Find Your Path to Less Pain and Suffering
Online Therapy for Chronic Pain, Childhood Emotional Neglect, and Trauma in British Columbia
I care deeply about your story, what you are going through, and how it is affecting your life. I adjust the knowledge and skills I provide to your unique situation and challenges, so that we focus on what will work for you.
Who is Leona Westra, Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC)?
I am a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) based in British Columbia, who is trained in EMDR and Pain Reprocessing Therapy. I have a lived experience of trauma, chronic pain and childhood emotional neglect. My practice is focused on flexibly working with people who struggle with a combination of childhood trauma, emotional neglect and chronic pain.
I am invested in helping you overcome the barriers and wounds that keep you from healing from pain and other challenges in your life. I can help you notice the blind spots and bring awareness to what is getting in the way. We can work together effectively in a way that’s personal and meaningful to you.
You are not alone. I will be there helping to guide you. Validating your experiences with knowledge and insight that can break through the perspectives that have been causing you so much pain.
I’m flexible and can adjust to what is going on for you right now, including new flare-ups or crises, bringing new knowledge and skills to wherever you are. We will work with where you are
Insights and awareness start the healing process, and we can use them to achieve the change you are longing for.
Shifting Perspectives
I’ve seen how much healing can come from awareness, gained insights, and new skills specific to a person’s unique challenges. I’ve seen how new perspectives, insights and knowledge can change how a person views their situation in a way that reduces self-blame, guilt, and shame.
Additionally, I’ve seen how radical acceptance can shift the way you see things, reduce pressure, and reduce pain. For people who are dealing with narcissistic abusive relationships, I’ve seen the power of radically accepting people as they are rather than how you feel they should be and how that can free you from the self-blame and shame of not being loved by people who don’t have the capacity to love you like you are yearning for. I’ve seen how radical acceptance of pain can be the key that allows different skills and knowledge to take effect.
Sometimes What Fuels Your Pain Can Be About What You Didn’t Get in Childhood
Did you experience one of the following or something similar
- Were you bullied at school, came home, and your parents (or caregiver) wouldn’t talk to you about it?
- Did your parents only notice you when you had good marks at school or achieved something in sports?
- Did your parents never take an interest in the things you were interested in?
These are experiences that are common with emotional neglect, which is when you didn’t get what you needed as a child on an emotional and nurturing level. Experiencing emotional neglect often results in behaviour patterns like people-pleasing, perfectionism, and other patterns that promote inner pressure, which in turn can fuel chronic pain.
Honesty and Lasting Change
I’ll be honest with you about both the struggles and the positive things I see in you. Too often, we focus so much on what we need to change that we don’t use what can support that change.
Focusing on what we need to change is like trying to find your way in the dark woods, while bringing in good, positive parts is like a lantern that helps us see the path.
By seeing you for who you are, I can offer insight and guide you toward a more positive path that reduces inner pressure and pain.
Take the Next Step and Get More Out of Your Life
Please book a free 15-minute consultation on my booking page to learn how I can help and how we can work together to ease your struggles.