Sharlene Petigara

My counselling practice centers on resilience in the face of trauma, and I enjoy being able to provide a queer affirming practice and a safe space for people of colour. I am a certified Trauma-Informed Stabilization Treatment practitioner (also known as “parts work”), and am also trained in EMDR and Narrative Therapy. Some of the areas that I can be most helpful working with are relationship issues, family systems, trauma, gender identity and expression, personal/professional boundaries, self-esteem, depression and anxiety, work/life balance, immigration and adjustment, healing from oppression and internalized oppression, and developing self-care/compassion. My clients often find themselves connecting to a self that feels more authentic, and learning what it feels like to start to expand their capacity to cope with life’s stressors. Clients find that after only a few sessions they’re able to slow down difficult moments, identify what’s going on within them, and grow a sense of self-leadership in which there’s much more possibility and choice in how they live than it seemed. People consistently describe feeling lighter and more capable after sessions. I have ten years of experience in the field of mental health and trauma, partly from my previous career as a Social Worker. This gave me a deep appreciation for the structural systems and identities that people navigate daily. You can trust that I have a solid understanding of the issues that people can face, and that I am passionate about helping people achieve their goals and live a more fulfilling life.