Elizabeth Morelle, Counselling Therapist

Registered as a Clinical Counsellor with the British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors (#12137) since 2014

Photo Credit: Phoebe Mehdorn

I am a Registered Clinical Counsellor with over 12 years post graduate experience in private practice.

I have worked in the helping profession for over 30 years. I was a shiatsu practitioner for 15 years working with very sick patients (cancer) before I segued into counselling. This means I have an in-depth understanding of somatics. Zen Shiatsu was a perfect training ground for becoming a therapist because we learned to be present, hold space, listen deeply to both the body’s pain and its wisdom and to work from a place of empathy and compassion. These days, EMDR, IFS, Flash and Brainspotting are the main modalities I work with. I will collaborate with you and help you identify your goals for therapy. I adjust my approach according to your needs. There are over 430 different kinds of therapy. What underpins them all and contributes the most to their success is the therapist’s capacity to build trust and rapport and to bring compassion and presence to the session. I believe I bring kindness, empathy, warmth, presence, respect, non-judgment and focus into each session.

My personal healing journey over the course of my life has led me to study many facets of complementary medicine as well as psychotherapy. Along the way I undertook a decades long inquiry into the voice, the body, authentic movement and the emotions, and the inter-relationships between them and finding inner peace, integration of parts and release of pain, physical and emotional. A particular passion of mine is offering Vocal Psychotherapy, where I empower clients to express themselves and heal painful parts through a process of witnessing them and their expression in a safe, non-judgmental way. This work can be done individually or in groups in person in the Cowichan area and beyond.

I also offer online group sessions in Communication Skills and Tools for Transformation: Self Care and Self Regulation

Through my extensive background and experience I understand that we each have the capacity to heal ourselves and it is the compassionate attention of the “witness” which often allows healing to occur.

In fact I had already developed my unique somatic psychotherapeutic approach in Vocal Psychotherapy when I went back to school to get my Masters in Counselling Psychology.

Because of my many years’ shiatsu experience in being present with clients and listening deeply to them at the body level, I am nowadays able to take my counselling clients to a place deep within, where healing and transformation can come about.

When you feel held within the container of non-judgmental and compassionate intention which I can hold for you, you experience a level of safety where you can touch the core of your being and find deep and permanent healing from the stuck patterns of old trauma.