Explore

Therapy offers a compassionate personal response to the periods of difficulty you encounter in your life

Mental Health Professional
Elisabeth van Assum Counselling

Counselling Approach

I have over 15 years experience working with clients in the Comox Valley, Vancouver and internationally.

My counselling style integrates Person-Centered, Narrative and Intersectional-Feminist therapy informed by aspects of Existential Therapy and Gestalt, and situated within a Trauma Informed approach.

This means in our work together, I look for opportunities to connect into your world and navigate it with you; offering opportunities to witness aspects of your life you have not been able to, identify limitations in your capacities, and generate opportunities for growth and transformation around resources and skill sets you have but have been unable to access.

The work is deeply reliant on generating trust in your process and your own ability to awaken to your lived truths.

In my life outside of counselling and supervision I am a trained chef who cooks for joy and pleasure where I work to incorporate local sustainable foods into what nourishes the bodies of those I have the privilege of cooking for. I am the parent of two children and live with them and my spouse in the comox valley. I spend as much of my time as I can in nature and I am happiest connecting with friends and family and music. I also am a DJ who you may see playing out and about under the name of therapy.

education and 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.

Kind Words 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.”

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

~ Thich Nhat Hanh