ABOUT US
The Power of Healing Through Connection
MEET THE COUNSELLOR
Nicole Barwich, C.C.C.
Welcome! My name is Nicole, and I am a Canadian Certified Counsellor in good standing with the Canadian Counsellor and Psychotherapy Association. Through Liberty Point, it is my deep hope to provide a safe and supportive environment for people just like you who are looking to find rest, healing, and freedom amidst life's challenges and sufferings.
I hold a Master's degree in Counselling Psychology from the University of Toronto, a B.A in Psychology & Human Services from Trinity Western University, and have additional training in Play Therapy, Attachment & Family Intervention, and Trauma Recovery. Outside of my private practice, I work as a school counsellor with students from Kindergarten to Grade 12. Whether you are struggling with grief, family conflict, life transitions, relational injury, anxiety, or otherwise, it would be my joy to support you in navigating your current life experiences.
Keep reading below to learn more about my practice and counselling approach!
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NICOLE'S APPROACH
Counselling Theory & Techinques
Although we will meet together in a relatively small office, my intention is to make our time together a spacious place.
Every person who seeks out counselling differs in their desire and motivation. Some people come to therapy knowing exactly what they want to work through. Others feel ambivalent and overwhelmed, not quite knowing where to start. I have experienced both of these feelings from the client’s seat in my own journey. Wherever you find yourself on that spectrum, my hope is that our time together will expand your appreciation for what you are experiencing and give you the rest, space, and time to explore its depths. A good way to put this might be:
“Experience comes before understanding.”
In order to understand distress, we need a sheltered space to explore and examine it. This means that I, as the therapist, will not be searching for a diagnosis like a doctor (analyzing symptoms to find a decisive conclusion on “what went wrong”) or attempting to find a simple, logical way to retrain the mind to “think differently.” Rather, we will work together to open up closed spaces and hold any areas of distress, anxiety, conflict, or circumstantial difficulty with openness and curiosity. Through this process, we may discover areas of both fear and growth; injury and healing; resistance and change. By traversing this path of self-discovery together, we will do the deep work of finding courage and freedom in the face of life's difficulties.
It is therefore my commitment to walk alongside you in your noble quest to…
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Uncover meaning in your life experiences
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Develop a greater capacity to tolerate uncertainty and release control
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Expand and integrate new ways of relating
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Strengthen your identity and distinguish between yourself and others around you
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Learn ways to better handle conflict and navigate life’s inevitable sufferings
… and much more.
Joseph Pennell, 1912
THE THERAPEUTIC RELATIONSHIP
And More About Nicole
Because we are both human, I experience the therapeutic process and environment as much as you do. Our life experiences may differ greatly, yet we share the same human condition and are affected by some of the very same core processes: desire, disappointment, suffering, and longing for meaning & connection.
My perspective on our counselling relationship respects and encourages your individual expression of what it means to live in your body, mind, and soul; and simultaneously appreciates our shared humanity and inherent worth.
Some parts of who I am that are deeply intrinsic include: my abiding faith in Christ as an Orthodox Christian; my love for my husband and family; my imagination which finds most life when creating, whether it be through writing, embroidering, or drawing; and my affection for all things nature, but most especially swimming in the summer, seeing light dance through tree branches, and witnessing the sun set or rise. Life seems most rich when these parts collide!
While I do not explicitly reference these parts of who I am in the therapy setting, it may be important for you to get a taste of who I innately am and therefore inadvertently bring along with me wherever I go.
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Meindert Hobbema, 1658