Meera Dhebar
Meera Dhebar has a bachelor and master degree in social work, and a PhD in social health sciences. Her background spans social work practice in community based organizations, health care, hospitals, palliative care, and…
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About Meera
Meera Dhebar has a bachelor and master degree in social work, and a PhD in social health sciences. Her background spans social work practice in community based organizations, health care, hospitals, palliative care, and leadership roles the non-profit sector, providing her with a nuanced understanding of the pressures and complexities faced by executives, business owners, and high-performing professionals. She has taught in public health, counselling psychology, applied psychology, social work, with an academic and research focus in health equity and queer mental health.
Meera worked for 2 decades as a social worker, in Toronto and later as a counsellor in palliative care at Vancouver Coastal Health. Since 2014 she has trained as a narrative therapist while directing and supervising counselling programs. Today Meera’s practice is split between clinical supervision to professional counsellors and seeing counselling clients.
Meera provides clinical supervision to professional counsellors, and community based teams. She especially enjoys working with families, relationships, couples alongside individuals in need of counselling. Meera’s expertise is with queer and racialized people; queer mental health was the focus of her doctorate research.
Meera works with:
- Professionals navigating high-stress environments
- Leaders seeking to enhance emotional intelligence, resilience, and work-life balance
- Individuals from diverse backgrounds, including BIPOC and LGBTQ2S+ communities, who value inclusive and affirming care
- Counselling clients navigating identity, community, and systemic challenges
- Professional practitioners seeking clinical supervision, especially those working in community and social service settings
Clients generally appreciate Meera’s comprehensive background as a social worker and her experience with people from all walks of life, this drives her ability to hold hope and the possibility of change for the people she works with. As a narrative therapist, Meera sees herself as a ‘facilitator of each person’s wisdom and knowledge, to live a life in tune with their values and beliefs’
Meera values the opportunity to support strong and healthy relationships, to self and to others. She brings an intersectional perspective which people who have been minoritized for their identities, particularly based on sexuality, gender and ethnicity – especially appreciate.
Meera brings her extensive training in narrative therapy to systemic practice, supporting clients to see how tensions, expectations, and conflicting values have come to influence their mental health. Narrative practice teaches ‘the person is not the problem, the problem is the problem’, which drives how she will inquire with curiosity and compassion to learn about you and the important relationships in your life. By first focusing on the foundations on which you stand and where you hold meaning, she will then delve deeper into learning how and where tensions, concerns and conflicts exist. She will pose questions which strive to remove the hold the problem has, to help you gain new perspectives to create space and find meaning.
Here are some examples of her approaches:
- Deconstruct problems and understand influences of power
- Find resilience in your experiences of identities including sexuality, gender, racialization
- Build community and reduce isolation
- Find meaning in your wisdom and knowledge
- Build inclusion, visibility, belonging
As well as more generally experienced concerns, such as:
- grief
- guilt
- anger
- depression
- anxiety and loss
- abuse and trauma
- identity and meaning
- relationship building and development
What people most often share about their experiences with Meera, is that they appreciate how grounded she is, her calming presence, and her ability to hold hope for a better future. Her diverse professional, academic and counselling competencies give her multiple perspectives in mental health, and wellness. She also brings a warm sense of humour and will often bring some lightness to sessions as appropriate.