Jennifer L. Cole

I received my undergraduate degree in Applied Human Sciences and Theological Studies in Montreal. I then went on to serve college students and staff for 12 years in a parachurch organization. I hold a Master of Arts degree in Counselling and I have been practicing counselling therapy since 2006 in various parts of Canada, the United States, and Australia. Currently, I am currently working on a DMin in Spiritual Formation and Direction.

I enjoy travel and I have a ‘wonder’ and ‘curiosity’ for life and people! At home I enjoy hosting and feeding family, friends, and sometimes strangers. I love bird watching and I have two very sweet dogs.

My counselling style is highly relational, non-judgemental, and empathic: I am a client centered therapist. I believe that each person carries within themselves the blueprint for healing and recovery.

I work from a holistic perspective in that not only do I work with the mind and emotions, but I also work with sensations in the body as a Somatic Experiencing (SE) practitioner. SE allows you to develop awareness of body sensation as a means to heal trauma without reliving or re-enacting it and overwhelming yourself. This approach gives those survival energies a chance to be safely experienced and gradually and gently discharged in small incremental steps rather than flooding you with very difficult memories and experiences all over again. Common benefits to this approach include a relief of traumatic symptoms (such as anxiety and depression, or fight/flight/freeze responses) and an increase in feelings of resiliency, and resourcefulness.

With couples and families, I work from a family systems and somatic attachment-based paradigm. I enjoy working in inter-cultural and cross-cultural settings. Other therapeutic modalities I draw on include Internal Family Systems and Narrative Therapy.