Welcome Karlie Chalmers!
Karlie Chalmers (They/Them) is the newest member of the Cambrian Family! They are accepting new clients with no waitlist!
Karlie is a Mental Health Occupational Therapist & Therapist. They are passionate about early intervention, rural health equity, strengths and values-based practice, anti-oppressive practice, and trauma-informed practice. Karlie is skilled in cognitive behavioural therapy, internal family systems, emotional regulation skill building, coaching/motivational interviewing, and play-based therapy. Karlie will be writing a blog post in the near future for neurodiversity month!
Learn more about Karlie below!
Welcome! Life can sometimes feel like a slog of never-ending despair... I'm here to help.
I’m happy you’re here because it means you believe things can get better, and that means you have hope. Hope is a great starting point.
Sometimes life can feel like a slog through a never-ending pit of despair, or like the overwhelming expectations of life are a constant crushing weight. Perhaps you’ve played out the same self-defeating patterns in relationships and feel stuck. Maybe you have been through something that shook you to your core and you remain locked in a constant state of fear and feel reactive and not like yourself. All of us woke up in this place called life, and none of us got a manual, let me help you make the most of it. I don’t claim to have all the answers, but I strive to create a warm, collaborative, and welcoming atmosphere where your bravery and vulnerability are met with a non-judgemental and curious attitude that allows for new insights and self-awareness to surface. I love walking alongside my client’s on their journey to build resilience, tenacity & self-leadership. I see individuals as an ecosystem where every weakness is intrinsically linked to a strength. Within this paradigm, I support folks in viewing themselves with respect, honour, and compassion, and ultimately, loving themselves in their unique wholeness.
My clinical approach
In my practice, I combine the useful tools offered by CBT with person-focused meaning-making talk therapies such as Internal Family Systems (IFS), Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT), and Existential Psychotherapy. This combination of subjective meaning-making and practice of mental health knowledge and tools allow my client’s to build a compassionate and holistic view of the self that promotes change through self-love rather than force or willpower. I use multimodal strategies such as drawing, visualization, somatic/embodied experiencing, sensory-based grounding to help facilitate access to emotion, memory, and intuition that may be hidden from the client’s conscious view in a safe and manageable way.
What to expect when you start therapy with me
To book with me you can either schedule an initial assessment or schedule directly into an individual psychotherapy appointment (book a free consultation here). An initial assessment allows us to begin the therapy journey with great information, so we are able to address the most pressing concerns promptly. However, I recognize that providing a detailed history and completing many assessments at the onset of therapy can activate old wounds, act as a barrier, and de-stabilize you further, so the direct entry to sessions allows us to pace the assessments and make your experience more trauma-informed.
Whatever the pacing, we will begin with an assessment of your overall well-being in the areas of mood, affect, self-esteem, relational wellbeing, self-care, strengths, symptoms, and safety. I utilize evidence-based assessment tools alongside your own knowledge of yourself to collaborate on client-centered goals that create immediate and sustainable change. Together we will take a two pronged approach of exploring how past patterns and life events influence you today, while also trying to create a life in the present which is full of joy and peace. With your guidance and our combined expertise we will try to improve your overall wellness with self-awareness building, self-love nurturing, and accountability-based therapy.
My commitment to you
I acknowledge and continue to learn about the intersections at which I hold power and the way in which my privilege has been at the sacrifice of other cultures, peoples, and lives and never take that lightly in my words, thoughts, actions or advocacy. I continue to unlearn power dynamics and I strive to be an ally to those who identify as members of the following communities: LGBTQ2S+, racialized, immigrant/newcomer, polyamorous and ethical non-monogamy, disability, neuro-diverse, homeless/houseless/underhoused.