At Metta Emergence our integrative approach to counselling draws on therapeutic modalities from various schools of therapy. Our framework is grounded in the Humanistic or Person-Centered perspective as well as Family Systems Theory and Transpersonal Psychology and informed by Gestalt Therapy, Neuroscience, Mindfulness/Buddhist Psychology, Attachment Theory, Emotionally-Focused Therapy, Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), and Hypnotherapy.
Integrative Therapy
Integrative therapy is a progressive form of psychotherapy that combines different therapeutic tools and approaches to fit the needs of the individual client. With an understanding of normal human development, an integrative therapist modifies standard treatments to fill in development gaps that affect each client in different ways. By combining elements drawn from different schools of psychological theory and research, integrative therapy becomes a more flexible and inclusive approach to treatment than more traditional, singular forms of psychotherapy.
Person-Centered Therapy
Person-centered therapy uses a non-authoritative approach that allows clients to take more of a lead in discussions so that, in the process, they will discover their own solutions. The therapist acts as a compassionate facilitator, listening without judgment and acknowledging the client’s experience without moving the conversation in another direction. The therapist is there to encourage and support the client and to guide the therapeutic process without interrupting or interfering with the client’s process of self-discovery.
Family Systems Therapy
Family systems therapy is a form of psychotherapy that helps individuals resolve their problems in the context of their family units, where many issues are likely to begin. Each family member works together with the others to better understand their group dynamic and how their individual actions affect each other and the family unit as a whole. One of the most important premises of family systems therapy is that what happens to one member of a family happens to everyone in the family.
Transpersonal Therapy
Unlike most forms of psychotherapy that concentrate on improving mental health, transpersonal therapy takes a more holistic approach, addressing mental, physical, social, emotional, creative, and intellectual needs, with an emphasis on the role of a healthy spirit in healing. To facilitate healing and growth, transpersonal therapy places great emphasis on honesty, open-mindedness, and self-awareness on the part of the therapist as well as the client.
Gestalt Therapy
Gestalt therapy is a client-centered approach to psychotherapy that helps clients focus on the present and understand what is really happening in their lives right now, rather than what they may perceive to be happening based on past experience. Instead of simply talking about past situations, clients are encouraged to experience them, perhaps through re-enactment. Through the gestalt process, clients learn to become more aware of how their own negative thought patterns and behaviors are blocking true self-awareness and making them unhappy.
Positive Psychology
Unlike traditional psychology that focuses more on the causes and symptoms of mental illnesses and emotional disturbances, Positive Psychology emphasizes traits, thinking patterns, behaviors, and experiences that are forward-thinking and can help improve the quality of a person’s day-to-day life. These may include optimism, spirituality, hopefulness, happiness, creativity, perseverance, justice, and the practice of free will. It is an exploration of one’s strengths, rather than one’s weaknesses. The goal of positive psychology is not to replace those traditional forms of therapy that center on negative experiences, but instead to expand and give more balance to the therapeutic process.
Humanistic Therapy
Also known as humanism, humanistic therapy is a positive approach to psychotherapy that focuses on a person’s individual nature, rather than categorizing groups of people with similar characteristics as having the same problems. Humanistic therapy looks at the whole person, not only from the therapist’s view but from the viewpoint of individuals observing their own behavior. The emphasis is on a person’s positive traits and behaviors, and the ability to use their personal instincts to find wisdom, growth, healing, and fulfillment within themselves.
Neuroscience
The complicated, multidisciplinary, and quickly developing field of neuroscience looks at the structure and function of the human brain and nervous system. Neuroscience research draws on cellular and molecular biology, anatomy and physiology, human behavior and cognition, and other disciplines, to tool out information about how the brain works at levels previously unrecognized. We have a hundred billion neurons, or brain cells, with close to a quadrillion connections between them, and we have yet to fully understand a single cell.
Neuroscience is the place where psychology meets biology to further our understanding of physical, psychological, and neurological health conditions, such as the brain’s role in how we perceive different types of pain and the underlying cause of Parkinson’s disease. Computer simulations, imaging, and other tools give researchers and medical experts new insight into the physical anatomy of the brain and its relationship to the rest of the mind and body.
Mindfulness / Buddhist Psychology
Buddhism includes an analysis of human psychology, emotion, cognition, behavior and motivation along with therapeutic practices
Buddhism and the modern discipline of Psychology have multiple parallels and points of overlap. This includes a descriptive phenomenology of mental states, emotions and behaviors as well as theories of perception and unconscious mental factors. Psychotherapists such as Erich Fromm have found in Buddhist enlightenment experiences (e.g. kensho) the potential for transformation, healing and finding existential meaning. Some contemporary mental-health practitioners such as Jon Kabat-Zinn increasingly find ancient Buddhist practices (such as the development of mindfulness) of empirically proven therapeutic value,[3] while Buddhist teachers such as Jack Kornfield see Western psychology as providing complementary practices for Buddhists.
Existential Therapy
Existential therapy focuses on free will, self-determination, and the search for meaning—often centering on you rather than on the symptom. The approach emphasizes your capacity to make rational choices and to develop to your maximum potential.
The existential approach stresses that:
- All people have the capacity for self-awareness.
- Each person has a unique identity that can be known only through relationships with others.
