REGISTERED CLINICAL COUNSELLOR

Counselling & Psychotherapy Services

Supportive therapy to help you navigate life’s challenges and transitions.

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Meet Dr. Faith Auton-Cuff
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. . .to beginning or continuing your journey of healing and growth through in-person or virtual counselling sessions with me. I recognize and deeply appreciate that this is an important and courageous step for you.

Knowing this, I am committed to listening deeply to better understand you and your experience, and to working hard with you to resolve issues that have plagued you for a long time. I will collaborate with you and treat you like the expert you are about your life. I hope that working together will make a positive difference in your life.

About

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Who I help

Whether you are experiencing grief and loss, navigating a life transition, coping with the painful and debilitating effects of depression and anxiety, grappling with the imprint that traumatic experiences left on your mind and body, or dealing with a confusing and painful relationship or marital issue, I offer you a supportive and empathetic place to heal and evolve on your own terms, at your own pace, without judgment. 

How I help

Through evidence-based care, empathetic guidance and a commitment to your well-being I can help you:

  • Find and practise ways to break negative cycles so you can achieve a better life

  • Develop strategies to heal your pain and bring resolution to your personal struggles

  • Explore and practise ways to help your nervous system relax and release the overburden of stress and emotional weight situated in your body

  • Discover new tools to break out of cycles of negative thought patterns to retrain your brain to process stressful emotions

  • Learn how to regulate  your emotions and tolerate distress without turning to harmful ways to cope

  • Learn to help your brain reprocess traumatic  memories so they don’t continue to trigger such strong emotions

  • Journey through grief and loss

  • Navigate identity, life transition and adjustment issues by working with the metaphor of “voicing” and paying attention to places of deep “silencing” within your life 

  • Learn to understand, listen to, and hear you and your partner in a different way as you make decisions about your future and learn to communicate those decisions in healthy and compassionate ways

Who I am

I am an old soul! I am a parent of two adult children, grandparent of two grandsons, have lived experiences of intergenerational trauma, and continue to share this abundant life journey with my husband of many years.  I enjoy walking by and swimming in the ocean, and collect sea glass and heart stones whenever and wherever I find them. I love music of all kinds, play instruments and sing in a choir, and enjoy learning about and tasting amazing wines. I am an avid e-biker and love adventuring with my gang of fellow e-bikers. 

I have had the privilege of being involved in the circle of interdisciplinary learning for the past 35 years as a nurse (specializing and working in hospital and community mental health), as an educator (taught full-time in university undergraduate and graduate programs) and a counsellor (I have a Master’s degree in Counselling Psychology and a Doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology).   

I am reflective. I work collaboratively. I  work with the present, acknowledging the past as you and I work toward a preferred future. I carry the question: “What are you doing with the fact that you are alive?” into every session. I believe strongly that humans have much potential to experience their living in full and deeply satisfying ways and I will work with you to facilitate the release of potential that is constricted in you, and in focusing on what your experience is in this moment. I pay particular attention to the use of language and its effect within the life of an individual or couple. I work to create a welcoming space for you to do your work. I would consider it a privilege to sit in a room with you and have you share your suffering, your  joy, your experiences, your hopes.

I view the counselling room as a sacred space with no judgement, no criticism, only understanding and genuineness. I see the counselling experience as a journey - one filled with possibilities and hope.

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Services

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I work with adults and couples, preferably in-person on Thursdays from 9:00 to 6:00 p.m in my Vancouver office on South Granville Street, but also provide virtual counselling sessions from my home office on other days of the week, also in Vancouver.

At the start of our work together, we will talk through what has brought you to counselling, and decide what your goals are for therapy. What do you want to happen as a result of coming to counselling? What change do you want to see? 

  • Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is a talking therapy that helps people learn to break out of cycles of negative traits (or negative thought patterns) and encourages clients to look closely at the connections between their thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and actions.  It retrains the brain to process stressful emotions. CBT doesn’t usually focus on the past, but instead, focuses on changing distorted thought patterns and their resulting behaviours and changing these rather than changing their roots in the client’s past.

  • Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) builds on CBT and employs mindfulness and meditation strategies for people who struggle with intense emotions. Meditation trains us to draw our attention away from the parts of the brain involved in reasoning and judging and towards the more ancient brain structures that are involved in the present moment. This helps clients learn how to regulate emotions and tolerate distress.

  • Emotional Focused Therapy (EFT) helps clients process their emotions to feel more connected to themselves, with the goal of building strong emotional resilience while healing from emotional and behavioural issues. I work collaboratively and empathically to guide you to access and work with your emotional experience in new helpful and hopeful ways.

  • Eye Movement and Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR) helps people reprocess traumatic  memories.  You won’t lose the memory but ideally, the memory shouldn’t continue to trigger such strong emotions that interrupt and intrude on your life. 

  • Somatic Therapies are those therapies that assist clients to connect with their bodily experiences with the goal of regulating emotion. Some examples of Somatic Therapies that I use are breathwork, meditation, grounding, EMDR, and body scanning.

I work with clients utilizing:

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How do I
book a session?

If you are interested in working with Faith and would like to book a session, please fill out the form and she will be in touch with you.

Frequently Asked Questions:

  • Once I receive your form, I will call you on the telephone and have a brief chat about how I can best help you.  During that conversation we will schedule our first session together, as well as what you can expect at the first session. During that first session there are forms I will discuss with you that I will have you sign (e.g., confidentiality, informed consent, contact information).

  • Many insurance providers in British Columbia cover sessions given by registered clinical counsellors (RCCs) including:

    • Manulife

    • Medavie Blue Cross

    • Pacific Blue Cross

    • Green Shield Canada

    • ICBC

    • SunLife

    • Canada Life

    • Desjardins

    Please check with your insurance provider to see what benefit coverage by a Registered Clinical Counsellor is provided for.

  • Individual sessions are $175.00 per 60 minutes

    Couples sessions are $225 per 60 minutes

  • Once we begin our work together, I meet with clients weekly at the beginning. As our work continues, we discuss and regularly evaluate our treatment goals, eventually moving to biweekly sessions, and then once a month. The therapeutic journey and how long or how short it takes is always part of our conversation.

  • No, I do not offer a sliding fee scale.

  • I accept payment through electronic fee transfer (EFT)

  • I have a 24-hour cancellation policy. If you cancel within 24 hours of appointment, you will be billed for the hour, unless there are unforeseen circumstances.

  • Therapy is a journey, and sometimes for whatever reason, the therapeutic relationship between you and me, just isn’t a good fit. It happens! It is so important that you and I develop a solid therapeutic relationship and we will evaluate that continually.  If it doesn’t work, I will work to ensure you find another counsellor to continue your journey of healing.