Anika Sawatsky

MA, RCC, CCC

Registered Clinical Counsellor (#): 19590

Locations: Chilliwack Therapist Online

Serving: Adults Young Adults Couples Families

Children Youth

I believe every client possesses the innate wisdom and strength to grow, change and heal and I view every client as the expert on their own experience. My role is to walk alongside clients on their journey of wholeness, healing and autonomy as they look inwardly with compassion and curiosity. My relational, non-judgmental approach helps clients to explore emotions, beliefs and sensations as they gain insight. It is truly an honour to accompany others through times of transition and challenges, and to help them see their way to the other side. My therapeutic approach is predominantly humanistic-existential with a trauma-informed, feminist lens. I use this approach because it resonates the most with me and what I have experienced and observed: that we as humans are affected by oppressive systems as well as trauma that we have endured, which affects the way we live. The way to heal from this, or rather, become whole is through finding meaning. As the therapeutic relationship is one of the most important components of a beneficial experience in therapy, I use empathy, metaphor, curiosity and sometimes humour to assist clients in their journey of self-discovery and finding meaning.

GET TO KNOW ANIKA

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GET TO KNOW ANIKA

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GET TO KNOW ANIKA

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GET TO KNOW ANIKA • GET TO KNOW ANIKA • GET TO KNOW ANIKA •

My Professional Background

    • Anxiety & Depression

    • Trauma, Abuse, PTSD and Complex Trauma (C-PTSD)

    • Relationship Issues

    • First Responders

    • Family & Parenting Issues

    • Neurodiversity

    • Perinatal & Postpartum

    • Sexuality

    • Religious Trauma & Deconstruction


    *if you want to work with me and don’t see your concern here, mention it on your inquiry form! I’ve worked with many areas and it’s possible I have experience working with yours before, too.

    • Humanistic-Existential

    • Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR)

    • Trauma-Informed

    • Emotion-focused

    • Therapeutic Relationship

    • Person-centered

    • Feminist

    • Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)

    • Integration of neurobiology

    • Parts Work & Internal Family Systems

    • Psychoeducation

    • Use of Metaphor

    • Registered with First Responder Health

    • EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing) Certification (BC School of Professional Psychology)

    • Masterclass for Healers (Dr. Gabor Mate)

    • Religious Trauma & the Nervous System (Religious Trauma Institute)

    • Collaborative & Proactive Solutions (Dr. Ross Greene)

    • Gottman Method, Level 1 & 2 Clinical Training (The Gottman Institute)

    • OEI (Observed & Experiential Integration) Level 1 (Dr. Rick Bradshaw & Audrey Cook, LMFT)

    • Emotion-Focused Family Therapy (Natasha Files, MSW RSW)

    • Internal Family Systems (Dr. Frank G. Anderson)

    • DBT (Dialectical Behaviour Therapy) Training Intensive (Allison Blackwell)

    • Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Training (ATMA Academy)

    • Trauma-Informed Practice Training Level 1 (Trauma Informed Practice Institute)

    • Treating Complex Trauma (Linda Curran, BCPC, LPC, CAADC, CCDPD)

    • Sandtray Workshop (Dr. Bart Begalka)

    • Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology (Trinity Western University)

    • Bachelor of Arts in Psychology (Trinity Western University)

    • English

Get To Know Me Personally

  • I am mindful of my social media consumption, spend time in nature and emphasize being over doing.

  • I remember being a child thinking about some of my (limited) experiences, and reflecting that everyone in the world had their own stories of pain they had experienced. I felt a strong desire to connect with others through their lived experience.

  • The work I have done through my own therapy! I am a mother of kiddos with complex needs and I have a background as a first responder. My therapist has walked alongside me on my own healing journey and helped me as I navigated challenging familial landscapes to increase connection and create a meaningful, autonomous family culture. This has truly been my greatest challenge and my greatest joy.

  • A counsellor!

  • I’m spending time with my neurospicy family, my pups or being in nature in some form or another. I love hand embroidering, reading non-fiction and snacking. I’m learning how to garden and cultivate plants for food and medicines. And I also like bees.

  • A lot of clients come into my office with a secret fear that there is something fundamentally wrong with them or that they are broken. For some clients this has been a longstanding fear and sometimes it occurs as the result of a relational injury. Other times, clients hold this perspective without knowing why. It’s important that clients know they are not alone in this and that by looking inwardly with curiosity and compassion, they can discover their strengths and new ways of relating to themselves and others without shame or fear.

  • Witnessing clients shift from shame and the pain of believing they are broken to a perspective of compassion for all the ways they have survived. I love getting to journey with clients to a place of wholeness, healing and autonomy as they connect with themselves and look inwardly with compassion and curiosity.

  • Non-judgmental, insightful, warm, easy to talk to and I’ve been told I have a calming energy.

  • May we use the word

    becoming

    becoming

    becoming

    as our central mantra

    and accept everything that it brings in its path

New Clients

Please fill out the New Client Inquiry form below to book an appointment with Anika.

Existing Clients

Our online booking feature is available to clients who have already had a first appointment with Anika.