Practice information:

Lara Ellison, MSW, RSW

Lara Ellison MSW, RSW has been professionally involved in various mental health programming since 2006.  Starting her work at Peak House, a youth residential alcohol and drug treatment centre, she has been involved in many mental health settings in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Lara works with youth and adults navigating their relationships to various problems in their lives.

Lara also has experience working as a professional Doula. She has supported families through their birth experiences, with a focus on renegotiating the narratives that accompany new families experiences alongside pregnancy, birth and post-birth identities.

Lara has worked and trained within the local Narrative Therapy community at The Vancouver School for Narrative Therapy since 2013. Through this approach,  Lara is committed to, and experienced in supporting folk who are renegotiating their relationships to addictions, anxiety, depression, trauma, post-birth self identity, family and parenting concerns, grief and loss, and concerns related to sexuality, gender identity, sexual orientation, homophobia and transphobia.

Therapeutic approach

My therapeutic approach has been influenced by a range of disciplines and anti-oppressive frameworks - however, my practice is most influenced by Narrative Therapy.  Narrative therapy invites the therapist and person seeking change to work collaboratively in unpacking unhelpful narratives that are carried and re-authoring our own narratives towards new, helpful changes.

Problems often dominate the story of who we are and help us to make unhelpful conclusions about ourselves.  In fact, many people report that those problems can completely consume their sense of who they are. From this approach, I hold the stance that ‘you are not the problem, the problem is the problem’ (White, M) and together, we can explore how problems may be dominating your story, working together to re-author it.

In my experience I have worked with many individuals, families, and couples renegotiating their relationship to various problems.  Contact me today to discuss re-authoring your narrative.