Connect with us
Our office is located steps from Skytrain and bus routes, with free and paid street parking nearby. Whole Foods across the street will validate parking in their lot for up to 2 hours with the purchase of $20.
For in-office sessions, your counsellor will meet you in the lobby of 525 West 8th Avenue, before bringing you up to our cozy office on the 7th floor. For In-person, nature-based therapy in Vancouver and Burnaby, your practitioner will email you a location prior to you session.
Our office has single-stall, universal bathrooms that are also wheelchair accessible. In collective care and solidarity with our immunocompromised kin, our office is equipped with an air purifier, hand sanitizer, and masks. If you are feeling ill, please email your counsellor to switch to a virtual session.
Get Connected
All Venturous Counsellor’s emails are firstname@venturouscounselling.com
For general enquiries or to connect with Abby, email connect@venturouscounselling.com
You can also text us at 778 775 7504.
Our email and phone are not monitored for emergencies. If you need immediate support, please reach out to your care web or access our free resource database here for supports and anti-carceral crisis lines.
Q&A
Consults are a great way to do a vibe check with us before diving head first into our counselling work. Your comfortability with your counsellor and the ways in which we can build a trusting, collaborative relationship are the key indicators of therapeutic effectiveness.
We highly recommend doing a consult with us first for virtual sessions, and all in-person sessions must be preceded with a consult. This way we can give you important info about our office and other necessary information about in-person sessions beforehand.
If you have any questions about consults, please email the practitioner you are hoping to consult with or connect@venturouscounselling.com. We’ve also created a free PDF guide with everything you need to know to get the most of your consult here (scroll to the bottom!).
Your first session is a space to get to know you and your situation better, at your own pace. We understand that seeking therapy can be influenced by various systemic barriers and past experiences with healthcare systems. Many folks feel anxious in their first session – please know that there’s literally no way to do your first session “wrong”!
The most important thing to remember is that you don’t owe us your story – you can share as much or as little as you want. Sometimes, you might feel like you need to build more relationship with us before you’re comfortable sharing. Part of our anti-oppressive approach resists the idea that you have to share every tender experience of your life in order to access services. Instead, you have full control over what you share and how we proceed.
During our time together, we’ll:
Venturous integrates multiple therapeutic approaches (EMDR, somatic, nature-based, art & play therapy) while maintaining a strong commitment to anti-carceral, intersectional, feminist therapy. Our counsellors receive ongoing training in intersectional feminism and anti-colonial frameworks, unlearning alongside you to provide culturally responsive care.
Most universities and extended health benefits providers cover counselling services rendered by a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC). However, individual plans differ, so please check with your provider to confirm.
We also work with various EAPs and are FNHA approved. These programs cover most, if not all of your counselling costs. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions!
We accept e-transfers to connect@venturouscounselling.com and credit cards. After processing, we’ll issue you a PDF receipt. If our services are covered by your extended health benefits plan, you can submit this receipt to your provider for reimbursement or you can provide us with your insurance information and we can direct bill for you.
To access a list of insurers that generally accept direct billing, click here.
Please note, insurers accept direct billing on an individual plan basis. That means, even if our services our covered, your particular plan may not allow us to direct bill for you. After your first session, we’ll submit a direct bill request and confirm with you whether or not your plan qualifies.
We have a standard 24-hour cancellation policy. That means if you need to cancel or reschedule your session, you need to give us at least 24-hours notice or the full fee of the session will be charged.
If you are late but are able to attend within the first 15 minutes of your session, you can still use the rest of your time of the session for the full fee. If you are late beyond the first 15 minutes of session, your session will be considered a no show as we’ll have to reschedule to another time. This is to ensure that we have adequate time and space to wrap up our work without you feeling rushed, heightened, or unprepared as you transition out of session.
Absolutely! A crucial part of our approach is exploring with you how these different modalities can fit with what you’re hoping to address and the contexts that impact how we approach this work. Sometimes, this looks like redefining what healing looks like for us and how we’re impacted to view ourselves in certain ways because of how we’ve been trained up in this world. These modalities are meant to “add colours to your painting” rather than replace it completely. In most circumstances, you’ll find yourself weaving in and out of these practices and your therapist will support you in navigating that!
At Venturous, we recognize that healing is deeply connected to your cultural identity, lived experiences and societal contexts. Our anti-oppressive therapy approach acknowledges and addresses how systemic context, your intersecting identities of privilege and/or oppression, and our relationships impact mental health.
