foto © elisabeth van assum ~ salish sea, 2025

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Support for Burnout, Overwhelm & Emotional Exhaustion

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Support for Anxiety, Burnout & Emotional Overwhelm in the Comox Valley

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elisabeth is A Therapist Who Works With you

I offer grounded, compassionate counselling for women and emotionally overwhelmed adults seeking more than surface-level coping strategies. Many people come to therapy after feeling unheard, stuck in repetitive patterns, or frustrated that previous counselling focused on symptom management and skills without getting to the deeper roots of what they were experiencing.

My approach is collaborative, insightful, and engaged. I listen carefully, ask meaningful questions, and help clients develop a clearer understanding of themselves, their relationships, and the conditions shaping their emotional lives. Together, we explore the underlying dynamics contributing to anxiety, burnout, grief, overwhelm, and life transitions, creating space to slow down, make sense of what is arising, and relate to your experience with greater clarity, self-trust, and compassion.

Many people come to counselling feeling exhausted, disconnected from themselves, or overwhelmed by pressures that are not simply personal. Emotional suffering often emerges within the context of caregiving burdens, relationship dynamics, chronic stress, economic pressure, social inequality, and the ongoing demands of living in a world that can feel relentless and dehumanizing. I work from the understanding that emotional struggles make sense in context. Rather than reducing your experiences to symptoms or focusing only on coping strategies, we explore your emotional world with honesty, curiosity, and care—considering your relationships, history, identity, responsibilities, and the broader realities shaping your life.

I offer counselling that is relational, thoughtful, and grounded in deep listening, emotional insight, and respect for the complexity of your lived experience. My work supports clients in reconnecting with themselves, honouring their emotional reality, and cultivating a more grounded and coherent relationship with their inner world and a deeper understanding of the outer world in which their lives take shape.

I work extensively with women, young adults, Gen X clients, caregivers, and members of LGBTQIA2S+ and marginalized communities, offering an inclusive and non-judgmental space where your experiences are taken seriously and explored with care, depth, and respect.

acknowledgments about elisabeth

  • "I have known Elisabeth for over 15 years and know her as an individual with integrity, heart, professionalism and commitment. She has dedicated herself to the well-being of others and consistently demonstrated capacity for truly listening to you - exemplified by the focused and thoughtful feedback that she provides. She speaks informed truths - which are not always easy to receive, yet inevitable contribute to a improved understanding of self or context."

  • "I have known Elisabeth for over a decade. She is a thoughtful and compassionate listener. She combines that compassion with an unusually clear eyed intelligence. I admire her commitment to social justice and her active engagement with people of all backgrounds and experiences. She is a person of enormous integrity and is one of the people I trust most in this world. She has been there for me on more occasions than I can count. to hold space for me and validate my reality where others have attempted to deny it. I rarely feel more sane and safe than I do in the prescence of Elisabeth. I’ve made many a personal recommendation for her services and will continue to do so."

  • "Elisabeth is a colleague I have the privilege of knowing and consulting with on a regular basis. She is an excellent psychotherapist who is able to facilitate genuine and deep insight where others often fail. She is very professional and embodies both compassion and critical thinking. I have no hesitation in sending her referrals, and everyone I know who has worked with her has had fruitful outcomes."

  • “Elisabeth is someone I can trust to bring anti-oppressive values into her practice with clients. I refer clients to her when I want to make sure their diverse experiences and identities will be respected, understood and held with care. A true asset to the Comox Valley.”

  • “Elisabeth is deeply compassionate, kind and wise. I have known her for over 15 years an appreciate her wonderful tact and honesty. Without a doubt she is one of the few people I trust the most with my emotional and personal traumas. I always feel listened to and respected.”

Outside of my counselling and supervision work, I’m often creating through food. As a trained chef, I find a lot of joy in working with local, sustainable ingredients and bringing people together through what nourishes them. I’m also a parent of two, and my family and I make our home in the Comox Valley, where time in nature is part of our daily rhythm.

Community and creativity are central in my life—whether that’s sharing meals, connecting with friends and family, spending time outdoors, or enjoying music. You might also see me DJing under the name, therapy, a playful extension of the joy and connection in community I value so deeply

counselling courtenay 
foto © elisabeth van assum ~ cloud mountain 2024

detailed education & experience

In 2009 I graduated with a Masters (M. Ed.) in Counselling Psychology from the University of British Columbia with a focus on research on youth in transition-to-adulthood issues, and women & later-life fertility and sexuality issues.

In 2000 in the Netherlands I graduated with a Masters (M.A.) of Gender Studies, with Dr. Gloria Wekker as my thesis advisor, from the University of Utrecht, having written a thesis on systemic issues of racialised inequality in Dutch society.

In 1994 earned my undergraduate degree Honours Bachelor of Arts (B.A. hnrs) in Sociology, and minor in Women's Studies with thesis advisor Dr. Dawn Currie, from the University of British Columbia having written a thesis on narratives of identity in women and men who identify as bisexual. 

In 2010 to 2012 I was the lead instructor and visiting lecturer for the Certificate in Peer Counselling at the UBC department of Continuing Education downtown Campus.

In 2019 completed the certificate in Indigenous Studies from the University of Alberta ensuring I apply and understand how being a white settler on indigenous land has informed and shaped my world view, moreover ensuring that I am transparent as a culturally accountable and culturally humble counsellor, and that I take mental health issues that arise in colonialism and racism seriously.

From 2016 to 2019 I worked for UBC Students’ Counselling, working with various students from over 30 different countries. I developed a depth of practice regarding the diverse cultural and mental health experiences of global youth living in British Columbia.

Since 2023 I work as a qualified front line mental health worker for Emergency Health Services and Critical Incident Response Services, BC.

Since 2014 I am a member in good standing & Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) with the British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors (BCACC) member Number #13013 and I am fully insured by the Mitchell and Abbott Group.

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“For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.”

~ Thich Nhat Hanh