Irene has served for over 40 years as a dedicated Clinical Counsellor, Marriage and Family Therapist, Mental Health Consultant, Clinical Director, and Counsellor Educator. Twice recognized for her award-winning creative contributions to the field of Clinical Counselling in British Columbia, she has undertaken extensive, specialized training in treating all forms of psychosocial illness. Her passion is supporting healing and recovery from trauma, PTSD, compulsive/addictive behaviors, anxiety, depression, grief & loss, and complex, severe persistent psychosocial struggles. Additionally, she offers family and couples relationship counselling, including exploring and reconciling sexuality and intimacy issues. She has lived experience serving in Indigenous community and is a culturally safe resource for indigenous individuals, both rural and urban dwelling.

As your counsellor, Irene provides compassionate, personalized support, aimed at helping you navigate challenges, heal from past traumas, and build resilience for a more fulfilling life. Her therapeutic approach is rooted in mindfulness and compassion, creating a foundation for holistic healing and growth. Irene will work with you and for you, to reduce emotional suffering in the present moment, resolve pain from the past, and enhance overall resilience.
Whatever the depth of your concern, you are in capable hands.

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Maggie Sedgemore was born in Yalis (Alert Bay). Her ancestry is Kwakiutl, Komoyue, Tlingit, Musgamagw Dzawada’enuxw, and Kwikwasut’inuxw. Maggie’s mother was Wedlidi, daughter of Chief Jonathan Hunt (Odi) and Abusa. Her father was Alfred Newman Scow from the Kwikwasut’inuxw. Maggie has been a mother to three, a grandmother to 15, and and great-grandmother to four in her life so far. She has traveled the world extensively, choosing to settle back in the ancestral territories of her mother over 20 years ago. Maggie has her Masters degree in counselling and worked for years as a nurse after receiving her Bachelors degree in nursing.

My name is Colin Brouwer, I am a mental health clinician for Kwakwaka’wakw FNPCI. I was born and raised on Vancouver Island. My family and I have called the North Island home for a long time. I have three amazing children, an awesome wife, and a really nice dog (my “co-therapist”). I am passionate about growing in the garden. I also enjoy hiking, camping, snowboarding, art and watching too much reality TV.

My career is based around serving youth and families in rural, Indigenous communities. I am a member of the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (membership #10006930) and a Certified Canadian Counsellor (CCC

I offer counselling for:

• Grief and loss
• Complex Developmental Trauma
• Substance related challenges (both the person and their families)
• Emotional wellness challenges
• I support everyone, this includes the LGBTQ2+ community, with my scope of practice focusing on boys and young men in transitionary periods of life.
• I have experience with advocacy, treatment planning, complex developmental trauma, psychosis,
  mood disorders, suicide assessment/safety planning, self-harm, and substance use.

I foster wellness through:

• Creating a safe space where your experience and knowledge are honoured
• Building closer connections to your loved ones, community, and nature
• An anti-oppressive and trauma informed foundation
• My style of therapy stems from a family systems approach and is rooted in attachment; it is important to me that there is a relationship for people to feel safe, seen, and secure.
• Holding space that is experiential where people have a sense of control
• Mobilized therapy
• A quilted approach that patches in both Western and Indigenous ways of knowing; I continue to learn the local language dialects and cultural teachings
• Incorporating humour, art, storytelling, mindfulness, games, food, the outdoors, family networks, and cultural/spiritual resources in therapy
• I strive to work with people in a collaborative and creative way

My name is Hiroko Sakai. I am the mental health team lead and a mental health clinician for Kwakwaka’wakw FNPCI. I am a settler
from Japan. I am grateful to have spent most of my adult life in the Kwakwaka’wakw territory. I have two adult children and two
grandchildren who continue to give me joy and help me grow. I love gardening and playing/listening to music in my spare time. I am
passionate to learn about chronic pain and how to support people living with persistent pain.

As a mental health clinician, I have supported both adults and youth. I am registered with the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association and the BC College of Social Workers as a healthcare social worker.

I offer counselling support for:

• Grief and loss
• Violence and trauma experiences
• Substance related challenges (for both the person and their families)
• Managing chronic health challenges such as chronic pain (for both the person and care givers)
• Other emotional wellness challenges

I foster wellness through:

• Creating a safe space where your experience and knowledge are honoured
• Building stronger connections between your body, mind, emotions, and spirit
• Building harmonious connections to your loved ones, community, and nature