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Holly Kretschmer, Registered Psychotherapist, Vancouver, BC

Individual Counselling, Parent Coaching & Support in Vancouver

Holly Kretschmer, Registered Psychotherapist

Hi, I’m Holly! Welcome to my website – a place where you can discover what I offer and decide whether this is what you're looking for..

 

First I want to share that healing, transforming and integrating my own emotional childhood wounds in my 30's, significantly changed my life and resulted in me becoming a Psychotherapist.  Knowing that healing is possible, I wanted to help others turn inward toward their own natural healing abilities.

Healing your emotional wounds can change your life too!

 

I have been in private practice for over 18 years specializing in the treatment of early and current life trauma, anxiety, depression, shame, loneliness, grief and relationship difficulties.

Areas of Expertise

Individual Adult Counselling
Parent Coaching & Support

PHILOSOPHY AND APPROACH

Trauma begins in childhood and occurs when we do not have permission and support with an empathic person to feel through and integrate traumatic experiences.  Most everyone has experienced early life trauma to some degree and until it is healed, it affects our adult life. Trauma is what happens inside you as a result of what happens to you that has not been emotionally processed and integrated. When we bring unconscious pain into our awareness as adults and trust our own healing abilities to feel, we heal.

As we gently explore and heal past emotional wounds it leads us toward more joy, presence and clarity; in our "self", in our day-to-day experiences and having healthy relationship with others. We become more open to our authentic self and exercise self-care and hold compassion for our self and others. And we have more capacity to cultivate more meaningful, fulfilling, loving and joyful relationships with others.

My passion as a trauma therapist is in supporting individuals to heal from their early childhood wounding. 

 

As a Parent Coach, I provide a conscious parenting approach of attachment, democratic discipline and being responsive instead of reactive that fosters a solid foundation of self-love, self-worth and self-respect for a parent and their child.

 

My therapeutic approach is client-centred, emotion-centred, trauma-centred, body-centred and compassion-based. Your therapy experience uniquely unfolds with the concerns that you bring to the session.

My therapy experience that led me to become a Psychotherapist

Experiencing deep grief from the sudden death of my dad in my early 30’s caused me to seek therapy support. At the time, I was the parent of a daughter nearly three years of age and I was seven months pregnant with my second child. Instinctively I knew that this was an important loss and one that I needed help with, especially being a new mom. Before my father's death, I had been taking parenting and assertiveness training classes to better understand what my children needed from me to be emotionally and physically healthy. I felt frustrated as I was experiencing difficulty putting the effective parenting practices into place. This left me being hard on myself and feeling that I wasn't a good parent.  Once I began healing from my early life wounds with the unwavering support of my therapist, who happened to specialize in early life trauma, I began to experience true healing, transformation and integration. At the time, I didn't know to look for this type of therapist.  As I was healing, transforming and integrating my early life trauma, I naturally began to parent much more confidently, effectively and with more love and joy!  My relationships with others changed too. Some relationships ended and some deepened. I began to seek out individuals who were supportive and on a similar path healing emotional wounds. 

Effective therapy begins when safety and trust exists in a supportive environment.  This allows us to open gently to our vulnerability and feelings that will help connect us with our emotional wounds on a deeper level towards healing, transformation and integration.  Our life difficulties change for the better when we engage in our own personal healing work. 

Thanks again for stopping by and reading what I have to offer to support you in your healing process.  You can heal!  You can feel better and you don't have to do it alone.

My Approach
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Credentials

Registered Psychotherapist (RP)
 

College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario
Registration #003136

Canadian Professional Counsellors Association
Member #3910

Family Life Educator

Certificate with Gordon Training International
(Dr. Thomas Gordon)
2004

Master Practitioner in Clinical Counselling (MPCC)

Parent Effectiveness Training Facilitator

Registered Professional Counsellor (RPC)

Canadian Professional Counsellors Association
Member #3910

Certificate with Aware Parenting Institute, Dr. Aletha Solter, 2006

Credentials

What is a Registered Psychotherapist?

The College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO) license Registered Psychotherapists (RP).  The College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario regulates its registrants in the public interest.  CRPO is established under the Psychotherapy Act, 2007 and the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991

 

Psychotherapy occurs when the Registered Psychotherapist (RP) and client enter into a psychotherapeutic relationship where both work together towards positive change in the client’s thinking, feeling, behaviour and social functioning.  Individuals usually seek psychotherapy when they have thoughts, feelings, moods and behaviours that are adversely affecting their day-today lives, relationships and the ability to enjoy life.

