Affirming,
Judgment-Free Space
Therapy is only as good as the space is safe. What is safety to you? Honesty? Empathy? Shared lived experiences? Social justice knowledge and embodied practice? The quickest way to answer is to book a consult and see how it feels to talk to me.
Dealing with Society
Societal expectations (gender, culture, school, etc.) cause us to forget who we are, living like a shell. Finding ways to allow your authentic self to emerge is not a luxury but necessity. But this is difficult to do alone.
I work from diverse, well-developed, trauma-informed perspectives.
Relationship Therapy
Why do we get stuck in cycles? You feel like they don’t listen, and they feel like you don’t? “If they love you enough,” your ask should be easy? Emotionally-focused relationship therapy might help you talk to each other .
Trauma: from Pain to Wisdom
Trauma, including attachment injury, is a way we learn how to survive. But sometimes it traps us in the survival moment, and we need to heal. I practice EMDR, body-centred (somatic) therapy, DBT, and, most importantly, person-centred.
Discover Self
Why is it so hard to believe we are awesome? Easier sometimes to believe you deserve dignity and respect?
The society puts a lot of demands on us, and we learn to protect ourselves by masking, closeting, “behaving,” fitting in.
We did well to survive, and it is now time to live.
About Me
I am Tamaki Kano (鹿野環 | they/them), RCC, CCC, M.Sc., MCP-AT (Master of Counselling Psychology with additional coursework in art therapy).
While my credentials are a form of reassurance, I respect that traditional healing practices predate psychotherapy and inform it, or even appropriated by it, in endless ways.
I am a middle child in a traditional family who struggled for various reasons, including poverty, cultural obligations, abuse and neglect, deaths, and disabilities. This impacted my childhood greatly.
For some reason I experience social violence, including overt racism and -phobias, way more than average. This has helped me develop a deeply embodied analysis of power dynamics, societal and interpersonal.
I have spent a lot of time and effort healing, always believing in liberation for all and reclaiming my authentic self. My experience as a client is invaluable to me as a therapist.
I have moved across cultures, worked for employers in 5 different countries, three career paths, and diverse positions before and after becoming a therapist. Through this, I developed an invaluable insight into how people behave in various positions and contexts, selective application of rules, and check-box policies (“performative”).
One of my biggest teachers was my late dog, who came to me as a terrified, traumatized 3-year-old with a wide range of trauma symptoms including aggression around having paws touched. It took us a good few years to get there, but he found life as a happy, fulfilled, confident, socially awkward-but-aspirational dog who looked forward to nail trimming.
Social Location
I am a settler on the unceded, ancestral territories of the Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), and Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish) Nations.
I benefit from credential, housed, ambulatory, colourism/racial, and settler privileges among many others, and I am marginalized as a queer, trans non-binary, solo, disabled, “neurodivergent,” racialized, immigrant with an accent.
Values
My personal values do not need to be a part of our space. However, I believe you have a right to know. I stand for indigenous sovereignty including Palestine, Africa, and Turtle Island, US out of Korea and everywhere, Black Liberation, Disability inclusion, housing as a right, defunding policing and reallocating to preventative resources, and Japan’s full apologies and reparations to all victims and intergenerational victims of Japan’s imperialism, colonization, and other atrocities.
I became a therapist because I believe “No one is free till everyone is free” starts by liberating from what we have been taught to believe about our selves.
Whom Do I Work With?
Should you feel relieved and safe in a shared experience, or should you learn from a different perspective?
Is it anti-oppression to work with a marginalized person, or is it taking up too much space and demanding my emotional labour?
My take is if any part of this website interests you, you should book a consult. This is important as your first therapeutic decision, and you do not need to do this alone.
Generally, I work with a lot of people who have shared experiences, and a lot of people who are not like me at all.
Fees
To keep the fees low and to increase sliding-scale availability, I currently only offer virtual (video) counselling.
Individual Therapy (60 min)
$140 (GST exempt)
Individual Therapy (90 min)
$210 (GST exempt)
Relationship Therapy (60 min)
$180 (GST exempt)
Relationship Therapy (90 min)
$270 (GST exempt)
Peer Consult (60 min)
$120 (plus GST)
Direct billing with FNHA, ICBC, Greenshield and Pacific Blue Cross (including some StudentCare) may be available. Please inquire.
Tamaki Kano, RCC, CCC 