- People must continually re-create themselves because life’s meaning constantly changes.
- Anxiety is part of the human condition.
Hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy focuses on hypnosis, the Greek term for sleep. The practice uses exercises that relax people, bringing them to an altered state of consciousness. This process focuses on mastering self-awareness. Through trance-like analysis, hypnosis decreases blood pressure and heart rate, putting one’s physical body at ease. Working with memories, hypnotherapy helps a person to reframe, relax, absorb, dissociate, respond, and reflect. The process reconstructs healthier associations with a person’s past events. Dealing with a wide range of conditions, such as anxiety and depression, people become responsive to new solutions that can lead to personal development through hypnotherapy.
Neuro-Linguistic Programming
Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) therapy incorporates NLP, a set of language- and sensory-based interventions and behavior-modification techniques designed to help improve the client’s self-awareness, confidence, communication skills, and social actions. The goals of NLP are to help the client understand that the way one views the world affects how one operates in the world, and that it is necessary to change the thoughts and behavior patterns that have not proven beneficial in the past and that only serve to block one’s healing and success.
Attachment-Based Therapy
Attachment-based therapy is a brief, process-oriented form of psychological counseling. The client-therapist relationship is based on developing or rebuilding trust and centers on expressing emotions. An attachment-based approach to therapy looks at the connection between an infant’s early attachment experiences with primary caregivers, usually with parents, and the infant’s ability to develop normally and ultimately form healthy emotional and physical relationships as an adult. Attachment-based therapy aims to build or rebuild a trusting, supportive relationship that will help prevent or treat anxiety or depression.
Emotionally Focused Therapy
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) is a short-term form of therapy that focuses on adult relationships and attachment/bonding. The therapist and clients look at patterns in the relationship and take steps to create a more secure bond and develop more trust to move the relationship in a healthier, more positive direction. Emotionally Focused Therapy for couples seeks to break the negative emotion cycles within relationships, emphasizing the importance of the attachment bond between couples, and how nurturing of the attachment bonds and an empathetic understanding of each others emotions can break the cycles
At Metta Emergence we take confidentiality very seriously and have a written confidentiality agreement with each client.
The client/counsellor relationship is confidential and no details of your sessions will be shared with anyone without your written consent. There are legal requirements where I am obligated, by law, to break confidentiality. If you reveal to me that you intend to harm yourself or someone else I am required to report to the proper authorities. If child abuse is suspected, or an elderly individual is being neglected, I will contact the appropriate government or community authorities. I am required to release your client records if I am subpoenaed to do so by a court of law. In all cases you will be notified prior to any of the above occurring.
We (Maria and Steve) share a business, but do not share client records, client information or any details of any of our clients, client sessions or session work. If we are co-facilitators of a group then we both share information about the participants of that group unless any group participants are also our personal clients. No information about our personal clients is shared outside of our sessions with each individual client.
Session Hours
We have flexible counselling hours, with in-person or online appointments available 5 days a week. We offer reasonable fees and flexible payment methods, with a strict confidentiality policy. Use our contact form, email us or call 778.765.3865.
Individual & Couples Fees
Session Length |
Rate (includes GST) |
|---|---|
| 60 minutes | $140.00 |
| 90 minutes | $180.00 |
This is really up to the client as it depends on a few factors such as the client’s schedule, the nature of the difficulty, finances, etc. We recommend beginning with weekly or bi-weekly appointments and seeing how you feel after a few sessions. Clients can consult with a counsellor for few sessions, engage in short-term work lasting 10-20 sessions or engage in longer term counselling.  It really depends on your needs and what supports you. Our sessions are 60 or 90 minutes in length.
If you are seeing us in person, you may pay by cash, cheque or internet bank transfer (Interac e-transfer), at the time of your session. Please bring exact change if you are paying by cash.
If you are seeing us online. We accept payment through PayPal or internet bank transfer (Interac e-transfer).
In Canada, if you are covered by extended health insurance at work you may be eligible for some coverage of counselling sessions. Before you come for counselling, call your insurance provider (e.g., Great-West Life, Blue Cross) for your coverage details. Please view our Insurance Information Here for more information on insurance.
Clients are asked to provide a minimum of 24 hours notice for all cancellations. Appointments that are cancelled or missed without 24 hours notice will be charged the full amount of the scheduled appointment. Cancellations or changes to your appointment can be made by calling our office at 778.765.3865.
Metta Emergence offers counselling services online which make it possible for you to access services from the comfort of your own home, office, or another location using Zoom. Zoom is a fully encrypted platform between the two parties protecting data in transit by TLS 1.2 using 256-bitAdvanced Encryption Standard (AES-256).
Online counselling is a great solution for clients outside of the lower mainland area in B.C., who have mobility or transportation barriers, parents or caregivers struggling to find child care, couples who may not always be in the same location, clients who do not have the time to travel to and from an in-person appointment, have caregiving responsibilities, or simply prefer the comfort of their own home.
To access online counselling appointments, users simply need a tablet, computer, or mobile device with access to the internet.
Rates and payment options for online counselling appointments are the same as in-person appointments. Check our Hours & Fess
Use our contact form, email, or call 778.765.3865 if you have any questions about how online counselling can work for you.