CONFIDENTIALITY & PRIVACY

I am very aware of the importance of you feeling safe and protected as you share the details of your feelings and experiences. I take this seriously and actively work to ensure that information disclosed to me is kept confidential. 

 

This means that I will not share or disclose this information to anyone without your consent, except as mandated by law under the following circumstances:

  1. If a client indicates that they may harm themselves or others

  2. If there is suspected or potential risk of childhood abuse

  3. When the court issues a subpoena for records or testimony

  4. Disclosure of sexual abuse by a health care provider

 

At your first appointment I will review the limits of confidentiality with you.

Emotional healing occurs when we are consciously feeling and processing our feelings.

White Sand and Stone

Processing Feelings

 Awareness of what we are feeling is the first step to identifying what is causing us discomfort and pain.  By doing so we can then begin to open to and give ourself permission to feel what we are feeling. 

Examples of feelings:

 Vulnerable, Sad, Helpless, Shame, Disappointment, Embarrassment or Anger.

 

Our feelings are the essence of who we are and they reside in our body. 

 

Mostly, society has not understood the vital importance of feeling in relation to our emotional and physical health and wellbeing.

 

White Sand and Stone

Our feelings run us unconsciously when we are not allowing ourself to feel and connect our feelings to the root of our life experiences.

Second step is to locate where we are holding our feelings in our body. For example, we may be experiencing ongoing tightness in our chest, or headaches or backaches or coldness, or tension in our shoulders or exhaustion.

 

Third step is to stay with our feelings as we can to process them.  This might mean five minutes  or less in the beginning as we increase our tolerance for difficult feelings we have been pushing or holding down in our body.

White Sand and Stone

Fourth step is to be curious about our feelings and where they originate from and 

give ourself permission to express them safely and responsibly. 

 

For example, cry in a safe private space,  journal our feelings and experiences, write angry letters we do not send, speak to a trusted family member or friend or seek the support of a therapist who encourages feeling as a way to heal.

Healing emotional pain and suffering is possible, one step at a time.

A child's sense of self-worth depends on a healthy relationship with her/his parent(s).  This is only possible when the parent has a healthy relationship with her/himself.

Testimonials

individual adult COUNSELLING

Free,15-minute phone consultation —

Email info@hollykaycounselling.com to request. Please provide best days and times in your email along with your phone number. I will reply to your email to setup a time for us to speak.

 

60 minutes $161.90 plus 5% GST

or 90 minutes $242.86 plus 5% GST

Accepting new clients 

Online appointments available Tuesdays and Wednesdays

In-office appointments are available on Thursdays


Call or Email to Book an Appointment

PARENT COACHING

Free,15-minute phone consultation —

Email info@hollykaycounselling.com to request. Please provide best days and times in your email along with your phone number. I will reply to your email to setup a time for us to speak.

 

60 minutes $161.90 plus 5% GST

or 90 minutes $242.86 plus 5% GST

Accepting new clients

Online appointments available Tuesdays and Wednesdays

In-office appointments are available on Thursdays


Call or Email to Book an Appointment

Fees

PAYMENT
INSURANCE
CANCELLATION

Payment for each session is due at the time of the session and can be made by Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Visa Debit, MasterCard Debit or e-transfer.

If choosing to pay by credit card, you can set up your credit card number and information in the Jane Booking App once you setup your account.

If choosing e-transfer, payment must be made the day of the session and prior to the beginning of the session time.  Email e-transfers to: info@hollykaycounselling.com

You will be provided a receipt upon payment to submit to your insurance provider or claim on your personal tax return as a medical expense.

Provincial Health Insurance Programs do not cover the cost of Psychotherapists, Counsellors, Psychologists or Social Workers. However, your workplace or personal insurance plan provider may cover the full or partial fee. 

It is recommended that you contact your insurance provider to inquire whether they cover Registered Psychotherapists or Registered Professional Counsellors and Master Practitioner Clinical Counsellors.

Your appointment time is reserved just for you.  A late cancellation or missed visit leaves a hole in a therapists’ day that could have been filled by another client.  As such, our policy is to charge full regular fees for missed appointments and cancellations made with less than 48 hours’ notice.

Please note: I do not specialize in severe psychiatric conditions.

Contact
Holly Kretschmer, Registered Psychotherapist, Vancouver, BC

Contact Me

Tel: 604.671.2951

Office location - Thursdays at:

Suite 610  at 1125 Howe Street, Vancouver, BC  V6Z 2K8

In-Office and Online appointments available.

Please note: Do not include any personal health information in your email.

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