Associates & Students

Chantell McKay, Practicum Student

Masters of Psychiatric Nursing Candidate

Chantell is a Registered Psychiatric Nurse (RPN) finishing her Masters of Psychiatric Nursing and completing her registration as a Registered Clinical Counsellor. She has over 12 years of experience working as a RPN with those experiencing mental health, addictions and trauma, which has created a foundation for the counselling that she provides. She also brings with her an increased knowledge related to mental health diagnoses and treatments. Her approach is centred around a holistic body-mind connection.

Chantell has spent much of her career working within remote communities in Nunavut along with providing outreach mental health services. She has experience working with folks ranging from adolescents to elders. Chantell approaches everyone’s care from a client-focused perspective, meeting individuals where they are at within their own wellness journey. Considering each person holistically within their current and past experiences helps to guide her practice.

Chantell has experience working with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Solutions-Focused Therapy and Mindful approaches. She will be learning about and applying Narrative Therapy during her practicum.

Nicole Marcia, Associate

Master of Counselling, Master of Arts Yoga Therapy Studies

Nicole is a dually trained clinical counsellor and Yoga Therapist. Her theoretical orientations are psychodynamic and existential-humanistic, which she combines with somatic practices rooted in yoga. She is also in training to receive her Level I EMDR (Eye Movement and Desensitization) certification in February 2024. Nicole brings a trauma and violence-informed, anti-oppressive approach to her work which includes supporting those recovering from sexual assault, providing culturally competent services for first responders and public safety personnel, and walking alongside trauma survivors, and those impacted by systemic violence, and oppression.

Renu Parmar, Associate

Master of Counselling, Registered Clinical Counsellor

We are happy to welcome Renu to our team as an associate! Renu was already an experienced and skilled counsellor with 7 years of experience when she did her practicum with us, and has demonstrated a high level of skill, ethics, and care in this work.

Renu combines various modalities in her practice that she has worked on for many years, but has recently specialized in mindfulness-based somatic training to work with trauma. She also draws from CBT, existential therapy, and narrative therapy. More importantly, she draws from years of both professional and personal experience in working with adults who are struggling with trauma, anxiety, low self-esteem, addiction, identity issues, or relationship issues. One of her core values is that therapy should always be compassion-focused.

Mindfulness-based somatic therapy is an integrative approach to healing trauma using body-oriented processes that help regulate the nervous system. Our traumas and wounds inform how we interact with the world and the issues that come up for us as we cope with daily life. Together in therapy, you can safely engage with feeling those wounds in the body so that they can be expressed and released. Exploring childhood wounds may be part of the process. The result is to feel more resilient, whole, and embodied.

Feelings of safety and trust are key in building a therapeutic relationship. This safety will be cultivated through deep empathetic listening, compassion, and openness to various worldviews.

Renu is also a meditation teacher/spiritual counsellor and is able to address spiritual health as an integral part of well-being if the client wishes to explore this in sessions. She is also a writer and has a background in theatre and teaching, so she also has a passion for working with the body to address creative blocks and issues with presence.

To book with Renu, please contact connect@briandeanwilliams.com.

Jordan Levi-Matin, Associate

PhD, Master of Counselling, Registered Clinical Counsellor

Jordan is both a counsellor, and an interdisciplinary social scientist.

In his counselling role, Jordan has a passion for active, empathic listening, and a deep curiosity about his clients’ unique lived experiences. Informed by Jordan’s immersion in the latest research, this means clients can expect a thoughtful and collaborative approach to adapting the most appropriate method of therapy for their needs.

Jordan’s combined background in anthropology, cognitive science, and counselling psychology means he provides clients a unique form of non-judgmental support to explore any or all aspects of their diverse human experience. This applies no matter how dark or troubling a client’s worries may be.

In addition to depression and anxiety, Jordan has particular clinical interests in trauma, somatization (e.g., chronic pain), tech addiction, loneliness, and relationship problems, as well as crises of faith and worldview.

Jordan has an equal interest in evidence-based body-mind approaches to therapy (e.g., meditative and somatic techniques) as well as talk-based approaches.