The person behind the work
I’m Brian Dean Williams – a registered clinical counsellor, approved clinical supervisor, and Buddhist meditation instructor – with 25 years of experience working with men, couples, and youth.
My background is working with marginalized folks, including in Vancouver’s downtown eastside, at an alternative school for criminally-involved youth, and on-reserve with the Kitasoo Xai-Xais First Nation as the clinical director of counselling services.
I’m raising three boys. I coach them in basketball. I’m active with music, hockey, mountain biking, and basketball. And I’ve spent years thinking carefully about what it actually means to support healthy masculinities — plural — because there’s no single right way to be a man, and if someone tells you otherwise, they’re selling something much too small.
My counselling sessions, Ask Her course, and workshops don’t tell people what masculinity should look like. They create the conditions for educators, organizations, and men themselves to figure that out together. My counselling practice does the same thing, one conversation at a time: we use powerful questions to help you change the story of what it means to be a man in this world. And Ask Her started because I kept watching men in relationships who genuinely wanted to do better, but just didn’t know what questions to ask. Seeing men connect in these groups and realize “it’s not just me” is one of the highlights of my career.
15+ years · 60+ engagements · Across Canada.
“
Brian facilitated a session on Narrative Therapy and its application to leadership for over 100 Vancouver Coastal Health managers, and it left a lasting impression. The session was incredibly well received and, more than a year later, it continues to be one of the most talked-about and frequently revisited offerings in our monthly learning series.
What sets Brian apart is his ability to take complex, nuanced concepts and make them feel accessible, practical, and immediately relevant. Managers consistently shared how his approach helped them see their everyday challenges in a new light and apply fresh, meaningful perspectives in their work.
Aaron Munro
Leader, Manager Resource Network, Vancouver Coastal Health
Book Brian for your school, conference, or organization
Where this work has landed
Re-imagining Masculinities — North Shore Teachers Association (2026)
Re-imagining Masculinities — Surrey Teachers Association (2026)
Decolonizing Masculinity — Odyssey Conference, Langley Teachers Association, with Marie Oldfield (2026)
3-Day Men’s Wellness Gathering, Facilitator — Sunshine Coast BC (2026)
Keynote: Healthy Masculinity — Annual Indigenous Men’s Gathering, Skidegate, Haida Gwaii (2023, 2024, 2025)
Golden Roots Healing Program — Vancouver Coastal Health Management Team, with Marie Oldfield (2025)
4-Day Golden Roots Healing Program — Kitasoo Xai’xais First Nation, with Marie Oldfield (2024)
Decolonizing Masculinity — Odyssey Conference, Langley Teachers Association, with Marie Oldfield (2026)
2-Day Clinical Training: Narrative Therapy & Motivational Interviewing — City of Windsor Housing Team (2026)
Narrative Therapy for Frontline Workers — People Working Well / Canadian Mental Health Association (2025)
Narrative Therapy — Vancouver Coastal Health Management Team (2025)
Online Clinical Training: Narrative Therapy, Motivational Interviewing & Mindfulness — Empower Simcoe Housing First Team (2023–2025)
10+ Full-Day Trainings: Narrative Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Harm Reduction & Mindfulness — Correctional Services of Canada, Abbotsford BC (2017–2023)
20+ Full-Day Trainings: Housing First Teams Across Canada — Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness (2013–2017)
Workshop: Narrative Therapy Practice in Housing First Settings — Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness (2010, 2011)
Applying Mindfulness to Build Resilience for Burnout Recovery & Collective Care — People Working Well / Canadian Mental Health Association (2025)
Recovery: A Personal Account from the Frontlines — People Working Well / Canadian Mental Health Association (2025)
Keynote: Embracing Death — A Mindful Approach to Grief in an Age of Loss — Occupational Therapists Association Annual Conference, Langley BC (2018)
International Meditation Retreats — Costa Rica (2019) & Portugal (2022), with Melissa Berry Appleton
Mindfulness Program for Frontline Healthcare Workers — Enso Society, Kelowna BC (2014–2017)
Weekly online mindfulness group for Air Canada flight attendants during COVID, 2020-2022
Keynote: Mindfulness — ETUG Conference, Surrey BC (2013)
Featured Guest: Men, Masculinities, and Narrative Therapy, Episode #134 — The Radical Therapist Podcast (2025)
Featured Guest: Secular Dharma Podcast with Dave Smith (2025)
Featured Guest: Wirth Hats Mental Health podcast, Covid-19 edition (2020)