancouver, BC, and serve clients throughout BC. I am accepting new clients into my practice at this time.
Counselling with me can help you to:
- Develop resources to use in daily life, not just in a therapy session.
- Learn methods to use during times of stress.
- Heal wounds, gain stability, and enjoy life.
Trauma is neither a disease nor a disorder, but rather an injury caused by fright, helplessness, and loss that can be healed by engaging our innate capacity to self-regulate high states of arousal and intense emotions.
~ Peter Levine, Founder of Somatic Experiencing
I hold an MA in Counselling Psychology. I am a Certified Professional Member of the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA) and hold the Canadian Certified Counsellor (CCC) designation. Counselling services provided by Canadian Certified Counsellors (CCC) are exempt from GST.
A Somatic Approach to Counselling and Therapy
A somatic or body/mind approach to counselling is a set of skills and tools that can be learned and used to address and heal the bothersome symptoms that prompt people to seek counselling. When the residue is processed, the symptoms lessen because the disturbance is no longer trapped inside perpetuating suffering. Incorporating somatic approaches enhances traditional talk therapy.
People are trying to find relief from the symptoms, those troubling sensations, thoughts, behaviours, and emotions. These are somatic experiences, not intellectual concepts. It is a paradox that the more a person tries to ignore or push away the disturbing content, the more that content pressurizes and the stronger the disruptions become. Somatic approaches teach people how to navigate this paradox and break free. My role is to work together with you at the right pace for you. I hold a deep belief that healing and recovery are possible because I have the privilege to witness this process with the people who work with me.
Why Somatic Therapy Works
The nervous system is part of our ‘fight or flight’ stress response. If we get overwhelmed during an intense event, the natural nervous system process of re-calibrating afterward gets disrupted. Instead, the content becomes trapped in the nervous system and then shows up as those bothersome symptoms. When triggered, this is the fuel that is activated within and feeds anxiety.
One of the goals of somatic counselling is to support the nervous system to process and release trapped content and then re-organize and come into harmony and balance as the trapped content in the nervous system is processed and released. The nervous system can then re-organize, which supports holistic recovery. This is the paradox of healing – it is by bringing gentle curiosity to turn toward and allowing a natural process to unfold that the material is finally healed and released. We work together to help you learn to process the sensation or emotion in the ‘dose’ and at the pace that is right for you without becoming overwhelmed. This is key. Becoming overwhelmed is not useful or restorative.