We actively center BIPOC and 2SLGBTQ+ perspectives, acknowledging the impacts of colonialism, racial capitalism, and other forms of systemic oppression. Our approach considers your whole identity and lived experience, recognizing that healing happens within the context of social justice and collective care.
Your therapist will work with you to:
We believe that therapeutic healing isn’t just individual – it’s connected to broader community care and social change. Our commitment is to provide therapy that truly understands and validates your full experience, while creating opportunties for collective care.
While there are general guidelines for how each therapy might support particular concerns, everybody experiences these therapies differently. Exploration and play are core values of Venturous, and we encourage you to experiment with us to see what works and what doesn’t. You can consult with your therapist about what might be a good start for your particular context and we’ll explore these options with you. That being said, go with your gut! If you’re feeling drawn to a particular type of therapy, let’s start there!
Absolutely! Here at Venturous, each of our pratitioners has a community pool of sliding scale rates to ensure that we can support folx experiencing financial barriers. When you access sliding scale, our counsellors will send you a self-qualifying infographic to help you determine what might work best for you and will revisit this conversation at regular intervals.
Our community pool of sliding scale rates is dynamic and changes depending on how many folx are accessing sliding scale with us at any given time. If you are no longer in need of sliding scale, please make sure to let your practitioner know so that we can offer that spot to your community members.
Thank you for wanting to support our shared community through generous rates! Please let your practitioner know the rate at which you’re comfortable with us charging and we’ll set it up for you on the backend. Your generous rates go 100% towards subsidizing lower-cost services for your community members in need.
Absolutely. Please head to our booking page and click the “buy gift card” option at the bottom of the left navigation bar. All gifted sessions must be used within 6 months of purchase. After 6 months, the monetary value of any unused sessions will be donated to mutual aid efforts in so-called BC.
That depends on many factors such as what your goals are, what you’re hoping to get from therapy, and whether or not you and your counsellor are a good fit. Clients who work with us for personal growth reasons tend to continue their counselling relationship with us for a longer period of time when compared to folks who are looking to solve a specific problem.
99.9% of the time, absolutely. Confidentiality is one of the most important principles in our profession.
But there are exceptions. These exceptions are generally safety- or legally-related such as 1) when there is an immediate risk of harm to yourself or another person, 2) if a child or vulnerable adult is at risk of harm, or 3) a judge subpoenas our records. You can also request or consent to disclosure.
In addition, all the forms and session platforms we use are HIPAA compliant. That means your information is protected when using these platforms. Email communications however, are not end-to-end encrypted. So we recommend keeping confidential information out of email communications.
Registered Clinical Counsellors are trained in a variety of areas and at minimum, have a Masters degree and have passed an extensive practicum experience. Some counsellors even pursue extra, more specialized training to broaden their effectiveness. Social workers usually offer more practical support such as connecting you with housing, jobs, or other services, but some do decide to focus on therapeutic work. Finally, Psychologists holds either a PsyD or PhD. Because of the extra training, they are able to do assessments and support in obtaining a diagnosis.
To be honest, I might not be! Counsellors are like shoes, just because they’re the right size, doesn’t mean they fit. The best indicator of whether or not a counsellor is a good fit is how YOU feel when you talk to them. Do you feel heard, understood, and respected? Did we work on what you wanted to work on? Did the approach feel helpful to you? Are you experiencing positive change in your life?
If after our sessions you feel that we are not a good fit, let us know! We’re more than happy to support you in finding a counsellor who would be a better fit for you.
Well, that depends on you! Our work varies depending on what’s going on in your life. Most times, my clients find counselling to be a helpful space for gaining clarity, finding solutions to problems, and removing harmful narratives that keep you from achieving your goals and/or having great relationships.
Online counselling works very similarly to in-person counselling, except no travel time is required. To prepare for your online counselling sessions, make sure your device is charged, that you have access to the internet, and that you are in a quiet, secured place where you won’t be interrupted. Clients who prefer integrating art into our work also tend to have their favorite art supplies nearby.
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occupying the stolen, ancestral territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), S’ólh Téméxw (Stó:lō), Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh), Qayqayt, and kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem) peoples. Our relationship with these lands dictates our commitment to understanding and responding to the ongoing impacts of colonization in our practices in and out of the counselling room.
Learn more about the land you’re occupying at native-land.ca
We believe that therapy should be accessible and transparent, which is why we provide clear information about our counselling rates. Whether you’re seeking individual support or specialized therapeutic approaches, our team is here to help. Learn more about our services and philosophy at Venturous Counselling and Consulting.
Understanding the cost of therapy is an important step in your journey. Check out our detailed information on counselling Rates and payment options to help you make an informed decision.
