Welcome!

I am a therapist /counsellor and consultant in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island BC and on Gabriola Island, working with adults with a wide range of issues and specializing in the areas of trauma and childhood neglect and abuse. I also provide face-to-face and phone consultation for therapists, and phone therapy. EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is central to my work, and my attachment-based approach, Developing a Secure Self, directly addresses early deficits that can lead to low self-esteem, depression and anxiety, problems in relationships, and a myriad of other problems. There is information on this site for individuals seeking therapy and therapists seeking consultation and/or training, as well as information related to attachment, my book on attachment-based therapy, CDs, and links to other resources.

Distance Training in Developing a Secure Self

I am so happy to announce that the distance training program, Imaginal Nurturing, Ego States, and Attachment: An Integrated Approach to Early Deficits, is now available for EMDR therapists! For those who have been waiting, I thank you for your patience. I would never have believed how long it could take to create a training specifically for distance learning. Please follow the training link to the left for information on content, CE credits, and such.

I will miss giving in-person trainings - it was such a pleasure to share my work with colleagues face-to-face, but I have with some regret made the decision to retire from all the travel. And I think distance training makes a lot of sense! It gives you much more flexibility since you can fit it into your schedule as you see fit, and it is more economical too.

This content of this program is similar to what I presented in Vancouver and Toronto in the fall of 2009. Here is some of what psychologist, Paul Albert, wrote following the Vancouver training:

"Thank you for your independence of thought, your creative vision, focused on the client's needs. The presentation reflected discernment, intelligence, and integrity, plus a grounded self-awareness as a basis for safety in the therapeutic environment....The material, and the affirmation of the total client, as well as resourcing the therapist with tools which impact the self-awareness of the client with empowerment and love, well, as you know, this is few and far between...."

Six months later, he said that he was "consistently pleased by the sustainability, the endurance, of the outcomes...." So do check out the distance training information! I will not be giving any more in-person trainings.

In-person and telephone consultation

If you are an EMDR therapist and would like to work towards EMDRIA certification or approved consultant status, or if you could simply benefit from consultation for your clinical work, visit the Consultation page for information on in-person or telephone consultation. Telephone charges are included in the consultation fee.

Imaginal Nurturing CDs

I received a lovely note recently from Susan H., a woman who used these CDs:

"I just wanted to let you know how much I love your guided imagery CDs. I've been going for EMDR therapy for several months and it's been an incredibly healing experience. But while I have been able to heal my childhood traumas, I was left with a very young part of myself who felt extremely lonely and needy. Nothing I have ever done on my own or in therapy was able to touch that part of me. But while listening to your CDs, especially 'I'm So Glad You're Here!' (Feeding the Infant), I found imagining myself as the infant really helped. After doing that several times I realized those feelings of loneliness and neediness were gone!

So thank you so much. You have changed my life."

~ Susan (shared with permission)

Check out the CD page for information and ordering.

The Spirit of "Developing a Secure Self"

Counselor Brandy Poirier from Portland Oregon sent me these lovely comments:

"Your work resonates so much with my own understanding of the human condition. Reading your book for the first time was like listening to my favorite song, then finding out that there were even more stanzas than I'd heard before, and that singing these stanzas empowers me to move ever closer to how and what I want to be in this world."

To be on my Mailing List

If you wish to be notified of any new materials, you need to request to be included on my mailing list at april@april-steele.ca.

The Spirit of Imaginal Nurturing

Over the past six years, I have greatly enjoyed the connections I have had with colleagues around the world through the work I have been doing in the field of attachment. It always delights me to come across references outside the realm of psychology and therapy that share the spirit of Imaginal Nurturing which is the heart of my approach. Some I have come across myself and some have been given to me by others who recognized that spirit. I was surprised and delighted to come across the following passage from Danish philosopher and theologian, Soren Kierkegaard, who died in 1855:

"The loving mother teaches the child to walk alone. She is far enough from him so that she cannot actually support him, but she holds out her arms to him. She imitates his movements, and if he totters, she swiftly bends as if to seize him, so that the child might believe he is not walking alone.... And yet, she does more. Her face beckons like a reward, an encouragement. Thus, the child walks alone with his eyes fixed on his mother's face, not on the difficulties in his way. He supports himself by the arms that do not hold him and constantly strives towards the refuge in his mother's embrace, little suspecting that in the very same moment that he is emphasizing his need for her, he is proving that he can do without her, because he is walking alone."

Isn't that beautiful? It takes my breath away. This is what toddlers need. When they don't receive such nurturing and encouragement, they can become dis-heartened in life. That is why my approach to therapy is heart-centered.

Reducing Infant Mortality

Filmmaker and activist, Debby Takikawa, creator of the brilliant documentary "What Babies Want," sent me a link to her latest film, "Reducing Infant Mortality." Debby once again draws on the wisdom and knowledge of many acknowledged experts in the field in creating an important vehicle for supporting the wellbeing of infants and families.This video can be seen and downloaded for free at www.reducinginfantmortality.com.

 

Thank you for visiting my website. Please come again!

Last updated June 10, 2010.