This is a great question and an important one. First and foremost I take a client centered approach, which means I often begin sessions with a question and focus on: “what do you need support in?” and how can my skills best support that. This is where we begin. I want to collaborate with you to determine how we can best get what you want out of your sessions. Relationship building is at the heart of my counselling approach, and I aim to create a safe, non-judgmental, creative and authentic therapeutic experience.

I am invested in my professional development and continuing to learn and hone my therapeutic practice. Below are some therapeutic modalities that I have training in, which I integrate in my sessions when appropriate.

-Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)

-EMDR (See the drop down for more information on this powerful therapy method)

-Trauma Informed Practice

-Interpersonal Therapy

-Creativity and Art as Therapy

-Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)

I graduated in 2015 with an MA in Counselling Psychology from the University of Victoria, and I have a BA in Psychology from UVIC (2010). Through my master’s level education, I was fortunate to be given incredible clinical skills training as well as invaluable research experience. I focused my graduate master’s thesis on the lived experience of adolescent siblings who had a brother or sister with cancer. More information about this research can be found in the knowledge mobilization video which is accessible on youtube through clicking this link: Siblings You Matter.

I have provided 1:1 counselling, workshops and group facilitation since 2010. My counselling experience began in 2009 through the lay-counsellor training program at Citizens Counselling, which inspired me to pursue professional training in the Masters of Counselling Psychology program from the University of Victoria. In 2015 I joined the clinical counselling team at InspireHealth, Supportive Cancer Care, where I counselled patients and their support people impacted by cancer from 2015-2022. I established Genevieve Stonebridge Counselling in 2016, when I started my private practice. Since 2009 it has been a privilege to work with folks from many backgrounds in various clinical settings supporting adults, families, couples and children. I also have the incredible privilege to be part of the Anew Research Collaborative team through Royal Roads University, where we are working to reshape the young adult cancer care system in BC.

Continuing to learn, grow, and hone my therapeutic lens is something I dedicate myself to. Some of the trainings and workshops I have attended are:

Jan-Feb 2024- 8 week Internal Family Systems Practice & Process Workshop with Karen Wallace M.Ed., BCATR, CATA, CFP

October 2023- Internal Family Systems Informed EMDR Advanced Training: Kase & Co.

July 2023- Internal Family Systems Workshop- 5 day intensive at Cape Cod Institute with Richard Schwartz, PhD.

July 2023- EMDR for Grief & Loss Advanced EMDR Training: Kase & Co.

June 2023- Heal Thyself- 5 day Silent Retreat for Healthcare Providers with Dr. Mark Sherman, Hollyhock, Cortes BC.

January 2023- Blending EMDR and IFS therapy: Kase & Co Speakers series.

October 2022- Bilateral Stimulation & Sensorimotor Expressive Arts Therapy with Cathy Malchiodi, Trauma-Informed Practices & Expressive Arts Therapy Institute.

September 2022- Online Weekend Retreat at Omega Institute with Tim Olstead. Befriending yourself: Loving the World.

May 2022- Online Omega Institute Weekend Retreat With Pema Chödrön: Awakening Through Difficult Circumstances with Pema Chödrön and Tim Olmsted

May 2022- BC Mindfulness Summit Online Guest Presenter and Attendee.

April 2022- Dissociation and DID with EMDR: Kase & Co speakers series

March 2022 - EMDR Refresher Course with Rebecca Kase of Kase & Co.

Feb 2022- 2 day online Mindfulness Meditation Retreat with Jack Kornfield

2022- Trauma Informed Practice Training Level 1- Trauma Informed Practice Institute.

2021: UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness Teacher Training Qualification pathway, UCSD

June-August 2021 - San’yas Indigenous Cultural Safety Training

April-June 2021 - MBSR Teacher Training Practicum, UCSD

May 2021- BC Mindfulness Summit Online Guest Presenter and Attendee.

March 2021 - MBSR Teacher Training Intensive, UCSD

January 2021- 5 day Silent Virtual Retreat, Mindful-Way

October 2020- 5 day Mindful Self-Compassion Virtual Silent Retreat, Copper Beech Institute

May-June 2020- Mindful Self-Compassion, Centre for Mindfulness Studies

February 2020- BC Mindfulness Summit, Victoria, BC.

October 2019- LOVE: Science & Sense - Not Sentiment, Dr. Sue Johnson, (Victoria, BC)

April 2019- Mindful Self-Compassion Core Skills workshop, Dr. Kristin Neff & Dr. Chris Germer. (Vancouver)

February 2019- AEDP for Couples: Transforming Relationships through Healing Relational Deprivation and Trauma, Dr. David Mars, (Vancouver, BC)

April-July 2018- EMDR Basic Training w. Sue Genest, (Victoria, BC)

March 2018- Mindfulness in Health Care- Foundations of Theory and Practice, Dr. Mark Sherman (Parksville, BC)

November 2017- Couples counselling training, Indrus Piche, (Victoria, BC)

January 2017- BCACC Ethics Workshop: From Ethics 101 to Ethics 360, (Victoria, BC)

October 2014- DBT Workshop: Working with special populations, Dr. Melanie Harned, Dialectal Behaviour Center of Vancouver, (Vancouver, BC).

Fall 2013- Introduction to the Virtues Project Training, Betty Doherty, (Victoria, BC)

I am a certified EMDR therapist, and have been practicing and supporting people with EMDR since I completed my basic training in 2018. This section includes important information and key details on EMDR Therapy for your consideration.

WHAT IS EMDR THERAPY?

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is an extensively researched, effective approach to psychotherapy that has been proven to help people recover from trauma and other distressing life experiences, including PTSD, anxiety, depression, and panic disorders.

For more information, please click the following link for the: EMDR International Association website.

To get a general description of the experience of EMDR, check out this excellent video on youtube: EMDRIA’s Introduction to EMDR

And this simple 3 minute video briefly describing EMDR is also helpful: EMDR 3 MINUTE ANIMATION

RESEARCH AND RECOGNITION:

Dr. Andrew Leeds maintains a comprehensive list of peer-reviewed journal articles and professional books covering the most up-to-date research on EMDR therapy, which is accessible in this link.

The American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs/Dept. of Defense, The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and the World Health Organization and numerous other national and international organizations recognize EMDR therapy as an effective treatment.

CAN EMDR THERAPY BE DONE ONLINE?

Yes, absolutely. I offer EMDR in virtual sessions as well as in person.

People are often curious what draws someone to the role of a counsellor.

I was propelled on this path of service through an early curiousity of how I can be of service. I was a peer counsellor in high school, and in early adulthood started my own therapy with an amazing therapist who combined art therapy and somatic experiencing to help me in my healing.

My personal life experiences with my blended family, as well as facing my mortality at a young age, inform how I came to this work. I was diagnosed with cancer at age 18, and also companioned my grandfather in his death as his primary caregiver in my early twenties. These big life experiences early in my life catalyzed within me a profound recognition of impermanence, the need for self-reflection and good therapy :)

Congruence and compassion are core values in my approach to therapy. As Pema Chödrön says: “Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It's a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others.”

I became a counsellor to companion others with their pain in order to reduce suffering. I believe that we all have our own inner wisdom, and my role is to help others come home to this truth and find the light within. My intention is to bring more light to this world.