Maureen Manning

My career path enabled a wide spectrum of opportunities working with people from all walks of life. I worked intensively with families who were self-referred and mandated by social services for complex issues including family violence. I learned how to orient my approach to the unique needs of each member of the family while keeping important cultural and gender-based factors in mind for those most at risk. Family work oriented me towards building connections between members, identifying key strengths, and fostering hope for change and growth.  

In my work with hospice/palliative care, I learned to meet families with humility and compassion as they faced a heart-wrenching loss. I supported bereaved family members to recognize their own signs of adjustment and to live by their own timelines for recovery. In this work I learned that we grieve a relationship, not a role, and I tailored my approach to that unique connection each person had with their loved one.

 In my work with women experiencing burn out and compassion fatigue I've learned to help them see how external factors contribute to unrealistic expectations as they strive to meet the demands of multiple professional and personal roles. Working with women who've experienced abuse by an intimate partner or spouse has taught me to pay close attention to how women work at keeping themselves safe, and how they've managed to negotiate personal, cultural, economic and physiological barriers in their efforts at protecting themselves and others from harm. 

As someone who works with lesbian, gay, transgender and queer clients I strive to meet the challenge of queering my practice with direct bi-annual training with therapists from these communities. As a humanistic therapist I strive to keep myself open to all experiences and orientations that enable compassionate, trauma-informed approaches to problems that can land very differently for people who encounter gender-based discrimination and persecution in both public and private settings.

In my work with people with ADHD I've learned the importance of understanding the greater difficulty of living with an overabundance of curiousity in the so-called "attention economy." I work with adults who have suspected or diagnosed ADHD who want help to be in the driver seat of their own thoughts, emotions and actions, instead of at the whim of them. I'm a certified specialist in ADHD who can work with those living with this condition, as well as their family members, to help them become better regulators of their time and energy.

I continue to train and seek supervision with leading therapists in Canada, the US, Europe, and Asia in models of therapy that include the following: Satir Transformative Systemic Therapy, Emotion Focused Family Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Response Based Practice for those whose lives are impacted by violence. 

I work and live in the beautiful region of southwest BC where I have raised kids and dogs, and continue to foster a healthy respect for this land and its way of providing for and supporting a diversity of life.