As you distance yourself from others during the COVD-19 Pandemic, you find yourself at a threshhold of change. Amidst uncertainty, you seek help in reconnecting with your life’s purpose and your deepest work. My name is Clayre Sessoms, and I’m here to help.
There may exist in you a felt sense that knows what’s possible. This knowing part of yourself is what we may find as we sit with all that’s here in the present moment. This knowing part of yourself may be experienced and developed as you sit with your thoughts and feelings for an hour, a few weeks, or many months. The presence of knowing doesn’t come from outside of you. It comes from within. It comes when you’re not trying to find it or question it or force it to emerge. It comes when you are able to step out of its way.
But wait, isn’t psychotherapy supposed to be a guided tour towards healing? Isn’t there a technique that makes this whole thing quick and painless? While I may rely on training in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, EMDR, or Focusing Oriented Therapy to help you process trauma in the body or develop a felt sense of how thoughts and feelings show up in the belly, I’m not your guide. Rather I support your safety and comfort as you find your own way. I offer psychoeducational tools that aim to keep you safe and sound during therapy. And I’m here to bear witness to the healing that emerges from within you by listening to you, offering encouragement when you want encouragement, and holding space with you.
I’m Clayre Sessoms, an experienced clinical counsellor and professional art therapist in private practice in Vancouver, BC, Canada. I’m a white settler who identifies as trans, queer, lesbian, and partially sighted. I work with older youth and adults. My approach explores heart-centred work rooted in feminism, queer theory, social justice, and neuroscience.
Do you want to feel better? Do you hope to lessen day-to-day worry? Are you ready to find your sense of purpose? Do you want to embark on your deepest work to heal from abuse, hurt, loss, sexualized violence, shame, or trauma that’s stuck in the body? Let’s talk…
Art therapy uses creative methods to help you explore emotions, improve self-esteem, relieve stress, improve symptoms of anxiety and depression, and cope with pain.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a form of psychotherapy developed by Dr. Francine Shapiro in the 1990s. EMDR helps alieviate distress and trauma.
Focusing Oriented Therapy is a body-centred and person-centred approach to healing developed by Dr. Gene Gendlin in the 1960s. Focusing helps you use your felt sense.
Motivational interviewing is a directive, client-centered counselling approach that helps you move past hesitation to find enough motivation to lessen harmful behaviour.
This is a trademarked body-centred approach by Dr. Pat Ogden. It blends sensorimotor processing with cognitive and emotional processing in the treatment of trauma.
Oftentimes all you need is a warm cup of tea and a good listener, and I’m here to provide the quintessential milieu for therapeutic conversations that centre what’s on your mind.
Qmunity is a Vancouver-based services- and advocacy-focused organization for LGBTQ2IA+ youth, adults, and partners. Services may include advocacy and outreach, healthcare clinics, peer support groups, and counselling.
View my growing list of LGBTQ2IA+ resources in BC.
Vancouver Women’s Health Collective (VWHC) is a voluteer-led charity for all self-identified women with a resource centre and wellness program that includes nurse-led primary care, counselling, art therapy, and yoga classes.
View my growing list of LGBTQ2IA+ resources in BC.Online therapy sessions occur on a trusted telehealth platform. The first session is booked by contacting me. Follow-up sessions are booked online.
Cancellation or rescheduling must be made 24 hours prior to your session’s start time. Failure to give notice will require a $75 fee before rebooking.
My online therapy fees are $150+GST per 50-minute session for individuals and $200+GST per 50-minute session for partnerships or families.
